Apple Releases New 'Get a Mac', iPod Touch, and iPod Nano Ads

[flooce]

I miss adds on the advantages of OS X.
Like Screenshot would be easy to do... Mac guy takes a Pic with a polaroid (or other) and puts it in an envelope, PC guy makes a picture with an old camera, puts it on a canvas (MS Paint) crops it there, makes a copy of it in a copy machine and then puts in an envelope.
well you see, i am not a marketing person, but I am sure one can bring across the easy-to-use-factor better.

 

[mr.steevo]

They seemed to be in such a strong position back then, having delegated hardware production to other companies that resold their operating system. Now it's looking more like their achilles heel, since those companies have "raced to the bottom" and don't have the margins for actual innovation on the hardware side - and, meanwhile, Microsoft isn't in a position to do much about it, since they willingly gave that half of the industry away to others.

Good point. I hadn't thought about it, really, but that does have some merit as to why the PC side has been sliding downward with profits while Apple continues to make gains in leaps.

s.

 

[Konstanty]

Am I the only one around here who wonders why every time Apple releases a new TV ad it's treated like a real news item?

 

[Bjohnson33]

The point of an ad is to SELL the item, not be entertained. If you want entertainment watch late night TV

Isn't it possible to sell an item while being entertaining? Who would want to watch ads that aren't entertaining in the least?

 

[MICMAC247]

hate to break it to you kid, but most of the world wants to SEE the product in action, not be talk to by a guy whos still a virgin and another who had too many big macs.

The point of an ad is to SELL the item, not be entertained. If you want entertainment watch late night TV

I respectfully disagree with you here. The point of an ad is to gather interest or create a "buzz" around a specific product or brand. You see marketing strategy like this all the time. A lot of commercials you see on TV go even a step further and are completely irrelevant to the product until their logo get's slapped on the screen at the very end.

To effectively market something, you have to create interest, and feel that Apple is doing this very effectively with these "get a mac ads". You have a recognizable actor (Justin Long) who has appeared in several movies targeted at 18-24 year olds, some whitty humor, and just enough talk about the products to spark some interest.

Maybe these commercials make you say "hey I'm going to go check that out!" Or maybe they don't. However, it must be effective because the numbers don't lie. Apple has a very loyal consumer base, and that's reflected in their increasing sales numbers (even during a recession) since these ads were launched.

And the goal is to get these people into their stores where they can "SEE" the products, and let their sales team there do the rest of the work.

 

[cnymike]

Apple isn't as innovative as they think

It's almost pitiful that Apple is poking fun at "PC". The iPod Nano's video capability aren't HD. Since when is standard definition video cutting edge? And FM radio? I've got an MPIO mp3 player that's 5 years old with FM.

Maybe Apple will really boggle our minds with an AM radio upgrade in the next revision.

Oh, one more thing... how about adding something really useful to the iPod Touch, like a camera that also does video recording. Now that's not really cutting edge either, but it would at least add something really useful to the touch.

 

[Bjohnson33]

It's too bad Apple spends so much money on these ads for a guy like Long who mumbles his lines so badly you can't understand what he's saying. The "h'lomamac" is bad enough, but listen to the garbled string of words toward the end, while Hodgman's lines are delivered crisply and professionally...If the director of the ads was a computer, it would be a PC for sure.

I've never had a problem understanding what Mac says. He speaks pretty casually, but I think that's the point - to make him seem laid back and cool, as opposed to PC, who is supposed to be very professional and business-like.

 

[*LTD*]

hate to break it to you kid, but most of the world wants to SEE the product in action, not be talk to by a guy whos still a virgin and another who had too many big macs.

The point of an ad is to SELL the item, not be entertained. If you want entertainment watch late night TV

WRONG. Don't be so obtuse and literal. Think in the abstract. Think in terms of everyday people. Don't think in terms of the geek/tech-head who hangs out on Mac forums on the ass-end of the net and can quote each feature of the product like they've designed it themselves. The average person doesn't want to hear any of that. Instead, for example, show me how I'll feel while using this product.

Entertainment IS selling. Often a simple image - without the actual product shown, is selling. Apple and anyone else usually only has a precious few seconds to get the viewer's attention, and a good bit of humour, a simple message, and a very CLEAR message, is all it takes. These ads have won numerous awards, and given the sharp rise in marketshare for Macs since 2006 (and domination of mindshare), they're working. The very notion of contrasting Apple with PC (and thus attempting to demean Windows/PCs) IS selling. You've got only a few seconds to get someone's attention. Apple does it wih humour, interesting personalities (the tech world's Odd Couple), and a quick contrast between Macs and generic PCs.

The world IS seeing the product in action. Justin Long is one product, and John Hodgman is the other. One of them appears to be having much more fun, far fewer headaches, and looks generally more clever than the other one. One = bliss and an easy experience, while the other = headaches for various reasons. Each Get a Mac ad has a particular focus. Sometimes it's viruses, other times it's ease of use. But each time, PC is on the losing end. That's the whole point. No need to go into details, just hammer home a simple message and hopefully get a chuckle out of the viewer, and more importantly, create brand familiarity, or rather, distinct associations between the brand and the alleged quality of experience.

