'Planet of the Apps' Star Gary Vaynerchuk Blames Show's Failure on Apple's Poor Marketing

[MacRumors]

Entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, who starred in Apple's first original TV show "Planet of the Apps" as a mentor and investor, recently shared some insight into why he thinks the show ultimately failed, blaming Apple's marketing efforts.

Vaynerchuk made the comments in a recent episode of AskGaryVee, where he spoke with The Grill Dads from Food Network (via Business Insider). In the video, Vaynerchuk says that Apple did "everything" wrong when marketing "Planet of the Apps," and that he sat through Apple marketing meetings metaphorically "bleeding profusely from his mouth" from biting his cheeks to keep quiet on Apple's decisions.

Vaynerchuk's "Planet of the Apps" comments begin right around 27 minutes into the video.​

I was on an Apple show, right? Planet of the Apps? Gwyneth, Will, Jessica Alba, and me and Apple didn't use me or Vayner[Media] to do the marketing and did EVERYTHING wrong. Apple. [...]

I don't trust anybody in marketing today. And I feel like when you have the misfortune of also knowing production and marketing you're sitting there -- and I did the same thing -- for all my bravado, I'm a real tough guy when it's in my home, this is my home. When I do content, it's my home. But when I'm in somebody else's house, I was taught to show respect.

You'd be blown away by the way I handled myself in the Apple marketing meetings. My cheeks were bleeding profusely out of every meeting because I was biting them. My tongue completely fell out of my mouth. You're also there with Jimmy Iovine and Jimmy is like 'I got it, we got it,' and I knew he wasn't in the trenches, I know Jimmy's no dope, clearly, but I was like f**k this.

Vaynerchuk didn't go into specific detail on what he thought Apple did wrong, but he did say that he felt Jimmy Iovine was not involved enough in the marketing of the show. Apple limited "Planet of the Apps" to its Apple Music subscribers as a perk, which undoubtedly had an impact on its popularity, but given the response to the show, it's doubtful more expansive marketing would have improved the ultimate outcome.

"Planet of the Apps" launched in the summer of 2017 and received rather mixed reviews. Engadget, for example, called it Planet of the Naps and said it was lousy TV, The Guardian said it "won't be a fun watch for anyone except maybe venture capitalists," and Variety said it was a "bland, tepid, barely competent knock-off of 'Shark Tank.'"

The unscripted series was meant to be about apps and the developers who make them. It featured several app developers who pitched different app ideas for a chance to be mentored by influencers and entrepreneurs that included Vaynerchuk, Gwyneth Paltrow, Will.i.am, and Jessica Alba.

Mentors helped their chosen candidates build out their apps and prepared them to ask for funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners.

"Planet of the Apps" wasn't universally hated and some viewers did enjoy it as it earned 3.5 stars on iTunes, but unlike Apple's second original TV show, "Carpool Karaoke: The Series," "Planet of the Apps" did not get renewed for a second season and Apple has not continued on with the series.

Article Link: 'Planet of the Apps' Star Gary Vaynerchuk Blames Show's Failure on Apple's Poor Marketing

 

[Raindrop2309]

the show sucked.

 

[itsmilo]

Well for one thing it seems utterly stupid and random to stream tv shows on Apple MUSIC. Sort of the same reason I am impressed that original shows are still a thing on YouTube but at least that is actually about videos I guess

 

[Bornee35]

planet of the what now

 

[Appleaker]

This is true. Many people (especially in the tech community) say it was simply a bad show, but they’re people happen to not fit into the target audience and viewed the show as Apples touted competitive original content designed to go against Netflix and Amazon.
The same things were said about Carpool Karaoke by the same people. At least that’s a show where visible viewing figures on YouTube disprove that.

 

[jmh600cbr]

blame everyone except yourself

 

[jrlcopy]

lol didn't everyone stop taking GaryVeee seriously when he became a spokesman for all those get rich quick schemes?

 

[TimmeyCook]

Apple should had muffle it more.

No, it wasn’t Apple marketing, and he never was in a successful show and never will be.

 

[lah]

That guy is exhausting. Needs to relax a bit.

 

[seatton]

So you blame everyone, but yourself. Typical loser.

 

[KernelG]

This is true. Many people think it was a bad show, and those people happen to not fit into the target audience and viewed the show as Apples touted competitive original content designed to go against Netflix.

Or that target demo was just too small. I can only speak for myself (crazy on the internet, I know), but I had no interest in the show, I thought the cringeworthy name telegraphed even lower expectations, and it didn't matter who was starring in it. The marketing had no effect either way.

I am looking forward to some of the other announced shows, however, especially Foundation.

 

[fuchsdh]

Guy who sells marketing services blames failure of something on failure to use his marketing services. news at 11.

 

[w5jck]

Looks like it was probably a sucky show. No amount of advertising will help if that is the case. To be honest, most of the shows on TV and streaming services suck. I'm not surprised if people are just getting tired of the garbage being pushed into their faces as though it was quality TV. Maybe the guy should blame himself rather than everyone else...

