New Microsoft commercial, featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates

[Wiglaf]

Justin Long is cool and has the stubble of a fox. He's not uncool, like a guy in a ****ing suit. It's about fitting in. Rwar.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Wiglaf


Someone who thinks liberal arts majors can't get jobs can't call anyone else a failure.

Why do you think macs are exploding on college campuses? Because 18-22 year olds especially care about social acceptance. Macbooks and iPods are cool, Acer/HP notebooks, Vista, and Sandisk Sansas just aren't. This is still true in other demographics, especially the ones apple targets (e.g. not offices that need to focus on software compatibility).

It is true that there's a lot of twits in the liberal arts in universities that fit into the social norm and gets Macs.

For the rest of the world -- about 95% of it -- which you are blissfully unaware of, uses PCs.

Figure it out Wiggy-san. It is not a social norm to use a Mac in most areas. Liberal arts in university -- yes, it is. That's an exception and a smaller social norm than society as a whole.

I appreciate you demonstrating the epic failure of liberal arts thinking yet again though.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


And if people buy Macs for status, it is utterly ridiculous to have a smug "I'm a Mac" guy who looks like a poor college student as the face of the device.

Young is obviously better. He also looks cool which people want to be.

You don't get it. Even Wiglaf gets it. It's all about exploiting consumers need to be accepted by those who they want to be like. People will pay for that.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Wiglaf
Justin Long is cool and has the stubble of a fox. He's not uncool, like a guy in a ****ing suit. It's about fitting in. Rwar.

John Hodgman is infinitely cooler than Justin Long.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kidicious


Young is obviously better. He also looks cool which people want to be.

You don't get it. Even Wiglaf gets it. It's all about exploiting consumers need to be accepted by those who they want to be like. People will pay for that.

No no, it's not "even if Wiglaf gets it". It's "Wiglaf agrees with you". Since Wiglaf is a DL caricature that constantly takes extremely stupid positions for comedy purposes, the fact that you agree with him is a failing on your part.

[-Jrabbit]

Let's not descend into the "I hate the 'I'm a Mac' ads" discussion again. I think we've really done that to death... Or if so, let's at least ackowledge that liking an advertisement is an entirely different thing from buying the subject product.






Oh, never mind. Carry on.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Young is obviously better. He also looks cool which people want to be.

You don't get it. Even Wiglaf gets it. It's all about exploiting consumers need to be accepted by those who they want to be like. People will pay for that.

And you don't get it. When not insubstantial number of the people you are advertising to, dislike your company MORE as a result of the ad, that's a BAD thing.

The problem is while he may look cool, he also acts like he's better than you. People don't want to be arrogant, smug jerks or even accepted by them, if they are outside of high school / college. Where exactly do you think this "elitism" charge against Obama comes from? Because they think he believes he's better than most people. And guess what, even though he looks cooler than Johnny Mac, that hurts him.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Asher


No no, it's not "even if Wiglaf gets it". It's "Wiglaf agrees with you". Since Wiglaf is a DL caricature that constantly takes extremely stupid positions for comedy purposes, the fact that you agree with him is a failing on your part.

But you're arguing against standard marketing strategy. Apple isn't trying anything revolutionary with the ads. Also, I'm pretty sure the're successfull, otherwise they wouldn't be continued for so long.

[Kidlicious]

The ads are a big success. You two are just pulling this out of your asses. Do a simple web search.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kidicious
The ads are a big success. You two are just pulling this out of your asses. Do a simple web search.

Do Macs have a majority marketshare now?

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Asher

Do Macs have a majority marketshare now?

They have a 38% growth rate over the latest reported 3 month period.

I'd say the I'm a Mac ads have been great based on that.

[Asher]

But it doesn't indicate it's working on a majority of people.

They're successful, no doubt, but they do not appeal to everyone -- and the point Imran is making is the people it does not appeal to, it pushes them farther away. Which is a major reason why they don't have a majority share.

Frankly, Dell, HP, Sony etc PCs are utter crap these days. Apple makes quality hardware. The fact that they only have ~5% marketshare is pathetic when taking this into account.

Reality check, Kid.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Asher
But it doesn't indicate it's working on a majority of people.

They're successful, no doubt, but they do not appeal to everyone -- and the point Imran is making is the people it does not appeal to, it pushes them farther away. Which is a major reason why they don't have a majority share.

Frankly, Dell, HP, Sony etc PCs are utter crap these days. Apple makes quality hardware. The fact that they only have ~5% marketshare is pathetic when taking this into account.

Reality check, Kid.

I don't know if they are trying to appeal to a majority of people. With products of this type they target a specific type of person.

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Asher
But it doesn't indicate it's working on a majority of people.

They're successful, no doubt, but they do not appeal to everyone -- and the point Imran is making is the people it does not appeal to, it pushes them farther away. Which is a major reason why they don't have a majority share.

Frankly, Dell, HP, Sony etc PCs are utter crap these days. Apple makes quality hardware. The fact that they only have ~5% marketshare is pathetic when taking this into account.

Reality check, Kid.

Asher, this obsession with market share doesn't serve you well in this discussion.

No company transforms from a few percentage points to majority marketshare in a couple years, even with a superior product at a lower price. Apple is marketing a premium product, and they are essentially ignoring the biggest market (corporate/enterprise).

BMW, Lexus and Mercedes all advertise quite a lot, yet have pitiful shares of the overall auto market. That doesn't mean they're unsuccessful, and their owners appear to be pretty happy with their purchases..

As far as the "I'm a Mac" ads go, I would point out that this very thread has devolved into a discussion of them. From an advertiser's perspective, seeing your competition's hot new marketing campaign acting as a trigger to online discussions of your own product and advertising would be considered a triumphant success.

[Asher]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit

Asher, this obsession with market share doesn't serve you well in this discussion.

No company transforms from a few percentage points to majority marketshare in a couple years, even with a superior product at a lower price. Apple is marketing a premium product, and they are essentially ignoring the biggest market (corporate/enterprise).

The Xbox displaced the Playstation like that...

It's possible. You just need to do it right. Especially for a product like consoles or PCs where the average person replaces them every ~4 years.

BMW, Lexus and Mercedes all advertise quite a lot, yet have pitiful shares of the overall auto market. That doesn't mean they're unsuccessful, and their owners appear to be pretty happy with their purchases..

You and I both know Apple is not a Lexus or Mercedes. They're not even luxury.

Look at the MacBooks -- their best selling products. They're surprisingly affordable.