Mac vs. PC: A Simplistic Yet Effective Marketing Strategy
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Written by Renee C. Quinn B.S. Pennsylvania State University M.B.A. University of Phoenix Posted: December 1, 2009 @ 6:07 pm ReneeQuinn.com | Blog | Twitter | LinkedIn 
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This time it’s gonna be different. Trust me!
Apple’s Mac Vs PC ad campaign has been on the air waves since May of 2006 and features John Hodgeman of the Daily Show as “PC” and Justin Long from Dodge ball and Herbie Fully Loaded as “Mac.” By now most of you have probably seen the newest of the Mac Vs PC ads. You know the ones where Mac looks at PC with that smile and you know he’s thinking “I can’t believe how clueless this guy is!” I realize that doesn’t narrow it down much at all, but the one I am thinking about in particular is the most current of these ads, titled “Broken promises” (see below) where they depict Microsoft as a company that cannot be trusted to keep their “Promises” of a better product without the issues that each previous version has had. In this rather humorous ad, PC starts by saying “Hey Mac did you hear the good news, Window’s 7 is out and it’s not gonna have any of the problems that windows XP had.” To which Mac respond “I feel like I’ve heard this before PC.”
In essence, Apple is capitalizing on what would appear to some as Microsoft “crying wolf” syndrome and putting into question whether the new operating system can be trusted because its issues have not been effectively resolved by any of the previously released PC Operating Systems thus far. In fact since day one of this campaign, Mac has put into question Microsoft’s decisions to spend exorbitant amounts of money on advertising for its Operating Systems rather than to spend that money to fix all of the issues, so how can they be trusted? What a creative way to get your point across.
These ads are brilliant! They are the most simplistic of all ads, yet highly effective in getting their point across in a humorous and unforgettable way. The back drop gives the appearance of a plain white room and the props are few, if any and are overly simplified. The production costs of such a campaign must be unbelievably low, but the impact of such a marketing strategy is dauntingly high.
When you think about these commercials as well as others such as Geico’s “Even a caveman can do it” (see YouTube Montage below) what they are doing essentially is creating a “brand.” Not unlike the bottle shape of the Coca Cola brand soda or the Nike Swoosh, Apple computers is creating a solid and clearly defined brand identity. That is; a simple and easy approach to the issues that many PC users have been faced with over the years.
Again going back to the simplicity of the campaign, the PC character is usually in a suit and tie, often disheveled, almost always frazzled and completely clueless. Yet the Mac character is young, hip, calm, and laid-back, always dressed casually in jeans, sneakers and t-shirts and starts every commercial with his hands in his pockets, which in body language usually suggests defiance, but in this case seemingly meant to illustrate a relaxed and care free posture. This lends to the Apple “brand” of being user friendly, easy-going and innovative not to mention fun to explore with options such as iTunes, iPhotos and iLife.
Consider this, the time during commercials is when most viewers leave the room to refill their drinks, grab a snack or take a “potty” break. However, in utilizing this overly simple yet fun marketing strategy Apple has done something that few others have done in the past. People look forward to these commercials and will often rewind or pause their DVR or TiVo just to see the newest Mac Vs PC ad. In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of hits on the many Mac Vs PC ads being showed on YouTube and the Apple website as well, where viewers go to see the newest ad.
When creating your campaign strategy, to build your brand it needs to be memorable and discussion worthy, but not so over the top that viewers don’t even know what the ad is for. In fact, about a year ago, you may recall their being a commercial on that for about 3 weeks featured different athletes performing tasks and the only thing giving any indication of what the product is, was a letter “G” at the end of the commercial. Some of you may have known what the product was, but for many, there was no clue.
They had the right idea, in that they were creating something that people talked about. But in reality, what it did was frustrate the viewer by their not knowing what the product even was. Viewers don’t want to play the guessing game, which is what made this campaign much less effective and probably somewhat damaging to the “brand.”
So when you considering your “brand” keep the Mac Vs PC advertising campaign in mind. Clear, concise, consistent and repetitive messages in your campaign are key. Simple is good; memorable and even a bit funny is even better. Follow this path in your advertising and brand creation and I can say, “Trust me, this time it’s gonna be different.” “Trust me!”
