They would not succeed because Best Buy and other retailers have never had any success in duplicating Apple's incredible service. They have neither the management, nor the training to do so.
I must not be explaining things very well -- or my posts are so long that the reader's eyes just glaze over.
This is different than anything that has been tried before!
The stores would be staffed and managed by Apple employees who would provide Apple's incredible services -- BB would supply the space, lights air conditioning, etc. -- Apple would supply everything else. From Apple's perspective it is just like leasing space in a mall -- except the basic facilities are already in place -- so they would not have to pay/wait for them to be installed. All Apple has to do is add furniture, fixtures,inventory staff and management.
I will start by saying I have not read all the comments so if somebody has already said this, I apologize. While these may not be the best ads Apple has ever had I think they are interesting. Unlike with the Windows platform when you call for help you are relayed to a person who's English is hardly passable and uses terms one may not be familiar with. These ads would mean to say that if an Apple user were to need help there is a friendly person available to help them with their needs.
OK Here's a rough layout Of an Apple Store Within a Best Buy Store
Everything in green eccept the physical plant is owned, staffed and managed by Apple.
The Best Buy and Apple Showroom Floors are separated buy a Glass wall (like standard Plate Glass Windows)
Any walls would be 8-9 feet tall and would not extend to the ceiling or interfere with lighting HVAC, etc.
There is a door between the Best Buy and Apple Showrooms -- so the customers can go back and forth.
There is a separate door to the outside to enter and leave the Apple store.
The Best Buy Checkout Guy can check the bags of anyone leaving the Best Buy Showroom -- either through the Best Buy Front Door or the Door to the Apple Store Showroom
Apple does not use the services of the Best Buy Checkout guy -- they have better, less intrusive ways.
These are not shown to scale -- the Apple Store would be a small store... I suspect that all the furniture, fixtures and inventory could be shipped in 4-5 shipping containers. If the back rooms aren't separate, Apple's Inventory can be stored and secured in 1-2 shipping containers.
I will start by saying I have not read all the comments so if somebody has already said this, I apologize. While these may not be the best ads Apple has ever had I think they are interesting. Unlike with the Windows platform when you call for help you are relayed to a person who's English is hardly passable and uses terms one may not be familiar with. These ads would mean to say that if an Apple user were to need help there is a friendly person available to help them with their needs.
Good post... you summed it up and avoided all the cruft!
I will start by saying I have not read all the comments so if somebody has already said this, I apologize. While these may not be the best ads Apple has ever had I think they are interesting. Unlike with the Windows platform when you call for help you are relayed to a person who's English is hardly passable and uses terms one may not be familiar with. These ads would mean to say that if an Apple user were to need help there is a friendly person available to help them with their needs.
Don't forget they can also try to palm you off to the OEM, there's a schism between hardware and software
Those are perfectly good ads .... for most companies. For Apple, they are terrible. Apple ads have always been about associating a product with the Apple brand - except the Think Different campaign, which established the brand identity. People who start excusing Apple for not being great are just allowing mediocrity to seep back into its culture. Schiller should be rejecting such things. He may not know what the perfect ad is, but he should know when he sees one that isn't.
@ Dick Applebaum > So back to that Marty Scorcese iPad spot, can't he afford a car and driver with all his cabbage at this stage in his life? And after his rendezvous suppose he can't find a taxi in rush hour and gets mugged by a wino who steals his iPhone? Maybe Marty could make it back to his Soho film complex and use "Find My iPhone" on his MB Air to locate the mugger and recover his precious iPhone... At least Steve had a sense of humor which is more than can be said about you!
Those are perfectly good ads .... for most companies. For Apple, they are terrible. Apple ads have always been about associating a product with the Apple brand - except the Think Different campaign, which established the brand identity. People who start excusing Apple for not being great are just allowing mediocrity to seep back into its culture. Schiller should be rejecting such things. He may not know what the perfect ad is, but he should know when he sees one that isn't.
