Apple Infomercial? Steve on QVC???

[zelmo]

I often wonder (yep, still waiting on that life...any day now) why Apple doesn't do more to promote their wonderful operating system and h/w products? Virtually every Apple ad these days is for some flavor of iPod. Sure, you got a few iMac G5 ads when they were released, and there were even a few PowerMac "supercomputer" ads back in the day, but other than adverts in Mac magazines, where do you see ads for Macs? No TV spots, no radio, damn few print ads. Why?

The other evening my wife was watching some home shopping channel or other, and as I listened to the spiels, I started to imagine Steve and Phil appearing on QVC or HSN, gushing over the wonders of OS X and the iMac line. While this is initially a very (very) silly idea, it started to grow on me. If Apple wanted to grow market share , there's a captive audience of folks who are watching with an intent to purchase. There are a lot of folks who have never seen the usual iLife schtick. That stuff sells computers.

I know I'm rambling, and I'm kind of embarrassed to be writing this post, but darn it, Apple sometimes seems like a bunch of elitist lords who sit back in their tower expecting people to come running to them to buy thier products. "Oh please, Steve, let me purchase an iMac. I'm truly deserving." I say, go out and get 'em. If Christie Brinkley can sell a Total Gym, why can't Apple do their own infomercial to present their products to a wide audience of people who have not really been exposed to them, and who are ready and willing to buy something cool they saw on the telly?

I'm going to take my meds now.....

[rueyeet]

other than adverts in Mac magazines, where do you see ads for Macs? No TV spots, no radio, damn few print ads. Why?

...Steve and Phil appearing on QVC or HSN, gushing over the wonders of OS X and the iMac line...Apple has pretty much officially given up on marketshare, at least publicly. I forget which exec basically said that during a conference call or in a press release, but I remember it being said. So while any marketshare increase would be nice, they're not specifically directing their marketing efforts towards that.

That said, I think your idea is an exceedingly good one. My mom used to watch a LOT of QVC, and the people on there could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. Not only that, but the combination of actually being able to demonstrate iLife on TV with Steve's Reality Distortion Field would most likely be very very effective. Especially given that QVC has taught me that there are some people who will buy pretty much anything, if someone on TV talks it up enough.

If there were any negatives in it for Apple at all, it would be that appearing on QVC might be percieved by some as slumming it (even more so on HSN).

[rainman::|:|]

Yeah, you're making the assumption that Apple wants to grow and increase marketshare. They seem, with a few exceptions, very happy being a luxury brand. Think of Mercedes going on HVC to sell their cars... Is it really worth it, to tarnish the elegance of the machine?

but i know where you're coming from, it's endlessly frustrating to see Apple avoid any method of reaching new users... because the PC world sure the hell wants Mac users. hmm.

paul

[raynegus]

Yeah I remember Steve saying a few years ago that the OS wars were over and microsoft won a long time ago.

He said Apple makes the best personal comnputers in the world and compared it to Mercedes. He said "What's wrong with being the Mercedes of personal computers?"

I regularly try to convert PC users, but we have to remember that if Apple goes to 15 or 20% market share, we will see more virus targeting our beloved Macs. Now really is a wonderful time to have a Mac, but only for a select few.

[wordmunger]

You know, that's not a bad idea. But it's Apple, so rather than buying time on QVC, they should buy time on Bravo or HGTV. Same principle, more upscale market.

[brap]

You know, that's not a bad idea. But it's Apple, so rather than buying time on QVC, they should buy time on Bravo or HGTV. Same principle, more upscale market.
Apple advertisements on National Geographic and Discovery; now that could be a winner...

[JOD8FY]

While looking through a Pottery Barn magazine, I saw that every computer on their desks was a Mac. I even counted: 2 PM G4's each with 2 23" previous generation Apple Cinema Displays and an iMac G4 with wireless keyboard and mouse. So, unintentionally, Apple is getting publicity. However, I don't think that a PC user would switch based on it. I would like to see Apple advertise a little more.

JOD8FY

[Chip NoVaMac]

Yeah, you're making the assumption that Apple wants to grow and increase marketshare. They seem, with a few exceptions, very happy being a luxury brand. Think of Mercedes going on HVC to sell their cars... Is it really worth it, to tarnish the elegance of the machine?

but i know where you're coming from, it's endlessly frustrating to see Apple avoid any method of reaching new users... because the PC world sure the hell wants Mac users. hmm.

paul

Yet M-B seems to try to pander to every market. Or at least those above the $25K. If the A or B series comes to the state at under $25K, then M-B has gone mass market. Add to that the smart cars tha M-b is builod and bringing to the US. That meets the under $20K range perhaps.

