Adidas Pulls iAd Due to Approval Process?

[DarkKnightNine]

Idiots!

With a $258B market cap, 10M is 0.003% of that. I'm NOT an Apple fanboy, and I see where everyone sees this as having a huge effect, but we've all seen this a million times, where Apple's (Steve's) huge ego rejects something for not being Apple enough, and in the end, Apple ends up prospering from it. Look at how many hundreds of millions went into iPad R&D...three years of thousands of multi-touch screens ordered, various devices "not good enough" to meet Steve's standards. They could have launched iPad in '07 or '08 if they wanted to rush it, but they took their time and now look at what it has done to the industry. Apple's "approval" processes are SUPER rigorous. iAd, on the whole, has been undeniably successful, and one $10M client who isn't willing to try more than three times to get it right isn't going to bother Apple shareholders because they value Apple's ability to achieve massive earnings by rejecting all the "almost-good-enough" stuff.

Wow! It took Apple 3 years to make the iPhone larger and thinner? In that case Apple execs are absolute idiots! There is nothing revolutionary about the iPad. I own both the iPad 3G and an iPhone 4 and most of the time I think to myself why the hell do I need both. One or the other is good enough to meet of my mobile internet needs. So taking your logic into account, Apple has become a large battleship that has a Captain that is too slow to give the order to make a turn and even when he does, it takes forever to make that turn. Perhaps losing $10M is the small pinch they need to wake up and realize a turn is coming up. If Captain Steve gives the order now, we might see positive change in the next few years before the iAds battleship runs aground.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Since it was announced that Apple is the 2nd largest company in the world, people have been out to tarnish their image. The truth is jealousy is a b**ch! Once you achieve a certain amount of success, the wolves come out. I'm not defending Apple's position, neither am I condemning them, but I do think we need to hear both sides of the story. Apple could have been fully within their rights to reject the ads.

That is your best comeback to this. Any client you is spending a huge chunks of money (7 figures+) general means you should bend over backwards for them. Loosing a 10million deal is pretty bad no matter how big your company is. Apple refused to give basic phone calls and tell them what is going wrong.

Now this is Apple pulling its standard BS. I also stand by the fact that I think Apple stock price is over valued. I expect it to drop quickly when SJ dies. Market size means nothing. So it is a very big market cap but that means nothing. It is just big. Only people who care about that fact are well fanboys. The rest of the world really does not care.

 

[samcraig]

Is there to increase the user experience to help earn them more money. It comparable to the App Store. It does make some profit, but not a lot. The important things it the value it adds to the iPhone.

Since it was announced that Apple is the 2nd largest company in the world, people have been out to tarnish their image. The truth is jealousy is a b**ch! Once you achieve a certain amount of success, the wolves come out. I'm not defending Apple's position, neither am I condemning them, but I do think we need to hear both sides of the story. Apple could have been fully within their rights to reject the ads.

I can only respond this: get real. Seriously???!

You can still love Apple and not like one or more things they do. Just sayin' - no one will judge you badly for it. They might even respect you more for admitting when they falter.

 

[DarkKnightNine]

Exactly what I was thinking. Well Said Arn.

Every outlet that publishes ads that takes any pride in its content can, and should, reject ads when they fail to meet standards. I've worked in advertising and can confirm that the process of creating and publishing results in plenty rejected ads. It's a daily part of the process.

If this were any other company or any other ad delivery system, it would be a non-story. But because it's Apple and iAds and Steve Jobs, people are going to read a lot more into this than they should.

Well said Arn.
We'll need to hear Apple's side of the story before any judgement can be passed. Besides Apple keeping stupid and/or poorly designed ads out of our faces should be looked at as a win situation for iPhone/iPad users.

 

[waiting4newmacs]

aye, steve!
who still thinks he's not a control freak?

 

[wikoogle]

I respect Apple and Steve Jobs for this.

I'm guessing the ad that Adidas wanted to put up was obstrusive and annoying or something of that sort.

There's not a lot of CEO's that would turn down 10 million dollars just to prevent their customers from having to deal with an annoying ad.

In fact, aside from Steve Jobs, I doubt any other CEO cares that much about their customer's experience with their products.

Well done Apple.

 

[samcraig]

I respect Apple and Steve Jobs for this.

I'm guessing the ad that Adidas wanted to put up was obstrusive and annoying or something of that sort.

There's not a lot of CEO's that would turn down 10 million dollars just to prevent their customers from having to deal with an annoying ad.