Help me with your credibility. What are your marketing credentials?
I'm going to have to vote down as well. Apple Geniuses should not be necessary to figure out how to perform basic functions of Apple's software, which is supposed to be easy to use. Unless the idea of the ad was to make "older" people, and by older, I mean people 35-45, feel like they should need help from a Genius.
IMO, the ad should have shown that using Apple software is so easy, the Geniuses aren't needed. You could have had a situation where the person thinks they need a Genius, but then they use the app on their own and they don't let the Genius get a word in. Then they thank the Genius for being so helpful.
Another ad could have shown a Genius in the store with someone trying to stump the Genius, but they can't do it.
Another could have shown someone producing something really complex, but they can't figure out how to do one thing. They get help from the Genius. The tag line could have been something like, "When your genius needs our Genius, we're here for you".
I hope these ads disappear quickly. I don't know if these ads are the result of Jobs being gone or not, but I don't remember any Apple ads being as lame as these. When I first saw the headline, I thought Apple developed a new generation of the equivalent of the "Think Different" ads, featuring a new set of real geniuses - really smart and influential people who use Macs. IMO, that would have been better.
@ Dick Applebaum > So back to that Marty Scorcese iPad spot, can't he afford a car and driver with all his cabbage at this stage in his life? And after his rendezvous suppose he can't find a taxi in rush hour and gets mugged by a wino who steals his iPhone? Maybe Marty could make it back to his Soho film complex and use "Find My iPhone" on his MB Air to locate the mugger and recover his precious iPhone... At least Steve had a sense of humor which is more than can be said about you!
OK?
I don't particularly care for Scorcesse as an actor or director -- but this is the first time I've commented on him... So, I have no idea what you are talking about... Do you?
I'm going to have to vote down as well. Apple Geniuses should not be necessary to figure out how to perform basic functions of Apple's software, which is supposed to be easy to use. Unless the idea of the ad was to make "older" people, and by older, I mean people 35-45, feel like they should need help from a Genius.
IMO, the ad should have shown that using Apple software is so easy, the Geniuses aren't needed. You could have had a situation where the person thinks they need a Genius, but then they use the app on their own and they don't let the Genius get a word in. Then they thank the Genius for being so helpful.
Another ad could have shown a Genius in the store with someone trying to stump the Genius, but they can't do it.
Another could have shown someone producing something really complex, but they can't figure out how to do one thing. They get help from the Genius. The tag line could have been something like, "When your genius needs our Genius, we're here for you".
I hope these ads disappear quickly. I don't know if these ads are the result of Jobs being gone or not, but I don't remember any Apple ads being as lame as these. When I first saw the headline, I thought Apple developed a new generation of the equivalent of the "Think Different" ads, featuring a new set of real geniuses - really smart and influential people who use Macs. IMO, that would have been better.
That's wrong message to tell because it's inaccurate. I bet in the last month every single one of us have asked how to do something with their computer, even if was just a google search. That is still asking for assistance. To have a message that Mac OS and all the SW for Macs are so easy that you don't need any assistance from being a non-PC user in general to being just a non-Mac user is just false and if that horrible message was actually conveyed what would happen when they open up their Mac for the first time and try to do complex things with them? They'd get no where and they'd be frustrated. But if you inform them that they not shouldn't have an innate knowledge of how everything on their Mac works and show them that Mac users have a life line to support that other vendors and retailers can't offer then you can help get people to switch to a Mac and be satisfied with that change.
That's wrong message to tell because it's inaccurate. I bet in the last month every single one of us have asked how to do something with their computer, even if was just a google search. That is still asking for assistance. To have a message that Mac OS and all the SW for Macs are so easy that you don't need any assistance from being a non-PC user in general to being just a non-Mac user is just false and if that horrible message was actually conveyed what would happen when they open up their Mac for the first time and try to do complex things with them? They'd get no where and they'd be frustrated. But if you inform them that they not shouldn't have an innate knowledge of how everything on their Mac works and show them that Mac users have a life line to support that other vendors and retailers can't offer then you can help get people to switch to a Mac and be satisfied with that change.
