That new Mac ad.

[Asher]

My analysis is dead-on, because god damnit, I just happen to be right.

You should be lucky I'm not entering the marketing business, because by the looks of it, nobody there knows what the hell they're doing.

"Marketing communications" can kiss my ass. You're talking about a field that revolves around simplistic psychology, jingles, and images. Don't overcomplicate things.

There are many problems with this ad campaign, starting with the fact that they chose a very likeable, affable up-and-coming comedian as the role of the PC and a washed-up smarmy guy no one likes as the Mac. There are problems with it from the start, and it only gets worse by some of the subject matter they choose without thinking it through (eg: the OP in this thread). The problem here is people in the marketing field, by and large, cannot think critically. You still have not comprehended why your argument that "it's effective 'cause it has Apple's name in it and it increased sales!" holds no water, mainly 'cause sales were increasing before the ad. I even spelled this out with an example a child could not understand, but you apparently missed it.

They're an awful set of ads that, as this thread demonstrates, no one likes except ad-men who are high on their field ("IT'S SO COMPLICATED!! TWUST MEEEE!!"), who just happen to be diehard Mac users.

I would use something inane like "QED" here, but as I actually have an understanding of what it means, I won't use it incorrectly as you have.

[Asher]

And now for the brief version

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Actually, I can point to the higher sales.

Prove it.

New poducts are not self-sustaining.

The Mac was a new product twenty-two years ago.

[Elok]

Eh, I would say the ad "succeeded" just by getting people to talk about Macs, even if only to say they hate that damned commercial. I imagine an ad would have to be blatantly offensive, to the point of prompting a boycott or an FCC crackdown, to hurt its brand more than it helped. And even that's a maybe.

Look at those godawful Carrot Top ads for AT&T. Those were (are? I hope not) far, FAR worse than Mac Guy and PC Guy. I can't even imagine who the target audience would be. But if the Mac and PC guys are bad enough to hurt sales, Carrot Top should have triggered terrorist attacks against AT&T.

[Drake Tungsten]

It's always hilarious watching Asher get pwned...

[Asher]

I don't think they can hurt sales so much as they can restrict who can be receptive to the brand. I think they hurt future growth potential more than sales, and I think they're indifferent to sales as the people who want a Mac are going to get one 'cause they're purty (POTM) or because they already have one.

These commercials just reinforce the smarmy stereotype of Mac users.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
It's always hilarious watching Asher get pwned...

The pwn3ge was the other way, my dear.

I'm waiting for him to look up the sales before and after the ad campaign and see the growth curve was unaffected.

[-Jrabbit]

I'm amused that you've attempted to expand my explanation of the Apple campaign as an indictment of the entire field of advertising, with me somehow representing it all.

Similarly, you pigeonhole me as a "harcore Mac user" based on a screen icon. Yet I don't currently own an Apple computer.

I completely understood your simpleminded timeline of quarterly corporate sales. You, apparently, do not understand the need to advertise new products in order to sustain sales growth -- something that is, in fact, happening, based on the numbers you presented.

No one on this forum, and no one at Apple or Chiat/Day, would expect you to like these ads. You don't seem to understand that this bears no relationship with whether or not they are effective. Amazingly, the world does not revolve around you.

Asher, you are a very excitable lad with an ego far in excess of your actual knowledge. You are occasionally amusing for your earnestness.

I have never deluded myself that anything I state on this site will change your mind -- on any topic. I do this to pass the time while I work.

In my few years here at Poly, I have never seen you admit to being wrong, no matter the facts or circumstances. It's either something you need in order to sustain your inflated self-image, or it's just how you amuse yourself. In either case, you're much more a troll than a source of information, especially when you venture outside your limited areas of actual expertise.

So thanks for breaking up my day. I finished a 3,000 word article for a trade magazine amid your kneejerk rants. It has occasionally verged on the amusing.

[Asher]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
I'm amused that you've attempted to expand my explanation of the Apple campaign as an indictment of the entire field of advertising, with me somehow representing it all.

Similarly, you pigeonhole me as a "harcore Mac user" based on a screen icon. Yet I don't currently own an Apple computer.

I completely understood your simpleminded timeline of quarterly corporate sales. You, apparently, do not understand the need to advertise new products in order to sustain sales growth -- something that is, in fact, happening, based on the numbers you presented.

Um, on what world is the Mac a new product?

No one on this forum, and no one at Apple or Chiat/Day, would expect you to like these ads. You don't seem to understand that this bears no relationship with whether or not they are effective. Amazingly, the world does not revolve around you.

I've qualified this many time -- it's not just me. Look at the responses in this forum. PC users, and even some Mac users, do not like the ads at all.

You're the only person here who likes them, and you're not who they want to target -- the other people here are.

So thanks for breaking up my day. I finished a 3,000 word article for a trade magazine amid your kneejerk rants. It has occasionally verged on the amusing.

Let me know when you want to actually say something outside of rhetoric. For example, how can you say that the ad campaign is successful when its introduction has not altered the growth curve for sales?

To me a successful ad campaign will increase sales, not match the sales increases prior without the ad campaign. To me, this is an ineffective campaign.

But I guess this is a philosophical difference between you and I. To you, success is clearly a loosely defined term. A success, to you, is an effort which, in the end, doesn't change anything.

To me, a successful campaign would increase sales growthrate with its introduction. But I guess it all comes down to standards, and your lack thereof.

[CrONoS]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkLIzcr_mDI

[CrONoS]

Can someone point me to the real mac ads?

[Asher]

Originally posted by cronos_qc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkLIzcr_mDI

The funny part of this is that's the exact sentiment that the real Mac ads have, but exaggerated to make it obvious for the people among us who don't understand why it's a bad campaign.

And here are the real ads: http://www.apple.com/getamac/

[Elok]

I hate myself for saying this, but it seems Asher has a point. Not about the ads hurting Apple or whatever, but about ads contributing to the sales of products. -Jrabbit has yet to post evidence of a causal relationship between the ads and the increase in sales (I don't know how one proves such a thing, but I know he hasn't done it). He's only recited marketing wisdom that "you need an ad campaign to launch a new product," which without any factual backup means about as much as "you need to get a job interview on an auspicious day to avoid being cursed by bad juju." I assume that by "new product" he meant the new line of processors or whatever that Asher attributed the rise in sales to.

[Asher]

But they never even mention the platform or processors in the ads, either. There's absolutely nothing "new" in the ads.

[Nubclear]

http://images.apple.com/movies/us/apple/getamac/meantforwork_480x376.mov

This one being the one I am referring to.

[chequita guevara]

I think the ads are amusing. Since I'm something of a techie, they don't sway me one bit, but if I were a teen or the clueless parent of a teen, I might be swayed by them.

Something to consider about Apple's dwindling market share. Apple continues to sell more and more 'puters, but PCs sell an ever greater share. Apple isn't losing money. Its making more all the time, mostly cuz of iPod. These commercials are trying to capitalize off that market.

You see to keep thinking that this is about winning or something. Apple's a niche commodity. They don't need to win. They just need to reinforce their branding.