What amazes me as a "marketing person" is that Apple is able to have the market-share on the computer side that they do. Of late it seems that the iPod is what is driving the business.

[Dr. Dastardly]

While looking through a Pottery Barn magazine, I saw that every computer on their desks was a Mac. I even counted: 2 PM G4's each with 2 23" previous generation Apple Cinema Displays and an iMac G4 with wireless keyboard and mouse. So, unintentionally, Apple is getting publicity. However, I don't think that a PC user would switch based on it. I would like to see Apple advertise a little more.

JOD8FY
That and don't forget in TV land it seems Apple controls about 90% of the market share.

That TVland is crazy!

[Chip NoVaMac]

That and don't forget in TV land it seems Apple controls about 90% of the market share.

That TVland is crazy!

For those of us that know Apple, we see and know it when we see it on TV. But for the other 80 to 90% of the population that uses Windows; do they see it and know it?

As much as I hate infomercials, this may be the best way for Apple to gain greater acceptance of the platform. Look at Bose and SonicAire.

[Spock]

How often do You see a Harley-Davidson ad? They dont have to tell people they are the best.

[Chip NoVaMac]

How often do You see a Harley-Davidson ad? They dont have to tell people they are the best.

H-D and Apple are not in the same league IMO. Apple is much more mass market, Apple is dealing more in the "commodity" market. I don't look at motorcycles in the same way.

[Inspector Lee]

While looking through a Pottery Barn magazine, I saw that every computer on their desks was a Mac.JOD8FY

It is pretty much the same for many store catalogs. Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, etc. You'll always see Macs in the background when the store is trying to imply some latent slickness. I never noticed the Mac presence until I bought a powerbook in December '02.

[rdowns]

How often do You see a Harley-Davidson ad? They dont have to tell people they are the best.

Pretty poor analogy. Do Harley's use a different type of gas than other motorcycles?

[rdowns]

IIRC, Apple did infomercials back in the day for their Performa line. I think an informercial would be an excellent way to really show the Mac vs. a Windows PC to the masses. Imagine a 30 minute show where you could see taking it out of the box, getting on the Internet, iLife in action, Word and Excel running and sharing files with a PC, accessing a corporate network, all the software and hardware available. Talk about a forum to dispel the myths about Macs.

[gwuMACaddict]

Pretty poor analogy. Do Harley's use a different type of gas than other motorcycles?

i dont think its the best analogy, but its not bad. harley doesnt need to remind people in every ad that they are an american bike with history and a reasonably proud heritage (wont mention the bikes of the late 70's to early 80's, terrible to maintain). harley certainly uses different parts and such than other more mass produced bikes, so i think it fits to an extent.

[Chip NoVaMac]

i dont think its the best analogy, but its not bad. harley doesnt need to remind people in every ad that they are an american bike with history and a reasonably proud heritage (wont mention the bikes of the late 70's to early 80's, terrible to maintain). harley certainly uses different parts and such than other more mass produced bikes, so i think it fits to an extent.

I can see the point. Yet with Apple they need to broaden their appeal, otherwise their computers will become something that few can afford. IMO it would be great for Apple to double their computer market share.

[zelmo]

On second thought, I think Apple ought to buy the entire block of air time for the Super Bowl halftime show, and let Steve work his RDF magic on an unsuspecting public. In a warped homage to the original 1984 commercial, Steve is up on the big screen, and Phil could run out in some orange track shorts and throw iPod micro's at him. :p

If Apple could double their share, they would be a much more viable option for smaller s/w companies, and still not be that huge a target for virus writers.

[Fredstar]

I also wish, here in the Uk, that there was more advertising for the Apple Hardware. The U.K is a very rich country and often goes for the more quality version rather than the cheapo, Apple could do a lot with Tv adverts.
I do see mag advertisements for the imac but no one really knows about Mac and the superior OS, i remember seeing the imac G4 advert on the tv, the one with the imac moving round in the shop window, and i was astounded and if there was a bit more info then i probably would have switched along time ago or at least convinced the family too. A little 360 of the imac, a quick ipod relation, a quick ilife flash and showing the compatability would do wonders. The major major problem, as we all know, is that the public are ignorant and think everything is about Ghz.
I love to see Apple doing well, in whatever area, and i have convinced a lot of my friends to buy powerbooks and imac's but i wouldn't really want the market share to rise above 10%. That is enough for even more software/games to be made4mac (even though loads are already made) and perhaps a more diverse range of Macs to be made, for example a budget powermac would be nice. Also at that 10% there shouldn't be too many hackers targeting the Mac market.

