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Former Apple Ad Man Slams 'Genius' TV Spots as "Landing With A Thud"
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While it is hard to say the demise of Apple is at hand with ads, it is clear that things have changed and I am not sure for the better. This can be seen in not only ads, but certain wallpapers that made it in with Mountain Lion and bits here and there on their new products.
I like them a lot, refreshing.
here are some of my reasons:
- No company bashing of any kind
- I love Apple products, but it's nice to have a commercial without an incredibly fantastic new device
- The are simple and witty
- it's not insulting, because most people do need help with their computers
- it promotes a service that too few companies offer
- No celebrity in them
Not everyone is an Apple geek, I find the targeted customers are accurately depicted.
here are some of my reasons:
- No company bashing of any kind
- I love Apple products, but it's nice to have a commercial without an incredibly fantastic new device
- The are simple and witty
- it's not insulting, because most people do need help with their computers
- it promotes a service that too few companies offer
- No celebrity in them
Not everyone is an Apple geek, I find the targeted customers are accurately depicted.
The message I took from the ad is, "Our products are so complicated that you need a genius to help you do things that can be accomplished in just two or three steps."
That's a significant change for a company that prided itself on intuitiveness and ease of use.
That's a significant change for a company that prided itself on intuitiveness and ease of use.
I work for a commercial production company in Los Angeles. I'm going to keep it simple, these ads suck.
Rewatched the ads after reading about all this fuss.
Labor Day's the bad one.
Mayday is fine. It's quite funny. The guy who needs the help actually turns out to be 'getting it' very quickly and is eager to join in helping the next person. It's all very on-message about Macs and Apple's in-store customer service.
'Basically' is a bit ishy, but again the message is clear: accept no substitute. It's short and it's fine.
Labor Day is the one featuring the uncaring, idiot father-to-be, with whom the Genius is impatient and patronising, as well as pushing the still-in-work-uniform gag a bit too far.
They should quietly drop that one and quickly get out one or two more ads of reassuringly good quality. It's unfortunate (ill-judged?) that this is presented as the third of three, and the one you're left with when you watch them back-to-back, as most commenters have. (Rather unnaturally.)
Labor Day's the bad one.
Mayday is fine. It's quite funny. The guy who needs the help actually turns out to be 'getting it' very quickly and is eager to join in helping the next person. It's all very on-message about Macs and Apple's in-store customer service.
'Basically' is a bit ishy, but again the message is clear: accept no substitute. It's short and it's fine.
Labor Day is the one featuring the uncaring, idiot father-to-be, with whom the Genius is impatient and patronising, as well as pushing the still-in-work-uniform gag a bit too far.
They should quietly drop that one and quickly get out one or two more ads of reassuringly good quality. It's unfortunate (ill-judged?) that this is presented as the third of three, and the one you're left with when you watch them back-to-back, as most commenters have. (Rather unnaturally.)
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I prefer the ML wallpapers to the old. And there are PLENTY of decisions that made it into Lion (Duplicate vs. Save As, Restoring application windows, Finder sidebar ugliness, barely functional Launchpad) that seem very questionable. And Steve was around for that.
ML, however, IMO, is a much more solid, functional, piece of software that fixes quite a few of the things I hated about Lion. And Steve WASN'T here for that.
Okay, I watched all three. They're fine. My God. They're just commercials.
Some commercials are great, some are good, most barely register above background noise. Apple will have better commercials in the future.
A lot of companies try something new, then backpedal after negative reaction flows in. Here's the history of a popular Insurance company's mascot/spokesman:
They went back to what worked.
And if you think that weird 1984 artpiece was 'simple' or really told the story the consumer needed to hear, I provide you with a great parody of it from my favorite show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHMA5lwqt2s
Some commercials are great, some are good, most barely register above background noise. Apple will have better commercials in the future.
A lot of companies try something new, then backpedal after negative reaction flows in. Here's the history of a popular Insurance company's mascot/spokesman:
They went back to what worked.
And if you think that weird 1984 artpiece was 'simple' or really told the story the consumer needed to hear, I provide you with a great parody of it from my favorite show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHMA5lwqt2s
I actually thought the "Basically" one was the best, since it slammed the Ultrabooks without actually calling them out by name (or even showing one).
As for Segall, it sounds like he's just piling on for the publicity. The ads won't win any awards, but they weren't that bad. At the very least, they got attention. With Google and Samsung now copying Apple's advertising style (having copied everything else), it gets Apple a little bit more publicity.
Dear Apple
PLease hire me to replace the guy who made these ads. I have limited experience in marketing but I know I can do better because these ads make me NOT want to buy your products. They were poorly thought out. I thought I was watching a Staples or Geek-squad ad. You are better than this. Your marketing department is better than this. Why then is this a horrible campaign? If you want to move forward then think forward.