About the Author
Renee C. Quinn acquired a Masters of Business Administration with her course work focusing on e-Commerce and e-Business, with an emphasis on marketing via the World Wide Web. Her particular career focus to date has been on business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing. She writes on various business and social media topics for IPWatchdog.com. You can follow Renee on Twitter at IPWatchdog_Too. Renee is available to consult with individuals and businesses on how to set up and effectively use social media and social networking tools to establish a successful marketing campaign. You can contact Renee via e-mail.
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[...] They are the most simplistic of all ads, yet highly effective in getting their point across in a humorous and unforgettable way. Trust me! <more> [...]
[...] more: Mac vs. PC: A Simplistic Yet Effective Marketing Strategy … By admin | category: mac | tags: all-ads, getting-their, highly-effective, [...]
[...] the original post: Mac vs. PC: A Simplistic Yet Effective Marketing Strategy … By admin | category: mac | tags: all-ads, getting-their, highly-effective, [...]
[...] Mac vs. PC: A Simplistic Yet Effective Marketing Strategy – IPWatchdog.comApple’s Mac Vs PC ad campaign has been on the air waves since May of 2006 and features John Hodgeman of the Daily Show as “PC” and Justin Long from Dodge ball and Herbie Fully Loaded as “Mac.” By now most of you have probably seen the [...]
It’s not just the ad campaign that’s “simplistic” — they follow through with this concept in their designs, too.
Have you seen the new “Magic Mouse”?
http://images.apple.com/magicmouse/images/hero_1_20091020.jpg
What of their laptops?
http://images.apple.com/macbookpro/images/overview-gallery5-20090608.png
And their desktops?
http://images.apple.com/imac/images/overview_hero3_20091020.png
Even their website — they keep things simple:
http://www.apple.com/magicmouse
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro
http://www.apple.com/imac
No long, convoluted, unintelligible URLs. Just words that humans can understand. (To see the opposite, visit HP’s or Dell’s sites.)
The advertising campaign’s simplicity just mirrors their overall design philosophy, which is their brand identity: simple quality.
Alphaman,
Thank you for reading. Thank you also for pointing out the Apple Philosophy. I agree, simple IS better which is the reason for this article. Some of the most simplistic things are those that make the biggest impact in our lives. Not just in advertising, but in every day life.
Renee
I had no idea you were such a Windows fan Gene…. lol
I’ll admit, I like the ads even though I don’t like Apple, or Microsoft.
I realize that I made a mistake and thought this was by Gene. I guess I just saw the last name and didn’t look any further. My apologies.
Renee,
I’m a PC user but I love the Mac vs. PC commercials. (My oldest son, a digtial design major, uses a MacBook.) Right up there with the Geico commercials, especially those involving the gecko.
[...] the original post here: Mac vs. PC: A Simplistic Yet Effective Marketing Strategy – IPWatchdog.com ? Leave a [...]
[...] Mac vs. PC: A Simplistic Yet Effective Marketing Strategy – IPWatchdog.comApple’s Mac Vs PC ad campaign has been on the air waves since May of 2006 and features John Hodgeman of the Daily Show as “PC” and Justin Long from Dodge ball and Herbie Fully Loaded as “Mac.” By now most of you have probably seen the [...]
Not only that MAC vs. PC are effective way of marketing for both sides. It’s also hilarious and entertaining. The way they bash each other is just funny.
Beyond the ads, there’s the reality of what its like to own a mac. Checkout the following:
imac complaints:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/apple_imac.html
apple complaints:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/apple.html
80 pages of complaints on (latest) imac forum:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222001969&subSection=Macintosh+Platform
It never ceases to amaze me how many small business owners think. They are quite happy to employ a salesperson on 45K+ per year, but ask them to spend $2000 on advertising and they think it’s a waste of money. The truth is if they spend the 45K on advertising, they wouldn’t need sales people, just order takers
Thanks for your post.
[...] that I enjoy writing about fun television advertising campaigns. My favorite has always been the Mac Vs. PC commercials which seem to have vanished with the introduction of Windows 7. But yesterday my [...]
[...] and have read my articles, know that my favorite topics to write about are Brand Building, Marketing Strategies, Having a Web Presence and Social Networking. Recently I had the distinct pleasure of speaking [...]
[...] two years ago I wrote an article Mac vs. PC: A Simplistic Yet Effective Marketing Strategy. You remember Mac vs. PC don’t you? The John Hodgeman played usually frazzled, often [...]