[Noiseboy]

[QUOTE=powermac666]On second thought, I think Apple ought to buy the entire block of air time for the Super Bowl halftime show, and let Steve work his RDF magic on an unsuspecting public. In a warped homage to the original 1984 commercial, Steve is up on the big screen, and Phil could run out in some orange track shorts and throw iPod micro's at him. :p

Did you take those meds earlier? Can I get some? ;)

[kgarner]

Yeah, you're making the assumption that Apple wants to grow and increase marketshare. They seem, with a few exceptions, very happy being a luxury brand. Think of Mercedes going on HVC to sell their cars... Is it really worth it, to tarnish the elegance of the machine?

but i know where you're coming from, it's endlessly frustrating to see Apple avoid any method of reaching new users... because the PC world sure the hell wants Mac users. hmm.

paul
Yet I see tons of ads for BMW and Mercedes.

[Mainyehc]

I think that this has nothing to do with Apple playing superior, or considering Macs as luxury items or whatever. Heck, what could go wrong if Apple had some 5% marketshare?? Macs still wouldn't be as ubiquitous as the iPod, so no problem with that "luxury" crap (Macs are "preety", superb quality PCs. Apart from that and the PowerPC processor, hardware-wise, they aren't that much different from the Wintel world, and we all know that - there still aren't there any Macs with Dual Layer DVD burners, most models still come with outdated GPUs like the FX5200 Ultra and a measly 256MB of RAM, just to point a few gripes I have with Apple's offerings).

[edit: As decksnap said, I was wrong about Dual Layer DVD burners; they are avaliable, but disguised, and can actually burn 8GB DVDs up to 16x!! You just have to, er, flash their firmware with a PC... from HardMac:
http://www.hardmac.com/article.php?id=44
I'm shocked. They think Apple didn't introduce them with their full potential because of iLife compatibility. This is just plain stupid either way... Apple shouldn't cripple hardware like that. I can understand why they make some processor underclockings and stuff (heat/supply issues, consumer and pro lines conflicting, etc.), but the DVD burner??? PowerMacs are already the top of the range, so the only sales they can cannibalize are high-end PCs... :rolleyes:]

So, all issues taken into account, the Apple philosophy is not that much about luxury, it's mostly about a rarely seen passion for good quality design. I think Apple is somewhere between IKEA and Bang & Olufsen, which of course makes it very hard to draw a line between "luxury items" and "Products for the Rest of Us"...

Those who "Think Elitist" could keep thinking that way and in the future buy the fastest Macs available at fair prices, while we "regular" people could buy iMacs and eMacs at even more affordable prices, probably no viruses would be written for Mac OS X anyway, and everyone would be happy because there would be a lot more software and games avaliable for the Mac.

Apple knows this. Apple MUST know this better than us! But right now they have some supply issues with *cough* the G5, wich is produced *cough* by IBM... Honestly, do you think if Apple's distribution channel worked as smoothly as the competition's, they wouldn't advertise the Mac platform as hell?

The incredibly successful iPod has contributed a lot for Apple-awareness in the past few months, Windows is being rendered unusable by spyware, adware and malware in general, Longhorn is very late, so why isn't Apple taking this chance to get themselves some marketshare? Because they CAN'T!! Imagine the massive backorders and loooong shipping times if they did a Mac advertising campaign as great as the silhouette ads... *Ouch*! Remember the iPod mini, the PowerMac G5, and now, the iMac G5!!

[chanoc]

I see Macs featured in a lot of Hollywood movies, usually in elegant offices or consumer machines in home settings.

[takao]

hmm i fail to see how apple is comapreable with mercedes benz or even BMW

mercedes sells vehicles from the 2 seater smart over the S 600 to the 40 ton truck (who is the best selling truck in central europe btw.)
and they have a 10+% here

and as said before they have no problem with advertising

not even talking about "mindshare"

[decksnap]

there still aren't there any Macs with Dual Layer DVD burners,

Did you see that Hardmac thing about taking apart the iMac G5 and discovering that the DVD burner is in fact a crippled 16x dual layer burner? I'd like to hear people's thoughts on this.