PLease hire me to replace the guy who made these ads. I have limited experience in marketing but I know I can do better because these ads make me NOT want to buy your products. They were poorly thought out. I thought I was watching a Staples or Geek-squad ad. You are better than this. Your marketing department is better than this. Why then is this a horrible campaign? If you want to move forward then think forward.
poor
SJ would have rejected these ads. They are not only bad and frenetic but they give the wrong messages.
They give the message that a mac user would need external help to achieve something simple with a mac. Why on earth do they choose to give that message to people ?? They show people that are completely freaked out and nervous after using or trying to use their mac. WTF ?? They should show people feeling good and relaxed about using their mac and what they can achieve with it.
On the "basically" ad, they give the message that it is easy for a buyer to mistake a mac for a pc. They should emphasize the contrary : it's easy to recognize a mac, it's impossible to confuse them.
Also this ad is showing the disappointment of a person that has been misled. IT is not a very beautiful thing to show... All this to remind people that the mac has iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band preinstalled ?
This is extremely difficult to understand. These ads are ads for the geniuses and not for apple. They put the mac down for the sake of promoting the role of the genius : the genuis help you make the right choice, the genius shows you how to do what you want to do... But did they have to trash the mac image to accomplish this ? OMG ! Who is the marketing executive at apple. Someone please fire him.
Also people speak too fast and say too many things. This is totally damaging the apple image.
SJ would have rejected these ads. They are not only bad and frenetic but they give the wrong messages.
They give the message that a mac user would need external help to achieve something simple with a mac. Why on earth do they choose to give that message to people ?? They show people that are completely freaked out and nervous after using or trying to use their mac. WTF ?? They should show people feeling good and relaxed about using their mac and what they can achieve with it.
On the "basically" ad, they give the message that it is easy for a buyer to mistake a mac for a pc. They should emphasize the contrary : it's easy to recognize a mac, it's impossible to confuse them.
Also this ad is showing the disappointment of a person that has been misled. IT is not a very beautiful thing to show... All this to remind people that the mac has iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band preinstalled ?
This is extremely difficult to understand. These ads are ads for the geniuses and not for apple. They put the mac down for the sake of promoting the role of the genius : the genuis help you make the right choice, the genius shows you how to do what you want to do... But did they have to trash the mac image to accomplish this ? OMG ! Who is the marketing executive at apple. Someone please fire him.
Also people speak too fast and say too many things. This is totally damaging the apple image.
Sorry, I have to agree that these ads are bad. Apple's ads have always had a feeling of calm confidence to them. These are panicky and convey that the only way you can get anything done on a Mac is if you have a genius sitting next to you.
For an example of a GOOD Apple ad that conveyed simplicity, look to the original iMac ads narrated by Jeff Goldblum. It doesn't get much better than saying "Presenting three easy steps to the Internet... There is no step three."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzM4avGrKI
For an example of a GOOD Apple ad that conveyed simplicity, look to the original iMac ads narrated by Jeff Goldblum. It doesn't get much better than saying "Presenting three easy steps to the Internet... There is no step three."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzM4avGrKI
I still think that should be the name of Adele's next album...(with the spelling changed)
I think these ads are indeed bad. But not everything apple did of commercials when Steve was boss were great either. Like the iphone mission impossible ad, I think that was rather cheesy and pretty bad idea. ANd there are multiple others like that on product releasees. I guess the worst about these are that it seems Apple was planning on making a serie of these the same way as the MAC vs. PC ads....but I doubt that will happen now.
They are a good start
Mayday was the weakest of the bunch. The other two were amusing and memorable. I liked them. If Apple continues with this series I can see them growing into something as memorable as the I'm a Mac ads.
All I can think is the focus should be on the FORMER Apple Ad Man, in the description of this guy. He's just pissed he's not in the game any more.
I liked the commercials
I liked the Genius character
I liked the actor.
Mayday was the weakest of the bunch. The other two were amusing and memorable. I liked them. If Apple continues with this series I can see them growing into something as memorable as the I'm a Mac ads.
All I can think is the focus should be on the FORMER Apple Ad Man, in the description of this guy. He's just pissed he's not in the game any more.
I liked the commercials
I liked the Genius character
I liked the actor.
That's the problem... they are just commericals. They don't provide any entertainment or buzz value or any reason to remember them at all. TiVO FF material. I'm sure it's not what Apple intended when it forked over the bucks to air them.
But the money spent was also pocket change. However Apple would do well to get a new vetting committee. Maybe a new ad firm too. This should be a "teachable moment" for Tim Cook.
Looks like a Best Buy Geek Squad ad.
Doesn't show the product. Tells the ugly consumer they need help from a geek to use the product.
Meanwhile Samsung is running ads showing beautiful people, using a beautiful product, doing new things in seconds.
Doesn't show the product. Tells the ugly consumer they need help from a geek to use the product.
Meanwhile Samsung is running ads showing beautiful people, using a beautiful product, doing new things in seconds.
I think these ads are horrible. They are way off the mark. They don't feel like apple at all. I am not even sure the message that they are trying to convey. I get that they are saying apple geniuses can help you but they show nothing about the products except that they are potentially confusing and you will need someone to help you...