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Apple's In-House Advertisements Scoring Lower Than Its Outsourced Ads

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple's in-house advertisements are scoring lower than those created by TBWA\Media Arts Labs, a unit of Apple's longtime ad partner TBWA\Chiat\Day, according to Ace Metrix ad-watching data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Image via Bloomberg​
So far, ads made by the in-house team have received a cooler reception from viewers on average than those made by the agency. Ace Metrix gathers data from hundreds of TV watchers to discern how persuasive and entertaining an ad is.
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"Chicken Fat" is the Apple in-house team's biggest ad success so far, scoring a 611 from Ace Metrix. However, the ad scored lower than two Media Arts ads, "From the Heart" and "Gigantic", since late last year. "Gigantic" is Apple's highest scoring ad since late last year. The highest ever score for an Apple ad was 696 for a 2010 FaceTime commercial.

The lowest scoring ads for Apple include its "Your Verse" campaign, showing off how people are using their iPads in various parts of the world doing different activities, like traveling the world, climbing mountains or directing a Bollywood dance number. None of those ads scored higher than a 600 in Ace Metrix's scale.

Comparatively, Samsung and its agency have had better luck, netting a 739 score for a Samsung Galaxy S5 commercial showing the water-proof phone being used during a water fight. The ad is the second Galaxy ad to top the 700 mark for Ace Metrix.

Rob Siltanen, an advertising consultant who wrote the ad copy for "Here's to the crazy ones" told Bloomberg that Apple's struggles may be coming from trying too hard to represent themselves.
"The hardest ads I've ever worked on were ads for myself," Siltanen says. "There's a truism out there that applies: 'The lawyer who represents himself in court has an idiot for a client.' It's very hard to have the necessary perspective to do the job right."
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Alternatively, Boston University ad professor Edward Boches says Apple could be struggling selling itself as a leading company and may be more comfortable playing off other companies, like Microsoft.

Apple has found it difficult to find its footing with advertising recently, expanding marketing efforts and creating its 1,000 person in-house ad team in recent months. While the Cupertino company has taken greater efforts to control its advertising, it is still collaborating with TBWA\Media Arts Labs.

Article Link: Apple's In-House Advertisements Scoring Lower Than Its Outsourced Ads
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/30/apple-in-house-ads-low-scores/
kas23

kas23

macrumors 603
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
I'm thoroughly unimpressed with Apple's in-house advertising people. This "chicken fat" song is disgusting. I don't care if it has nothing to do with "chicken fat" but the song is just a turn-off. Second, the "what would your verse" narrator, whoever he may be, sounds like he's about to die. Just a very grating, unpleasant voice. I don't know what they were thinking.
 
AngerDanger

AngerDanger

Graphics
Staff member
Dec 9, 2008
5,452
29,003
Don't be too hard on yourself, Apple, I'm just happy when I see a commercial from you that doesn't feature the condescending Genius guy.

(it's fun to give immensely successful companies consolation messages from the comfort of my chair)
 
Chocolatemilty

Chocolatemilty

macrumors 6502a
May 17, 2009
653
113
Los Angeles, CA
I find this really interesting, because even though I own quite a few Apple products, I don't consider myself an Apple fanboy. I really like all the major mobile and PC players and am well-versed in all of them. However, I feel the "Verse" campaign is quite compelling. Of course, I am biased being a music graduate student, but Esa-Pekka Salonen's commercial is quite remarkable. When the initial Your Verse commercial first premiered, I felt it was the most compelling Apple ad in some time. I guess not all felt the same. What Apple is most likely counting on is all of their different ads resonating with different factions of people instead of one with all.
 
longofest

longofest

Editor emeritus
Jul 10, 2003
2,924
1,682
Falls Church, VA
Really, "Gigantic" rated that high? I couldn't stand that commercial for one reason: the music. that irritating refrain over and over again. I'm so glad they don't play it anymore, because I was at the point of muting the TV when it came on and occasionally changing the channel.
 
P

Paddle1

macrumors 601
May 1, 2013
4,811
3,120
I didn't even know chicken fat was an Apple commercial, all I could notice was the song.
 
K

kwikdeth

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2003
1,140
1,709
Tempe, AZ
personally i found the "your verse" ads insulting. there's a certain unpleasant irony in showing a rich white woman with an iPad surrounded by the poor chinese people who probably had to leave their homes or family for months or years on end to build said expensive tablet.
 
