As already mentioned, Apple is a company like no other, not
only in their products, their research & development, their innovation but
also hugely in their advertising. Innovative products need innovative
advertising, and Apple has never been in short supply of that. “Since the
original Macintosh Super Bowl commercial in 1984, which mimicked imagery from
George Orwell’s 1984, Apple has maintained a style of homage to contemporary
visual art in many of its more famous ad campaigns”
When it came to the iPod, Apple again produced a very unique
and distinct advertising campaign. Looking at the image below, everyone without
even seeing an Apple logo on this billboard would know what this ad is for.
Apples iPod ads (whether they be TV commercials, print ads or posters) are
always fairly basic with a black silhouette of a person, white iPod and ear
phones on a bright and vibrant background. The whole idea of this promotion was to show that the person in the image could be you, it doesn't show race, hair colour, anything really, and the TV ad's always played different songs showing that the iPod really can be used by anyone.
“Few other brands out there can
claim to have such a level of recognition among consumers”.
Another thing Apple did with its iPod is directly relate it
to plain white ear phones, something no other MP3 product had done. These ear
phones became recognised by everybody and effectively provided free advertising
on a mass scale for Apple – so smart!!
In more recent times the ads have naturally been increasing
and improving due to Apple’s increased numbers of products. In 2006, in order
to boost the sales of their computers (“Get a Mac” campaign), Apple released a
controversial series of 24 “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” advertisements. Basically the
ads pointed out the flaws in the PC operating systems, and highlighted how
efficient and easy going the Mac was. The ads were entertaining and a huge
success.
I know I haven’t touched on every aspect of Apple and their
advertising, but this is just an insight into the brilliance of Steve Jobs and
his team at Apple. “Perhaps no modern day market has captured the public’s imagination
like Steve Jobs.
Here is an interesting link to The Advertising Age: The 10
best ads to come out of Steve Jobs’ Reign at Apple. http://adage.com/article/news/apple-ads-steve-jobs-10-apple-advertisements/229465/
