Anti-Vista Marketing at Apple Stores

[whatever]

Yeah, I've always felt the best way to switch a non-Mac user is to show them what's so nice about using a Mac, not belittle their current choice of operating system.

I find the campaign amusing if nothing else. However, the average PC user does not have a choice when they buy a computer. It comes pre-installed with Windows.
Take a quick survey and a PC user (not a Mac user) if they choose their OS. A majority would say "no" that it just came with their computer.

Granted, people who buy Macs really don't have a choice either, however a majority buy a Mac because they like the OS (and they will tell you so).

 

[berniemac]

Marketing 101

Guys... this is basic marketing. First, Apple has the minority market position and therefore should attack the market leader. Second, many people are considering whether to upgrade to Vista. What better time to offer an alternative? Could you imaging how boring these commercials would be if they were nice, politically correct comparisons of OSX and Vista? Who would even care or pay attention? (think Snickers)

And, finally, the commercials are accurate because Vista blows! I'm a Windows developer and installed several of the betas and the first released version two months ago. I finally had to uninstall it because I couldn't get any work done on my brand new high end Dell with an X1800 graphics card. UAC is a joke. The first thing I did was figure out how to disable it. That's why the latest "Security" commercial is so funny.. because it's true! I can only imagine the Apple marketing people laughing their asses off as they try out Vista. They probably have another 30 of these commercials lined up.

But I'm sure you all know more about marketing then Apple does.

 

[ManchesterTrix]

It won't be Microsoft Office. That is the killer app.

Only in the Windows world, The "Killer App" status of Office is due to Exchange and Access, neither of which are present in Mac's Office suite. MS Office's popularity in the OS X world is due entirely to name recognition and a lack of recognized competition. Apple could easily take care of the latter, and while the former would present a challenge, it's not unsurmountable especially if MS pulled Office support for the OS X.

 

[TheBobcat]

Man, the MS apologists came out in FORCE today. Monkey Man must be paying double to post on this one.

 

[Timpdude]

So many of the people that go into an Apple store already know what they are there for. I don't know that there are many folks that walk in there with the idea of .. hum.. am I going to switch today?!?!?! I just think that they will walk in.. chuckle at the antivista stuff and buy their Mac. I walked into a mac store for the first time knowing exactly what it was that i wanted. these guys have been converted prior to walking in. I just don't see the big deal here.

 

[uNext]

Funny how apple claims microsoft is nothing compared to them. But are spending millions on ads to make you believe it.

lol

Microsoft is up there and its not coming down. I DONT SEE
hospitals, nasa, goverment etc. Going with mac os x
at the end of the day microsoft is far superior on alot of stuff
apple lacks... and apple is great on what microsoft lacks they balance each other out.

 

[Shanesan]

($600 Dells are quite popular)

$600 Dells WERE quite popular. Those won't run Vista's super-special pretty "Aero" though!

Expect a severe increase in Dell prices once Vista is in the mainstream, eating up XP positions.

 

[EagerDragon]

I did a search on Amazon, and their are 23 different choices to choose from when you want to buy Vista. Microsoft must have hired marketing geniuses from AOL to do their selling .

The product developement of Vista wasn't headed by a creative and imaginative team of software engineers, rather it was headed by MBA hacks. Is this good for the shareholder? Innovation is always preffered IMHO.

Cinch

Right on.... There are two versions of Tiger, desktop and server (unlimited and 10 users), thats it!

We do need a 5 user server license, to compete with the home server MS is promoting.

 

[nagromme]

So many of the people that go into an Apple store already know what they are there for. I don't know that there are many folks that walk in there with the idea of .. hum.. am I going to switch today?!?!?! I just think that they will walk in.. chuckle at the antivista stuff and buy their Mac. I walked into a mac store for the first time knowing exactly what it was that i wanted. these guys have been converted prior to walking in. I just don't see the big deal here.

Actually around half of Macs sold in Apple Stores are to FIRST-time Mac buyers: switchers from Windows. The Apple Stores have a big role to play in explaining why Mac is better than Windows.