Done. That's all it takes.

 

[coolfactor]

It's too bad Apple spends so much money on these ads for a guy like Long who mumbles his lines so badly you can't understand what he's saying. The "h'lomamac" is bad enough, but listen to the garbled string of words toward the end, while Hodgman's lines are delivered crisply and professionally...If the director of the ads was a computer, it would be a PC for sure.

Yah, this was an ad where they tried to cram too much stuff in.

 

[4D4M]

hate to break it to you kid, but most of the world wants to SEE the product in action, not be talk to by a guy whos still a virgin and another who had too many big macs.

The point of an ad is to SELL the item, not be entertained. If you want entertainment watch late night TV

Are you serious? Do yourself a favour, don't apply for a job in advertising any time soon!

 

[CPD_1]

still. dont try to change the subject. I know quite a bit about this stuff and trust me even that alone doesnt sell gicho

get to school the buss is waiting

Yeah, you sure know your stuff. Too bad the company is spelled "Geico" not "gicho". Get to school yourself.

 

[Chimpy]

I find these funny (in no small part because Hodges and Long are both funny) but it's time for a new campaign.

 

[Detlev]

Can someone list the games, in order, that are being played on the Touch?

 

[tk421]

The point of an ad is to SELL the item, not be entertained. If you want entertainment watch late night TV

Have you seen very many ads in the last 20 years or so?

 

[PlayUltimate]

hate to break it to you kid, but most of the world wants to SEE the product in action, not be talk to by a guy whos still a virgin and another who had too many big macs.

The point of an ad is to SELL the item, not be entertained. If you want entertainment watch late night TV

Be sure to remind everybody of that on Super Bowl Sunday.

 

[twoodcc]

the new getamac ad isn't that great to me. but i do like the nano ad

 

[Target362]

Those who are sceaming at me stop. How old are you? 15?

 

[alent1234]

They finally made another Get a Mac that doesn't mention viruses! MagSafe is definitely a great little detail - shows how much Apple pays attention to the small stuff. I've tripped over the cord a few times in the years that I've had my MacBook, and MagSafe works great!



Well, I've never seen a product that did ship bug-free. Any computer science class will tell you that maintenance updates are a normal part of the software development cycle. Snow Leopard was hardly a beta.. it's definitely better than Leopard and none of the bugs were critical (just Flash was.. odd). Kudos to Apple for getting 10.6.1 out the door so fast.

And hardware? You know you can get a Mac Pro configured with as much as two 2.93Ghz Quad-Core Xeon processors, 32GB of 1066MHz DDR3 processors, right? What are you doing that requires more than that?

all the Mac fanboys say that it's worth the money because it just works and there are no bugs on it. when it's true and when i can boot into a full 64bit kernel without tapping the keyboard i'll look at buying one

 

[NightwalkerUK]

Hmmm, im going to go against the grain here being a long time Mac user but being in the UK means we don't get to see these adverts and to be fair its probably a good thing as they wouldn't really sell many machines over this side of the pond.

Given how innovative Apple generally are with their products and how design/style is paramount these adverts really don't portray that at all.

Its probably the difference in advertising styles between the UK and the USA that really stands out to me.

 

[djellison]

I've tripped over the cord a few times in the years that I've had my MacBook, and MagSafe works great!

The only time it might have been useful for me - it just didn't work - it took the laptop off the desk. And as I've mentioned elsewhere - 3 laptops with Magsafe PSU's - and every single PSU has given me problems.

Another stereotype building ******** laden ad from Apple.

Woo.

 

[4D4M]

Those who are sceaming at me stop. How old are you? 15?

You're confusing screaming with LAUGHING!

 

[4D4M]

Hmmm, im going to go against the grain here being a long time Mac user but being in the UK means we don't get to see these adverts and to be fair its probably a good thing as they wouldn't really sell many machines over this side of the pond.

Given how innovative Apple generally are with their products and how design/style is paramount these adverts really don't portray that at all.

Its probably the difference in advertising styles between the UK and the USA that really stands out to me.

Might explain why only a few of them got translated into the Mitchell and Webb versions.

Not that we're any more sophisticated over here - look at the success of "Compare The Meerkat"!

 

[Mazda 3s]

These commercials are getting oohhhhh so tired and boring. What Apple really needs to do is hire:

 

[Detlev]

These commercials are getting oohhhhh so tired and boring. What Apple really needs to do is hire:

http://i27.tinypic.com/1199d77.jpg

For the uninitiated, who is it?

 

[4D4M]

all the Mac fanboys say that it's worth the money because it just works and there are no bugs on it. when it's true and when i can boot into a full 64bit kernel without tapping the keyboard i'll look at buying one

I've never heard anyone say there are "no bugs" in OS X. Any OS is (quite rightly) a constantly evolving work in progress, so you'll be waiting a long time if you're holding out for all the bugs to be squashed.