[Chip NoVaMac]

hmm i fail to see how apple is comapreable with mercedes benz or even BMW

mercedes sells vehicles from the 2 seater smart over the S 600 to the 40 ton truck (who is the best selling truck in central europe btw.)
and they have a 10+% here

and as said before they have no problem with advertising

not even talking about "mindshare"

And maybe some Chrysler products too?

[x86isslow]

i've said this before (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=97588) and i think it still holds true for why apple doesn't advertise-

Why doesn't Apple market their Macs more???

They probably won't advertise the G4 ever again, but they can't advertise the G5 because they have no extra supply, they have hard enough time shipping 2.5s to their existing customer base, and a lot of xServes (thousands) are getting sent to Massive Cluster projects like VT and Colsa.

When Apple has something to advertise (not look look, our Powerbook and iBook are nearly the same speed, and our $800 eMacs is being overclocked to 1.6, faster than our fastest G4 laptop) and not "pay now, get much much much later", then they will advertise again.

[Mainyehc]

i've said this before (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=97588) and i think it still holds true for why apple doesn't advertise-

Why doesn't Apple market their Macs more???

Spot on! I preety much said the same, but in a looooooong post... If only I could write posts this short and precise, but you know, I'm not a native english speaker, so "it ain't easy"... Besides, I just don't know when to stop ranting :rolleyes:

Oh, wait! Am I writing a short post? :eek: :D

[rueyeet]

It is pretty much the same for many store catalogs. Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, etc. You'll always see Macs in the background when the store is trying to imply some latent slickness. I never noticed the Mac presence until I bought a powerbook in December '02.Same here...and about the time I started noticing that most machines in those kinds of catalogs were all Macs, I started seeing PCs being featured too, usually all of one brand. This makes me suspect that either the PC companies complained, or put up some cold, hard cash.

That amuses me no end....Apple gets put in other company's catalogs for nothing, simply because it's what the art department has. But the PC vendors have to pay for placement! :cool:

Just a pity that most of the public just sees "slick looking laptop" without making the "Mac Powerbook" connection. It's scary, how I home in on a Mac being shown in ads, catalogs, or TV now...right down to trying to see whether the Mac is running OS 9 or OS X. Most people are content to just call it "computer" and move on....and they give me weird looks. :o

[zelmo]

The production issues are a great reason for Apple holding back on ads. Didn't think about that angle in my medicated state. :p
Sooner or later, Apple and IBM are going to get the G5 chip production issues squared away, and the pipeline ought to open up a bit. Hopefully, that will happen while Apple is still getting favorable press from the iPod, and they will decide it is time to do some serious marketing.
It would also be nice to see some promo tie-ins like the Cram 'n' Jam aimed at regular consumers. Maybe if Apple really does bring out the flash iPod micro next year, they can pull people in with a "free iPod micro with G5 CPU purchase" promo or something.
I just hate seeing Apple getting all this great press and not doing everything possible to take advantage of it. They're never going to be the No. 1 platform, but right now is the perfect opportunity to grow a little. If they can survive with 3%, they can thrive with a 7-10% market share.

[The Black Rock]

We can make all the analogies we want to about "Macs are the BMWs of the computer world", or whatever. While it might be true that the Mac is a luxury computer, it won't matter if those people who don't have BMWs don't see it that way.

Within the market of car buyers, it's generally known or conceded that that BMWs or Mercedes-Benz, are the top of the line. That they are the most desirable computers out there. How did this come about? What makes the average car buyer think that a Z4 is more valuable than a Chevy Nova (other than the obvious price differences)?

Once those questions is answered, we can proceed on the Mac question.

The average computer shopper must recognize the Mac purchase as a luxury on par with the BMW. Right now the problem isn't just that they don't see it like that, it's that they don't see it at all.

What do you think?

[The Black Rock]

I found this over at the AppleInsider forums:I thought that was part of the Office - Apple deal. No Apple adverts about software, only hardware so they could not talk of the advantages of the OS. If they advertised as having no viruses etc. they would do brilliantly - although I'm sure people would work doubly hard to come up with some viruses!!
Anyone care to comment on the truth of that?

Context:here (http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?threadid=51677)