Yes! It is so long since most of us, here, have been computer noobs... Try and remember back when everything was new and strange... So much to learn, where to start?
Then ask yourself: where do you go to get help, answers... Or even the chance to ask questions...
These ads provide the comfort that, for Mac users, help is available when you need it?
I'm going to have to vote down as well. Apple Geniuses should not be necessary to figure out how to perform basic functions of Apple's software, which is supposed to be easy to use. Unless the idea of the ad was to make "older" people, and by older, I mean people 35-45, feel like they should need help from a Genius.
IMO, the ad should have shown that using Apple software is so easy, the Geniuses aren't needed. You could have had a situation where the person thinks they need a Genius, but then they use the app on their own and they don't let the Genius get a word in. Then they thank the Genius for being so helpful.
Another ad could have shown a Genius in the store with someone trying to stump the Genius, but they can't do it.
Another could have shown someone producing something really complex, but they can't figure out how to do one thing. They get help from the Genius. The tag line could have been something like, "When your genius needs our Genius, we're here for you".
I hope these ads disappear quickly. I don't know if these ads are the result of Jobs being gone or not, but I don't remember any Apple ads being as lame as these. When I first saw the headline, I thought Apple developed a new generation of the equivalent of the "Think Different" ads, featuring a new set of real geniuses - really smart and influential people who use Macs. IMO, that would have been better.
Apple are showing off what their products can do, out of the box, using a genius to demonstrate how easy it is to do things that a lot of people never even thought of.
Things like the Cards App for instance, people in a Windows/Android world wouldn't even know it existed, being told only about the specs such as screen size, processor speed etc and being hammered with that sort of stuff day in, day out on tech sites all over the Internet where they may go looking for guidance..
It continues Apple's selling based on benefits rather than features.
The Samsung commercial has been mentioned, with their latest ad they are moving down the same road.
Those are perfectly good ads .... for most companies. For Apple, they are terrible. Apple ads have always been about associating a product with the Apple brand - except the Think Different campaign, which established the brand identity. People who start excusing Apple for not being great are just allowing mediocrity to seep back into its culture. Schiller should be rejecting such things. He may not know what the perfect ad is, but he should know when he sees one that isn't.
+1
The ads are functional. They remind me of the Honda ads with the helpful sales guy wearing the blue Honda shirt trying to help prospective customers.
I usually expect most companies and businesses to produce "functional" products, ads, etc. It's a rarity when a company can produce anything that is not only functional, but beautiful in an aesthetic or artistic sense. Apple's products still seem to have both beauty and function, but these new ads seem merely functional now.
It's difficult to separate the feeling of function without artistic beauty in these ads from the Apple brand. Because the brand already encompassed beauty, I think the brand takes a hit with these ads.
Is the hit to the brand worth it to reach out to more customers who might respond more favorably to these concrete vs abstract ads?
I tend to think not, as desirability in excess of what a commodity item offers is more dependent on aesthetics, form, and beauty. These attributes of the Apple brand should be protected.
FAILED! It's not cool nor funny nor does it connect with someone that has used a Mac for 15 years. I don't see how this can appeal to new MAC users or convert any PC users. With Jobs gone, they can't even come up with a classic or witty ad?
Help me with your credibility. What are your marketing credentials?
12 years with a major international consumer brand, and brand was king over product. Here's the test: tell me if these commercials connect to you on any emotional level. They are purely functional "you can do this with product X" ads (with an annoying - which I guess is an emotion but not a good one - addition of "and here is a service that can help you"). The ads are low rent. Not bad, just bad for Apple.
