The thing about Apple marketing
“That’s the thing about Apple marketing. They don’t talk about how many gigabytes of memory or how many CPU cycles or how many apps (much). They aim for your heart, and show you how technology can make your life better during its most important moments.”—Gina Trapani, via Daring Fireball
While I also think the new FaceTime video on apple.com is well-done and emotionally affecting, I’m going to call hogwash on the assertion that Apple marketing aims for the heart.
More precisely, I think Apple’s marketing attempts to give you a certain perspective on the product, so you can see yourself owning it.
The “I’m a Mac” ads have a good second-place strategy. First they’d say “I’m a Mac”, “I’m a PC”, which suggests that there are two categories you can identify with. Next they demonstrate some key difference between the two, and then the user is left with the question, “Which am I?” PC users are compelled to switch because they don’t want to be like John Hodgman’s character. Mac users stay Mac users.
(By the way, these ads are no longer being produced. I think that’s because personal computers are not the devices people identify with anymore. Now they identify with their phones and maybe their tablets.)
iPod ads were the most clever. Those dancing silhouettes holding iPods serve three purposes:
- They hold the iPod in their hands.
- They enjoy the music that’s playing.
- They’re silhouettes, so you insert yourself in their place. Bada bing.
Now take the finger-centric iPhone ads and the lap-oriented iPad ads. They’re in first-person. The viewer thinks, “That could be my finger, my lap, my kid’s hands, etc. I could be looking up a restaurant while on a call with my iPhone.” As with the iPod, you put yourself into the ad.
In response to the prior post: There are faces in these ads, but they’re on the iPhone’s screen when, at the end, the invisible user answers a call. After the viewer begins to identify as the user, that phone call makes the personal connection. It’s the punchline.
