Check out my rear window of my car...
Posted on 04/12/2005 12:57:10 AM PDT by Swordmaker
I understand why Apple may be reticent to advertise Mac OS X on television. Thirty seconds is too brief a time to be able to show anything of substance. And, they’ve tried the concept (with the Classic Mac OS) before in the past (even going so far as trying long-form infomercials) and it just didn’t work.
But, now, with their network of retail stores, Apple has what they never had before – highly visible places where they can direct people after they’ve whetted their imaginations with TV commercials. Not advertising Mac OS X on television now is nothing short of criminal. My hope is that, very soon, Apple will address the lack of Mac OS X advertising, particularly on TV.
I’m not suggesting that Apple try to explain why Mac OS X is better for the average personal computer user. Apple should simply be showing brief vignettes of Mac OS X doing visually appealing things that look "cool." Yes, I’m talking pretty much all flash and no substance. Even though I hate the term I’m going to use it, Apple needs to show Mac OS X’s “eye candy.” That’s what would work and it’s really all Apple needs to show on TV. After all, why make it so beautiful if you're not going to show it to the world? Is it just for the Mac users' benefit or does Apple want to use it to sell more Macs?
The purpose of these commercials is not to create instant switchers who will toss out their Windows boxes for Macs. The sole purpose of these commercials is to drive people into Apple retail stores by creating curiosity. Yes, I realize that the iPod is doing a good job of driving people into the Apple stores, but a good TV campaign featuring Mac OS X would do an even better job.
How do I know it would work? Only because it does. Whenever I am on a plane or somewhere and people catch what’s happening on my PowerBook’s screen, I get questions. And the questioning means people are curious, at least it does to me.
What should Apple show on TV? Just point the camera over someone’s shoulder while they’re rippling through a Dock full of icons with Magnification on full bore. Show a Finder window Genie effecting down into the Dock and then Genie another one up in Column View. Quickly and easily navigate Column View to find a QuickTime movie. Play the movie and Genie it down into the Dock. Roll over it and show it playing in the Dock. Genie another movie window out while it’s playing and Zoom (Command-Option-+) right in to it. Fade to the Apple logo and the words “Visit an Apple Store to discover more about Mac OS X” or something to that effect. No music, just the natural sound of wherever the Mac happens to be and the audio produced by the Mac when it’s making sound. The person could be at home with the sound of a TV on faintly in the background, on a plane, on a train, in a classroom, in Starbucks, or wherever else you’d find a Mac in action.
The idea above is just an example, the point is just to show people how Mac OS X does things in “cool” ways and get them interested. These ads are not to try to show how someone can import from a DV camera to make an iMovie, burn a DVD and send it to their parents. These ads are not to show how to do anything. They’re just for show. Imagine ads with Tiger’s Dashboard Widgets, iChat AV in action, Exposé, the Fast User Switching 3-D cube effect, Heads-up Application Switcher (Command-Tab), playing The Sims, MS Word running on a Mac, etc. Just show it.
My guess is that Apple could pack a campaign of unique thirty-second ads with very compelling visuals that would really be eye openers to millions of people who are totally or mostly unfamiliar with what today’s Mac can do and get them to say “wow!” That's exactly what happens over my shoulder or in the seat next to me in-flight. Too many people have no idea what today’s Mac is, how it looks, and how things move and act onscreen. How many people see that white Apple logo and walk right past the store in the mall thinking, "oh, the iPod store" or "that's not really for me."
The best advertising is deadly simple. I truly believe that if Apple would just show the gorgeousness of Mac OS X to mass TV audiences they’d increase the foot traffic in Apple retail stores with curious personal computer users who’ve never seen or imagined anything like Mac OS X before. And once Apple gets them into the Apple store, the staff can explain the substance that lies beneath the "eye candy."
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
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Good idea...
Check out my rear window of my car...
I think Apple's current advertising strategy is fine.
Marketing the iPod and iTunes Music Store via commercials, and keeping the focus on the tools and gadgets.
The "operating system" is not a primary focus for most people. It is the "what can I do" mentality that attracts first time buyers to the Mac. The fact that Mac OS X and the PPC architecture are just way too cool, is something only geeks will understand. And I should know... I can talk about Mac OS X to a lot of different people and get absolutely nowhere.
So, I think Apple has the right idea with their current strategy. They're currently wooing the IT industry with their leveraging of UNIX in OS X Server, and I think it is working.
I know some BIG companies have moved their servers to OS X, and more will follow. The transition is transparent to most users, and the bean counters are happy with the lack of licensing fees, etc.
Once you have a server in that sacred, super air conditioned room, you're only one step away from selling those IT guys their very own Macs. And if it is good enough for the IT guys, it is good enough for the rest of the company.
So, advertising Mac OS X is all well and good, but what will it actually get you?
I think maybe saving the 30 second spots for the iPods, and other consumer oriented products is a better way to spend those advertising dollars.
Same here.
The Dock. They love the Dock.
I think it's because that's the most 'visibly cool' thing. Sure, I can do all this different stuff with music, pictures, various design programs... but that's all above and beyond the 'instant wow' factor.
But run that cursor across the bottom, and 'Wow!'
My guess is that if they did anything to pi$$ off Microsoft, they could kiss any further $250 million gifts from the Giant goodbye.
The shame of it is, Apple makes some great commercials. The orignal 1984 macintosh was groundbreaking, and the "Pentiums? They're harmless" commercial with the tanks is hilarious.
OTOH, is a Subaru with a Mass plate the best media to use to advance the Mac cause on FR? :-)
The iPod commercials are incredible, but the year-or-two-old commercial with the guy being flung through the walls of his house was a head-scratcher.
"Dude! You're gettin' a Dell!"
Who needs the investment anymore? Apple has billions in the bank right now.
They do advertise on TV. The iPod ... and earlier OS systems. The last I remember was the "smoking disco inferno" vs Microsoft. The the famous 1984 commercial. Many of the old and new TV commericals are on their website in Quicktime.
Hip-hop soundtracks and silhouettes of idiotic dancing? :'( That sells me on Wintel. :')
Wholeheartedly agree. Big roll-outs, big splash, lots of celebrities, no product in the pipeline. I swung into Best Buy today, didn't see anything Apple. Yesterday I actually got my first live look (and handling test) of a Mini, at CompUSA. Tiny thing. It was hooked to a nice flat monitor, something like Barx brand?
Good point, but most people who are on FR from Massachusetts are not of the Kennedy/Kerry flavor!
Besides, one of my world favorite mac head friends is a flaming liberal, but we don't discuss those things, and concentrate on the Mac instead!
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