 

[TheBobcat]

Funny how apple claims microsoft is nothing compared to them. But are spending millions on ads to make you believe it.

lol

Microsoft is up there and its not coming down. I DONT SEE
hospitals, nasa, goverment etc. Going with mac os x
at the end of the day microsoft is far superior on alot of stuff
apple lacks... and apple is great on what microsoft lacks they balance each other out.

Ummm...kids....drugs are baaad... M'kay?

 

[uNext]

Ummm...kids....drugs are baaad... M'kay?

Can you please be more specific?


Wether you like it or not what apple is today is thanks to them giving on microsoft and supporting it on both the iPod and their computers.

You did not see market share gains before they where mac only.

Truth is truth and please eloborate on why you think i am on drugs.

 

[TheBobcat]

Eh, I think my post speaks for itself.

 

[Queso]

Actually around half of Macs sold in Apple Stores are to FIRST-time Mac buyers: switchers from Windows. The Apple Stores have a big role to play in explaining why Mac is better than Windows.

The Apple Stores are the #1 reason for Apple's resurgence. Before they started selling directly into malls and major retail locations, nobody could see their products in action. Once people could, people bought.

 

[reubs]

Horrible idea. This just reminds me of the coke/pepsi debate in which Coke just puts out their polar bears and sells a product but Pepsi decides to make a stink about how much better it is...but in this case, neither Apple or MS is Coke. They are both Pepsi, and it's incredibly annoying and childish.

Quit belittling MS, release iLife/iWork 07 and put Leopard out there.

[napoleon dynamite]Gosh.[/napoleon dynamite]

 

[Shanesan]

I DONT SEE hospitals, nasa, goverment etc. Going with mac os x at the end of the day microsoft is far superior

They're operating on me with VISTA?! No wonder the surgery mortality rate is so high.

NASA uses their own operating systems....

The Government needs a couple cuts in spending anyway.

 

[oldwatery]

Quit belittling MS, release iLife/iWork 07 and put Leopard out there.

Yes, yes and yes

 

[TMay]

I laugh

Seriously, I question some concern trolls here that flatly state that they stayed away from macs because "blah, blah, blah".

Either OSX and Mac hardware is better at what you need or it isn't. If it isn't, then don't buy.

Don't like the ads, the t-shirts, heck, don't like the iPod domination? Then don't buy.

Don't like the trashing of Vista? Then don't buy.

Afraid you might be seen as a fanboy? Then don't buy.

Apple is a consumer product company. They make things, lots of times very different than the competitors, and they market differently.

This is not news, so stop with the bedwetting everytime Apple comes out with a new marketing campaign.

 

[Superdrive]

Funny how apple claims microsoft is nothing compared to them. But are spending millions on ads to make you believe it.

lol

Microsoft is up there and its not coming down. I DONT SEE
hospitals, nasa, goverment etc. Going with mac os x
at the end of the day microsoft is far superior on alot of stuff
apple lacks... and apple is great on what microsoft lacks they balance each other out.

I hardly believe that Apple is going for "hospitals, nasa, government" with its staff uniforms, but if that is what you want to believe...

BTW got a link to where Apple claimed MS is nothing?

 

[Spritey]

$600 Dells WERE quite popular. Those won't run Vista's super-special pretty "Aero" though!

Expect a severe increase in Dell prices once Vista is in the mainstream, eating up XP positions.

The people who buy a $600 computer probably doesn't care about the fancy effects though, that's why they will get Vista light (whatever it's called). The main point is that the only OS they can choose is Vista (since XP is discontinued I believe)

 

[schm1822]

Horrible Marketing Idea

First off, Vista is NOT that difficult to install. I had NO problems whatsoever and I love it. Second, this marketing strategy only shows Apple's fear of Microsoft. Personally, I think that it is a bad idea to really beat this marketing idea to the ground. Apple Inc. is doing just fine, there is no need to push it. I respect Apple and enjoy the wide variety of products they have to offer. Present your products as you always did and you will continue to have a steady flow of confident customers. I do agree that this marketing strategy does seem as if Apple is FULL OF ITSELF.