12 years with a major international consumer brand, and brand was king over product. Here's the test: tell me if these commercials connect to you on any emotional level. They are purely functional "you can do this with product X" ads (with an annoying - which I guess is an emotion but not a good one - addition of "and here is a service that can help you"). The ads are low rent. Not bad, just bad for Apple.
Bad meaning good in this case.
You can't judge or equate the success of these ads by your own "expert" experience. You have worked 12 years at one brand, and you don't have the experience of 12 years at the company who you think you know what the hell is going on, where they are heading, and what future they want to build from today.
You don't work for Apple. People who call themselves experts always never get it right. Especially the ones that envy of having a job at the company they only wish they worked at and try to step on the same people (Phil Schiller) that work in the same position at a job which you would never ever get.
There are a majority of people that have switched to Apple, or that are planning to switch but still not sure. These are the people that can "emotionally" be connected with these new ads.
Ever since I have been a Mac user, I have had at least one person every week asking me about switching from PC and how they are unsure whether they can use a Mac given their whole digital life has only been on a PC. Especially after the iPhone and iPad has been released, its been a lot more closer to "should I make the jump?" Also from many friends who have switched and starting out. Its usually these people that ask Mac users for help. Now they have retail store staff to assist. I have started to make screencasts for my parents who live on the other side of the globe on how to solve specific Mac issues, and they visit the Apple Store to ask geniuses there every weekend.
These ads are all aimed at the older generation.
Apple realizes the younger generation have switched and its time to target the rest.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
They would not succeed because Best Buy and other retailers have never had any success in duplicating Apple's incredible service. They have neither the management, nor the training to do so.
I must not be explaining things very well -- or my posts are so long that the reader's eyes just glaze over.
This is different than anything that has been tried before!
The stores would be staffed and managed by Apple employees who would provide Apple's incredible services -- BB would supply the space, lights air conditioning, etc. -- Apple would supply everything else. From Apple's perspective it is just like leasing space in a mall -- except the basic facilities are already in place -- so they would not have to pay/wait for them to be installed. All Apple has to do is add furniture, fixtures,inventory staff and management.
Show an athlete in a advertisement? Says who?
I will start by saying I have not read all the comments so if somebody has already said this, I apologize. While these may not be the best ads Apple has ever had I think they are interesting. Unlike with the Windows platform when you call for help you are relayed to a person who's English is hardly passable and uses terms one may not be familiar with. These ads would mean to say that if an Apple user were to need help there is a friendly person available to help them with their needs.
Originally Posted by iSheldon
Show an athlete in a advertisement? Says who?
Probably the same committee that said a pub in London had to change its name to "The lympic" during the games.
OK Here's a rough layout Of an Apple Store Within a Best Buy Store
Everything in green eccept the physical plant is owned, staffed and managed by Apple.
The Best Buy and Apple Showroom Floors are separated buy a Glass wall (like standard Plate Glass Windows)
Any walls would be 8-9 feet tall and would not extend to the ceiling or interfere with lighting HVAC, etc.
There is a door between the Best Buy and Apple Showrooms -- so the customers can go back and forth.
There is a separate door to the outside to enter and leave the Apple store.
The Best Buy Checkout Guy can check the bags of anyone leaving the Best Buy Showroom -- either through the Best Buy Front Door or the Door to the Apple Store Showroom
Apple does not use the services of the Best Buy Checkout guy -- they have better, less intrusive ways.
These are not shown to scale -- the Apple Store would be a small store... I suspect that all the furniture, fixtures and inventory could be shipped in 4-5 shipping containers. If the back rooms aren't separate, Apple's Inventory can be stored and secured in 1-2 shipping containers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunslinger
I will start by saying I have not read all the comments so if somebody has already said this, I apologize. While these may not be the best ads Apple has ever had I think they are interesting. Unlike with the Windows platform when you call for help you are relayed to a person who's English is hardly passable and uses terms one may not be familiar with. These ads would mean to say that if an Apple user were to need help there is a friendly person available to help them with their needs.