In fact, aside from Steve Jobs, I doubt any other CEO cares that much about their customer's experience with their products.

Well done Apple.

Well maybe you'll get lucky and Apple will start monitoring and monetizing the entire internet so they can control (for the end user's benefit of course) any ads you see via their devices. That way you can be spared such atrocities.

 

[DarkKnightNine]

Don't jump to conclusions...

I can only respond this: get real. Seriously???!

You can still love Apple and not like one or more things they do. Just sayin' - no one will judge you badly for it. They might even respect you more for admitting when they falter.

You get serious. Obviously you have never been at that level of success, so perhaps you may not understand. I've seen it a dozen times in my business, experienced it myself and seen it happen to friends and colleagues. The more successful you are, the more you are publicly scrutinized. Like I said I'm not defending Apple or it's iAd rejection policy but you are proving my point. You're ready to condemn them without even hearing their side of the story. Just like a lot of people did with the Adobe standoff until they hear Steve J. explain his side at the D8 conference.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I respect Apple and Steve Jobs for this.

I'm guessing the ad that Adidas wanted to put up was obstrusive and annoying or something of that sort.

There's not a lot of CEO's that would turn down 10 million dollars just to prevent their customers from having to deal with an annoying ad.

In fact, aside from Steve Jobs, I doubt any other CEO cares that much about their customer's experience with their products.

Well done Apple.

I strongly suggest you both read the article instead of prove to be mindless fanboys here.

It stated Apple never told Adidas why they were not approving the ad. Instead gave back disapproval and never really told why. Anything in the 6+ figure range much less than 8 figures range Adidas was going to spend should of had Apple making phone call and explaining exactly why they were disapproving it. Not just these blanket disapprovals. This is the same crap from the Aps store all over again....

Standard Apple BS here.

 

[waiting4newmacs]

I respect Apple and Steve Jobs for this.

I'm guessing the ad that Adidas wanted to put up was obstrusive and annoying or something of that sort.

There's not a lot of CEO's that would turn down 10 million dollars just to prevent their customers from having to deal with an annoying ad.

In fact, aside from Steve Jobs, I doubt any other CEO cares that much about their customer's experience with their products.

Well done Apple.

iAds a a little rectangle with little or no animation. If i don't like adidas, i don't touch it.

If i like adidas i touch it, if its annoying or bad (to execs opinions) its my fault not apple's.

They just lost 10 mil for, probably, a stupid reason.

steve and his immense ego.

but again we don't why it was rejected.

 

[samcraig]

You get serious. Obviously you have never been at that level of success, so perhaps you may not understand. I've seen it a dozen times in my business, experienced it myself and seen it happen to friends and colleagues. The more successful you are, the more you are publicly scrutinized. Like I said I'm not defending Apple or it's iAd rejection policy but you are proving my point. You're ready to condemn them without even hearing their side of the story. Just like a lot of people did with the Adobe standoff until they hear Steve J. explain his side at the D8 conference.

see Rodimus' post. I've been in PR/Marketing and Advertising for over 20 years. So I'll assert again - it cost the ADVERTISER more than the medium when a deal goes south. And if you keep pissing clients off or have the reputation of being difficult to work with - your business will suffer. I'm not talking Apple - I'm talking the iAd division.

And given how new the iAd division is - they should be making it the best experience for BOTH users and advertisers. Or they should get out of the game.

If a client is going to spend 10 mil - they are a customer. Just like your iPhone users. Treat them with respect.

What people in this thread are doing is praising Apple for looking after their customers. But if I pay for an Ad - that ALSO makes me a customer. And Apple should treat THEM with the same respect.

PS - do the math. A 10 million ad buy is a lot of "end users" profits on apps. The ecosystem should be good for all that enter into it.

 

[badmac78]

This is what happens when you dissect every comment and judge it through your mask of cynicism.

#imjustsayin



What does this have to do with skinny jeans, abnormal piercings and a ton of black makeup?

Not sure what you're trying to accomplish with the question. The comment was about content producers and the "pipe owners". And how there are plenty of control freaks about what goes where.

 

[MacinDoc]

Furthering Apple's rep for being hard to work with certainly won't contribute to the success of iAds.

 

[NSMonkey]

So why Apple is once again playing the Disney Thought Police card is beyond me.

I'm sorry, in what way does Apple play the "Disney Thought Police" card? By not selling porn? And of course the obvious followup: Do you accuse every company that doesn't sell porn of being "thought police"? I think we've been over this before...