 

[EagerDragon]

After bill (yes lower case), stated that Apple gets broken every day, maybe we need to get the guys at 1 vulnerability a day to go after Vista. Nah, they will do that anyway once Vista have enough market share to deserve attention, LOL.

Kick them in the chin Apple, full speed ahead. Time to bring the giant down, we are not likely to see a MS-Office except for the 2008 one, and none after that anyway.

Apple has a lot of market growth to do, it can use a doubling of Mac's per years before it hurts M$ bottom line for a lot.

BTW, looks like Leopard and iLife will be package together, I seen now a few statements from Apple where they mention both in the same sentence (new rumor).

 

[superfunkomatic]

BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD Marketing idea!

Never directly confront a competitor that is so much larger than you head-on. All Apple has to do is keep releasing hardware and OS's that are strong enough to speak for themselves.

Lets anger MS some more, maybe they will pull the plug on Office then, as they did with IE and Windoze Media. (which although I dont really like any of those products, they are necessary evils. If MS ever dropped Office, alot of us would be forced to become "switch-back-ers"

actually, it IS a good idea to go head on with the biggest company - first rule of marketing, target the company who has the largest share of the market - i.e. microsoft.

OS 10.5 is basically in final development, so they're ready with a new product. rather than a so-called "giant" leap forward to vista, 10.5 will be a continuation, or evolution of the operating system - less learning curve, more of the same features refined. people still don't understand the windows desktop analogy, switching to another new way of doing things will make it difficult to adopt in a large corporate setting - more training! more money!

microsoft isn't going to "pull the plug on office" any time soon for any reason, they make a lot of money on the mac office market - research shows they make more per capita on the mac user market than windows (since it comes bundled with a lot of builds from manufacturers).

plus i'm not sure i understand why everyone gets their back up about these commercials, they are playing on themes that windows users experience all the time - difficult to find/use features, viruses, difficulty with upgrades - i think they're good natured ribbing rather than snarky.

 

[thunderclap]

That's great, but the best anti-vista marketing would be a release of Leopard.

For Mac and PC.

 

[Shanesan]

First off, Vista is NOT that difficult to install. I had NO problems whatsoever and I love it. [...] I do agree that this marketing strategy does seem as if Apple is FULL OF ITSELF.

On the contrary, I had many issues installing. I had to upgrade the drivers on at least two pieces of hardware after a looooong annoying wait for it to check through the hardware. It actually sort of pissed me off, waiting 15 minutes just to see "VISTA CANNOT BE INSTALLED DUE TO OLD DRIVERS ON THE FOLLOWING:" ...Pissed me the **** off.

Then when I finally got it installed, I had the same original issues from XP! I had a broken start bar, and guess what? It was still broken after the upgrade. You'd think they'd overwrite stuff to upgrade. Oh no!

So I used it for about 10 minutes, said "Aero is pretty, the glass effects are nice...", and then went back to my Macbook Pro.

In short, I don't like it. Apple has the right to speak the truth, because thats what the majority of people are experiencing.

I shouldn't have to update all my drivers (if it's not broken, don't fix it) just to install an operating system. Thats controlling, and the last thing I want is a controlling operating system or chip in my computer.

 

[Yvan256]

Never directly confront a competitor that is so much larger than you head-on.

I'm sorry but I have a case to tell you about: Coke vs Pepsi. Now I don't know if it's true, but it sure seems plausible.

At first, there was Coca-cola. Then came along the little new cola guy, Pepsi. At first, Coke ignored them. But when Pepsi became big enough (like, stealing 5-10% of their market) Coca-cola started campaigns about how "Coca-cola is better than Pepsi."

That marketing came back to bite them since 90-95% of the market never heard of Pepsi before that. Pepsi is now considered a strong #2 on the market, with much more than 5-10%.

The way Apple acts now is to try and shake Microsoft into making "anti-Leopard" marketing. That way, people who don't even know about alternatives to Windows Vista will start to wonder what that "Apple Leopard thing" is all about.

Since Apple are the little guys, they got nothing to lose by making puns at Vista, everyone knows Vista (good or bad). But Microsoft will have to either ignore them, or counter-attack by making puns at Leopard.