Good post... you summed it up and avoided all the cruft!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunslinger
I will start by saying I have not read all the comments so if somebody has already said this, I apologize. While these may not be the best ads Apple has ever had I think they are interesting. Unlike with the Windows platform when you call for help you are relayed to a person who's English is hardly passable and uses terms one may not be familiar with. These ads would mean to say that if an Apple user were to need help there is a friendly person available to help them with their needs.
Don't forget they can also try to palm you off to the OEM, there's a schism between hardware and software
@ Dick Applebaum > So back to that Marty Scorcese iPad spot, can't he afford a car and driver with all his cabbage at this stage in his life? And after his rendezvous suppose he can't find a taxi in rush hour and gets mugged by a wino who steals his iPhone? Maybe Marty could make it back to his Soho film complex and use "Find My iPhone" on his MB Air to locate the mugger and recover his precious iPhone... At least Steve had a sense of humor which is more than can be said about you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by focher
Those are perfectly good ads .... for most companies. For Apple, they are terrible. Apple ads have always been about associating a product with the Apple brand - except the Think Different campaign, which established the brand identity. People who start excusing Apple for not being great are just allowing mediocrity to seep back into its culture. Schiller should be rejecting such things. He may not know what the perfect ad is, but he should know when he sees one that isn't.
Help me with your credibility. What are your marketing credentials?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
Bingo!
Love the Louvre!
I wanted to counter with images of Mardi Gras and The Hooker's ball... sigh!
I'm sorry but those people really are pathetic ass holes.
I'm going to have to vote down as well. Apple Geniuses should not be necessary to figure out how to perform basic functions of Apple's software, which is supposed to be easy to use. Unless the idea of the ad was to make "older" people, and by older, I mean people 35-45, feel like they should need help from a Genius.
IMO, the ad should have shown that using Apple software is so easy, the Geniuses aren't needed. You could have had a situation where the person thinks they need a Genius, but then they use the app on their own and they don't let the Genius get a word in. Then they thank the Genius for being so helpful.
Another ad could have shown a Genius in the store with someone trying to stump the Genius, but they can't do it.
Another could have shown someone producing something really complex, but they can't figure out how to do one thing. They get help from the Genius. The tag line could have been something like, "When your genius needs our Genius, we're here for you".
I hope these ads disappear quickly. I don't know if these ads are the result of Jobs being gone or not, but I don't remember any Apple ads being as lame as these. When I first saw the headline, I thought Apple developed a new generation of the equivalent of the "Think Different" ads, featuring a new set of real geniuses - really smart and influential people who use Macs. IMO, that would have been better.
OK?
I don't particularly care for Scorcesse as an actor or director -- but this is the first time I've commented on him... So, I have no idea what you are talking about... Do you?
That's wrong message to tell because it's inaccurate. I bet in the last month every single one of us have asked how to do something with their computer, even if was just a google search. That is still asking for assistance. To have a message that Mac OS and all the SW for Macs are so easy that you don't need any assistance from being a non-PC user in general to being just a non-Mac user is just false and if that horrible message was actually conveyed what would happen when they open up their Mac for the first time and try to do complex things with them? They'd get no where and they'd be frustrated. But if you inform them that they not shouldn't have an innate knowledge of how everything on their Mac works and show them that Mac users have a life line to support that other vendors and retailers can't offer then you can help get people to switch to a Mac and be satisfied with that change.
Yes! It is so long since most of us, here, have been computer noobs... Try and remember back when everything was new and strange... So much to learn, where to start?
Then ask yourself: where do you go to get help, answers... Or even the chance to ask questions...
These ads provide the comfort that, for Mac users, help is available when you need it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by zoetmb
I'm going to have to vote down as well. Apple Geniuses should not be necessary to figure out how to perform basic functions of Apple's software, which is supposed to be easy to use. Unless the idea of the ad was to make "older" people, and by older, I mean people 35-45, feel like they should need help from a Genius.
