Apple's Dependency On It's Ads

Well here's my another dig on Apple and its "partial" lack of innovation. Yes! Just partial and not complete lack of innovation. We all know that without any question, Apple has been the company for past few decades that sets the industry standards in terms of mobile and desktop technologies. It has been setting standards in terms of its elegant and beautiful design of its products and simple yet powerful softwares like OS X, iOS and much more. But Apple like I had mentioned earlier in my previous blog post ( Is Apple losing it's silver touch ) is slowly losing its magic and recent trends in the market shows that customer sentiments have been changing. But if there is one place where they have not lost their magic, then its their ads. This blog post is going to cover majorly about Apple's iconic ads and its effect on its sales.

Where It All Started

Apple was literally falling apart until the return of Steve Jobs in 1997, which put back Apple on its feet. Apple needed a push; a force that can drive its employees to put a dent in the universe. With Steve on their helm "the force was strong with them" :P . Steve Jobs not only was a perfectionist in terms of design but also a brilliant in advertising and marketing. One of the best example of Steve's marketing strategy was showcased back in 1984, Apple's super bowl commercial which is considered to be one of the greatest ad film that's been ever made.

This super bowl commercial literally blew everyone's mind and made the "Big blue" IBM look very small when compared to Apple. This ad made a lot of difference in Apple's sales back then and increased the sales of Apple II. But this ad had very little effect of the sales of Macintosh. Even though Macintosh was a very futuristic device with lot of great features in a compact design, it failed to deliver the business professionals who were the major consumers of computers back then.

Think Different Campaign

This was the ad campaign that kick started the whole company again into the market of personal computers. Especially the ones that came around with the narration of Steve Jobs in the background was truly magical. Even today I personally listen to the audio of that ad and once the audio is done, I feel calm and kind of focused in what I have to do in my life.

This ad campaign was a smash hit and had a great effect on the sales of all the Apple products that was launched at that time, especially the iMac G3 and iBook. The iMac G3, among other factors, was responsible for Apple's turnaround from financial ruin in the late 1990s and revitalized the Apple brand as design-oriented and simple. It was, nevertheless, criticized for abandoning then-current technological standards like the floppy drive.

Get A Mac Campaign

This was when Apple's marketing strategy took a different course. Along with glorifying Apple's own products, Apple's "Get A Mac" ads also directly criticized PC for its clumsy design and complex installation process. And what better way to do this than a Mac and PC coming together and presenting themselves as two individuals. This personification of Apple's Mac and PC was sheer innovation and was incredibly humorous at sometimes. It portrayed the superior simplicity of the Macs right from the dressing of the actor who portrayed Mac and the fat lousy look of the person who portrayed PC made Macs look more superior.

The "Get a Mac" campaign was extremely successful and boosted up the Mac sales. Its real success was lying in its ability to convince long time PC users to switch to a Mac.

What Is It Like Today

Apple might have lost its spell in design, features and pricing but if there is one thing Apple is still innovative in, then it is none other than Apple's marketing strategies and its ads . Their latest iPhone 7 ads show that their ads are the still the best in town. Especially the ad that portrays a guy who rides a bike in the rain while thunderstruck song playing in the background really captivates the viewers.

One of the best ads that they have made this year is the ad that Apple created for their latest Macbook Pro line up. This Macbook pro has been creating a lot of buzz lately. They were supposed to be the next gen of Apple ultrabooks but unfortunately, it turned out to be too futuristic and took us back a few years to the age of dongles and adapters. Nevertheless, its ad was still one of the best. Especially the background song.

Conclusion

Well the conclusion is the same as I mentioned before. Apple cannot depend on its legacy and brand image for a very long time. But if there is one thing that we cannot deny, then it is Apple's marketing strategy and their method of conveying a story through their TV commercials, which is making their products seem like they are the best in class. Kudos to their marketing team :) .