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

The show failed because:

Gary Vaynerchuk is annoying. Nobody can figure out what he does or why he thinks he is the man. Whenever his videos come up on social media I just hit the 'Report' button and choose the 'Spam' or 'Scam' option.

Gwyneth Paltrow is privileged out-of-touch rich chick who used her fame to build a brand that defrauds women and encourages women to be stupid by selling complete quackery like Jade Eggs to strengthen their vaginas.

Same as above with Jessica Alba. So far this casting is a disaster and would offend most real entrepreneurs who had no fame and worked to the bone from poverty.

Then we add Will.I.Am to the mix. Overexposed, overrated, overpaid, and has an annoying name.

The only way this show could have been a bigger failure would be to add Ashton Kutcher to the mix.

 

[Elijen]

Wienerchuck literally gets money for ********ting people. I hate that guy.

 

[HiRez]

Also one minor factor could be that everything about the show just completely sucked.

 

[craigmak]

Show would have been better with Will, Jessica, and two other people with VC backing who wanted to help people, not just be in it for the cash.

 

[swm]

dunno. there's the appstore, where you can buy stuff. and if there's an issue with getting your app to the first page of results, then i don't quite get it how it would help to have any kind of show with whoever may the host be, to fix this. why would anyone hope that the (so called) biased app-store positioning would be any different in a pre-recorded show done by the very same company.

anyway, who watches stuff like this? regardless whether on apple music or wherever it is available... TV shop for apps?

 

[wigby]

Entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, who starred in Apple's first original TV show "Planet of the Apps" as a mentor and investor, recently shared some insight into why he thinks the show ultimately failed, blaming Apple's marketing efforts.

Vaynerchuk made the comments in a recent episode of AskGaryVee, where he spoke with The Grill Dads from Food Network (via Business Insider). In the video, Vaynerchuk says that Apple did "everything" wrong when marketing "Planet of the Apps," and that he sat through Apple marketing meetings metaphorically "bleeding profusely from his mouth" from biting his cheeks to keep quiet on Apple's decisions.

Vaynerchuk's "Planet of the Apps" comments begin right around 27 minutes into the video.​

Vaynerchuk didn't go into specific detail on what he thought Apple did wrong, but he did say that he felt Jimmy Iovine was not involved enough in the marketing of the show. Apple limited "Planet of the Apps" to its Apple Music subscribers as a perk, which undoubtedly had an impact on its popularity, but given the response to the show, it's doubtful more expansive marketing would have improved the ultimate outcome.

"Planet of the Apps" launched in the summer of 2017 and received rather mixed reviews. Engadget, for example, called it Planet of the Naps and said it was lousy TV, The Guardian said it "won't be a fun watch for anyone except maybe venture capitalists," and Variety said it was a "bland, tepid, barely competent knock-off of 'Shark Tank.'"

The unscripted series was meant to be about apps and the developers who make them. It featured several app developers who pitched different app ideas for a chance to be mentored by influencers and entrepreneurs that included Vaynerchuk, Gwyneth Paltrow, Will.i.am, and Jessica Alba.

Mentors helped their chosen candidates build out their apps and prepared them to ask for funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners.

"Planet of the Apps" wasn't universally hated and some viewers did enjoy it as it earned 3.5 stars on iTunes, but unlike Apple's second original TV show, "Carpool Karaoke: The Series," "Planet of the Apps" did not get renewed for a second season and Apple has not continued on with the series.

Article Link: 'Planet of the Apps' Star Gary Vaynerchuk Blames Show's Failure on Apple's Poor Marketing

The only problem I have with his comments is that right now, hundreds of other talent and actors are saying the same thing about their own productions too. They think they know better but they don't speak up either and cash the check. I have no problem with Vaynerchuk and I'm sure he's smart but his criticism after the fact really do invalidate his opinion on the subject of Apple TV show production entirely.

 

[Corrode]

Or that target demo was just too small. I can only speak for myself (crazy on the internet, I know), but I had no interest in the show, I thought the cringeworthy name telegraphed even lower expectations, and it didn't matter who was starring in it. The marketing had no effect either way.

I am looking forward to some of the other announced shows, however, especially Foundation.

Who do you think came up with the name for the show?

 

[iisdan]

It was incredibly boring, the hosts were ****. I couldn't even make it through one episode

 

[swm]

people are just getting tired of the garbage being pushed into their faces as though it was quality TV.

and this guy was like: marketing can fix everything (crappy product, service) but here marketing wasn't good enough... like it would turn **** into gold. meh.

 

[gnipgnop]

Marketing? I don't think Netflix or Amazon really do that much marketing for the majority of their shows. If you use their service, you see new shows popping up in the content lists that you browse. If you don't use their service, it's not going to matter much.

 

[Kaibelf]

His explanation doesn’t hold water. He says he felt very strongly about it yet failed to vocalize anything, then implies he should be given a pat on the back for not doing anything. And if he felt like it was a waste of time why did he bother to keep going? It sounds a little like he wanted to be the face of things more than he was. And the show wasn’t particularly strong, but hindsight quarterbacks who helped it fail don’t deserve a trophy.

 

[mi7chy]

No amount of marketing could've saved a terrible idea.