What’s Wrong with Apple’s Marketing
Since Jobs’ Think Different campaign, Apple has been known for its marketing and aesthetic designs that emotionally appeal to viewers. However, I felt in its recent campaigns, like Get a Mac for college and Underdogs, it didn’t feel like Apple that I knew.
Courtesy of AppleTrack
When Apple decided to transition from Intel to M-series processors, Intel released a video of TOTALLY staged audiences that admitted to using Apple, watching footage of the superiority of Intel computers, and replying to a Craig Federighi-like employee. YouTubers mocked Intel’s inferior move. Sam Kohl (AppleTrack) even broke an iPad in half when Intel boasted about a laptop that was both flip-able and touchable.
Photo from MacRumors
All these negative reviews are now turning back at Apple. Starting with a Get a Mac presentation, a nerdy-looking comedian presents persuasion strategies to convince parents to buy their kids MacBooks. The reaction of the college students in the video sums up my response to the campaign. Everyone looked like 😬. Not only that, but I didn’t find the purpose of adding the blue screen of death. Windows did receive that reputation because of the recent CrowdStrike issues, but I haven’t had any of my peers’ Windows crash, especially during presentations. This is not the only instance when Apple’s Marketing Team demeaned Windows.
Courtesy of MacRumors
Underdogs features four “normal” workers who use Apple devices to start their own business, BetterBag. But, for a few years, that story didn’t seem to allure me as much as it used to. Last year, Apple published a story about Underdogs visiting Thailand to produce bags. It backlashed with the comments of discrimination and racism, underrepresenting Thailand as a poor country. Eventually, Apple deleted the ad from its YouTube channel. In the new Underdogs video, which they didn’t delete, it promotes the Mac in a way that feels forced and tonally inconsistent with Apple’s usual restraint — again, belittling Windows.
The story goes like this:
Underdogs go to the Packaging Convention
Apparently, all computers in the convention are Windows, except Underdogs’
Blue Screen of Death happens → People freak out like a Zombie Apocalypse
Suddenly, the Underdogs get a FaceTime call from their manager, who explains about the blue screen and why Mac is better
I really didn’t quite catch the motive behind this year’s Mac campaign. Why do they have to poke someone’s weakness to look like they are superior? Apple is already excelling in the laptop market with its transition to the M-Series processors, and it is being featured in every Must-Get-Tech review. I am not sure if Apple finds this humor funny, but I certainly don’t. It feels like a cheap move, like what Intel and Samsung did in past years to compete with Apple in the high-end market.
Well, after negative reviews of their advertisement from Apple Intelligence to “Get a Mac,” Apple seems to be finding its way out. In September, Apple brought back its typical aesthetic introduction, which does not involve any of its competitors’ products, focusing on the design that Apple can uniquely create.
Welcome Home (Spike Jonze) | HomePod Commercial (Courtesy of AlisamiXploration)
I hope to see past advertisements and campaigns that Apple ran, such as the first-generation AirPods Pro and HomePod commercials, which really capture our attention and emotionally connect with the audience. Apple’s marketing never needed a villain — only a vision.
Originally Published in Medium