But hey, they're free to shoot their own foot as much as they like.

Yes, clearly their highfalutin ideas about "improving user experience" are failing miserably.

 

[Mattsasa]

i have a question.

Where do you think apple will be ten years from now?

 

[NSMonkey]

Now this is Apple pulling its standard BS. I also stand by the fact that I think Apple stock price is over valued. I expect it to drop quickly when SJ dies. Market size means nothing. So it is a very big market cap but that means nothing. It is just big. Only people who care about that fact are well fanboys. The rest of the world really does not care.

Yes, all stock analysts are wrong and you are right. And everyone who invests in Apple does so not because the value of the stock has soared 3000% in the last 8 years, but because they are all fanboys. You make a compelling argument.

I strongly suggest you both read the article instead of prove to be mindless fanboys here.

It stated Apple never told Adidas why they were not approving the ad. Instead gave back disapproval and never really told why. Anything in the 6+ figure range much less than 8 figures range Adidas was going to spend should of had Apple making phone call and explaining exactly why they were disapproving it. Not just these blanket disapprovals. This is the same crap from the Aps store all over again....

Standard Apple BS here.

Clearly you did not read the article. It never states that Apple did not tell Adidas why the ads were rejected. That would be pretty bizarre, and something the source for the article would most likely mention. Don't you think?

 

[roadbloc]

iAds is user-centric, and purports to maintain a high-quality experience. That's the point of iAds.

That's strange... I thought the point of iAds was that it was meant to make money...

 

[NAG]

All I know is that I want to see what the ads would have been like. (Not taking sides here.)

 

[oldtaku]

Hey Adidas, perhaps you should listen.

Dear Adidas,

Yes, Steve is an evil controlling a@#hole. But he is also extremely good at extracting money from people who have too much of it.

So are you and Nike, but this is not your normal territory - this is not the same as print and television.

Perhaps you should listen to him and learn.

 

[MacInTO]

Perhaps iAds should just run Apple ads.

 

[294307]

It's unsurprising the amount of people here will believe word for word what the article (and article on BusinessInsider) states, without taking into account a lot of the times articles do not construe the full picture or truth and the fact that we never know the situation behind the story until we've seen it or heard the full truth (like getting a response from Apple - they probably won't comment on it since they may feel it's not for public consumption).

That said though, I think Apple cares more about great quality adverts as part of their iAd programme than getting $10 million and not giving a crap about the quality because there's money there. I think we can say the same for their iOS platform, they care more about user experience than approving an app because it may end up selling like a rocket; meaning more money for Apple. I think this is why Apple is more controlling than other companies, but we don't realise they do this with good intent and I'm sure they've learnt a lot on how to approach this, such as not out of the blue deleting apps from the App Store and giving clear guidelines to developers so they're in the know.

I think some people need to start thinking that "hey, I could be so wrong about this - so I'll keep open minded on all sides until I know the truth before I start posting crap here".

 

[CFreymarc]

Who cares. Runners where Asics!!!!!!!

You also have to remember that Nike has a very close relation with Apple. I would not be surprised if Nike had something to do with this at the boardroom level.

 

[TennisandMusic]

Yes, all stock analysts are wrong and you are right. And everyone who invests in Apple does so not because the value of the stock has soared 3000% in the last 8 years, but because they are all fanboys. You make a compelling argument.

I got news for you. My GF works for one of the wealthiest investment bankers around. "Analysts" don't know jack. It's all guessing and they lose just as much money as everyone else. Go read "The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read", by Solin. No one can beat the market over time. Period.

As far as Apple's stock success goes, a lot of it IS based on hype and marketing. Other companies make more money. Apple is simply "exciting" for the market right now. They don't even pay out dividends. In fact, it's based on hype so much so, that as soon as something happens to Steve Jobs, the value will take a nose dive into oblivion. I don't think arrogance about stock value is a good trait to be showing right now. Apple will experience a downfall, and probably sooner than some people think.

P.S. I am typing this on my new Mac Pro ;-)

 

[Hal Itosis]

I would call it arrogance. And that usually comes before the downfall.

Oh you're so right... "Apple is doomed."®
DOOMED i say!

</sarcasm>

 

[enjourni]

If I was an apple shareholder I'd be pretty pissed about this. Steve may be brilliant and apple on the rise but leaving money on the table for something as silly as this is really stupid. Why should failure of adidas' ads reflect poorly on apple? Just let them do their jobs, geez.