RobertMartens

RobertMartens

macrumors 65816
Aug 29, 2002
1,177
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longofest said:
Really, "Gigantic" rated that high? I couldn't stand that commercial for one reason: the music. that irritating refrain over and over again. I'm so glad they don't play it anymore, because I was at the point of muting the TV when it came on and occasionally changing the channel.
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I always mute the tv during commercials, you should try it.
 
Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,135
31,184
Why do rumor sites keep reporting crap from Ace Metrix? One, Samsung was/is a client, two, how do we know how reputable Ace Metrix is? I had never heard of them until they started reporting low scores for Apple ads. Hmm...perhaps that's why Apple always scores low with them...the only way for them to get noticed. :rolleyes:
 
ouimetnick

ouimetnick

macrumors 68040
Aug 28, 2008
3,552
6,341
Beverly, Massachusetts
The only ads I thought were good include the "Get a Mac" campaign, the original iPhone ads, the iPhone 3G ads, iPod ads, and the emotional FaceTime ads.
The rest are boring. Instead of showcasing apps, or trying to make it look like the iPhone is life changing (it's life enhancing, not a life saver here) why not show case some cool features like Touch ID, the great camera, and highlight how 64bit is the future, showoff features of the OS, etc.
 
mKTank

mKTank

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2010
1,537
3
longofest said:
Really, "Gigantic" rated that high? I couldn't stand that commercial for one reason: the music. that irritating refrain over and over again. I'm so glad they don't play it anymore, because I was at the point of muting the TV when it came on and occasionally changing the channel.
Click to expand...

Not to mention, the actual song is about large black penises (seriously, go look it up). When the internet noticed this, that helped give the ad more attention.
 
K

Karma*Police

macrumors 68030
Jul 15, 2012
2,514
2,850
Your verse is one of my all time favorite apple ads. How can you go wrong with Robin Williams and dead poet's society? Clearly, times they are a changing... and not necessarily for the better.
 
rocknblogger

rocknblogger

macrumors 68020
Apr 2, 2011
2,346
481
New Jersey
For those that don't know the Chicken Fat song was part of a presidential nationwide campaign aimed at school children to participate in sports and exercise. This was in the 70's.
 
W

wiggums1

macrumors newbie
Jun 30, 2014
3
11
mKTank said:
Not to mention, the actual song is about large black penises (seriously, go look it up). When the internet noticed this, that helped give the ad more attention.
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You probably can't site the original artist without re-searching the internet, let alone give an accurate description of what the song is actually about. The "black penis" is your perverse interpretation, don't blame it on the internet. It's a bad commercial because it's a bad cover...
 
TheRainKing

TheRainKing

macrumors 6502a
Jun 11, 2012
999
535
kas23 said:
I'm thoroughly unimpressed with Apple's in-house advertising people. This "chicken fat" song is disgusting. I don't care if it has nothing to do with "chicken fat" but the song is just a turn-off. Second, the "what would your verse" narrator, whoever he may be, sounds like he's about to die. Just a very grating, unpleasant voice. I don't know what they were thinking.
Click to expand...

I've been unimpressed with most of Apple's ads since Steve Jobs died. I can only think of two that I liked, 'Piano' and 'Bounce'. What do those two ads have in common? They were simple and fun.
 
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MartiNZ

MartiNZ

macrumors 65816
Apr 10, 2008
1,222
125
Auckland, New Zealand
mrxak said:
I cringe every time that Chicken Fat ad comes on, but I'm not sure how much I'd put stock in what a group that has a vested interest in the major ad agencies says about Apple's in-house ads.
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Someone had to say something about chicken stock ... that's all :D.

I actually stopped watching Apple ads after the ridiculous Siri series, and they're really easy to avoid here as there is no Apple presence in NZ, so pretty much only the phone ads get through; I can't even remember seeing a TV piece for iPad, and from the sounds of it, I'm better off not seeing them lately.

The Mac vs PC ads were great, and the much older Apple ads, steamroller and the like, were powerful in an era when they had to be. The iDevice ads tend to be so sentimental as to be cringy across the board, so I'm happy enough without :).
 
T

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
Some people have it, and some don't

Apple has better skill in certain areas, but trying to do it in-house (probably to save money), Apple jumps in the deep end without being able to swim.

Netflix on the other hand :)

Frisco said:
Those got old very quickly. Nothing will ever match their "Think Different" campaign.
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So do these. Apple has to bombard us with stuff after stuff.

The Mac vs PC ads were comedy like.... but the problem with Apple is if they like anything regardless of what the public things, they'll do it anyway, and make as much noise as possible,

You give them a dummy and they spit it out.

*umm. kinda like me actually*
 
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