IMO, the ad should have shown that using Apple software is so easy, the Geniuses aren't needed. You could have had a situation where the person thinks they need a Genius, but then they use the app on their own and they don't let the Genius get a word in. Then they thank the Genius for being so helpful.
Another ad could have shown a Genius in the store with someone trying to stump the Genius, but they can't do it.
Another could have shown someone producing something really complex, but they can't figure out how to do one thing. They get help from the Genius. The tag line could have been something like, "When your genius needs our Genius, we're here for you".
I hope these ads disappear quickly. I don't know if these ads are the result of Jobs being gone or not, but I don't remember any Apple ads being as lame as these. When I first saw the headline, I thought Apple developed a new generation of the equivalent of the "Think Different" ads, featuring a new set of real geniuses - really smart and influential people who use Macs. IMO, that would have been better.
Apple are showing off what their products can do, out of the box, using a genius to demonstrate how easy it is to do things that a lot of people never even thought of.
Things like the Cards App for instance, people in a Windows/Android world wouldn't even know it existed, being told only about the specs such as screen size, processor speed etc and being hammered with that sort of stuff day in, day out on tech sites all over the Internet where they may go looking for guidance..
It continues Apple's selling based on benefits rather than features.
The Samsung commercial has been mentioned, with their latest ad they are moving down the same road.
+1
The ads are functional. They remind me of the Honda ads with the helpful sales guy wearing the blue Honda shirt trying to help prospective customers.
I usually expect most companies and businesses to produce "functional" products, ads, etc. It's a rarity when a company can produce anything that is not only functional, but beautiful in an aesthetic or artistic sense. Apple's products still seem to have both beauty and function, but these new ads seem merely functional now.
It's difficult to separate the feeling of function without artistic beauty in these ads from the Apple brand. Because the brand already encompassed beauty, I think the brand takes a hit with these ads.
Is the hit to the brand worth it to reach out to more customers who might respond more favorably to these concrete vs abstract ads?
I tend to think not, as desirability in excess of what a commodity item offers is more dependent on aesthetics, form, and beauty. These attributes of the Apple brand should be protected.
FAILED! It's not cool nor funny nor does it connect with someone that has used a Mac for 15 years. I don't see how this can appeal to new MAC users or convert any PC users. With Jobs gone, they can't even come up with a classic or witty ad?
Quote:
Originally Posted by focher
12 years with a major international consumer brand, and brand was king over product. Here's the test: tell me if these commercials connect to you on any emotional level. They are purely functional "you can do this with product X" ads (with an annoying - which I guess is an emotion but not a good one - addition of "and here is a service that can help you"). The ads are low rent. Not bad, just bad for Apple.
Bad meaning good in this case.
You can't judge or equate the success of these ads by your own "expert" experience. You have worked 12 years at one brand, and you don't have the experience of 12 years at the company who you think you know what the hell is going on, where they are heading, and what future they want to build from today.
You don't work for Apple. People who call themselves experts always never get it right. Especially the ones that envy of having a job at the company they only wish they worked at and try to step on the same people (Phil Schiller) that work in the same position at a job which you would never ever get.
There are a majority of people that have switched to Apple, or that are planning to switch but still not sure. These are the people that can "emotionally" be connected with these new ads.
Ever since I have been a Mac user, I have had at least one person every week asking me about switching from PC and how they are unsure whether they can use a Mac given their whole digital life has only been on a PC. Especially after the iPhone and iPad has been released, its been a lot more closer to "should I make the jump?" Also from many friends who have switched and starting out. Its usually these people that ask Mac users for help. Now they have retail store staff to assist. I have started to make screencasts for my parents who live on the other side of the globe on how to solve specific Mac issues, and they visit the Apple Store to ask geniuses there every weekend.
These ads are all aimed at the older generation.
Apple realizes the younger generation have switched and its time to target the rest.