I've got Segall's blog post open in the next tab, but even before reading it I have to say I agree that Apple's ads have been missing the target for years.
Yep. The girl singing to her grandfather, the iPad ad above, and so many more recent ones are just totally unengaging. Samsung's have some humor to them - arguably too little of their product (shown or in any way differentiated), and the end of the ad looks like a Best Buy commercial, but let's face it, I'm a Mac / I'm a PC weren't tech heavy ads, were amusing, and did much more for Apple as a brand than the smarmy pieces that seem to be de-riguer at the moment.
But the other issue may be that Apple needs an ad with someone getting in a car, having the magical car integration automatically give them a car touch interface to iOS apps (CarPlay enabled?) on the touchscreen... Or someone ask Siri to find the 'big game' or the unwatched episodes of some show - and have the TV 'magically' do the right thing ("Bob, You missed 3 episodes... Would you like me to start playing them?"... Or something else new and different. iOS hasn't moved forward enough in the past few years, making the domination by cool a bit challenging at the moment.
BTW, I would certainly argue that the competition got away with copying Apple's design & user interaction metaphors for phones, tablets, and light laptops, but these ads don't make any case about that. Hell, run a few ads that mock the blatant copies Mac vs. PC style.
Why, because he used to work for the company that did Apples ads. That makes him more valid to make lame statements based on zero facts. Don't think so.
Now if he had access to some data to back up those claims . . .
Actually, the evidence is there to back up his claims. Too bad he didn't claim what people here are pretending that he did.
What he said is that Apple was once untouchable. Now, with Samsung's massive media expenditures, that my no longer be true.
The market confirms that. Samsung is certainly selling lots of phones. Apple doesn't own the smartphone space they way they once did (in mindshare, if not in market share). Samsung IS a serious competitor and Apple can't take them for granted. That's really all that his statements add up to.
Note that he doesn't once say that Samsung's ads are better than (or even as good as) Apple's ads. He didn't say that the ads were good enough to convince people to switch. His main comment was that when you combine the ads with the enormous amount of money Samsung is spending on media space that they could constitute a threat to Apple. That statement rings true to me. It does not, however, imply that Samsung's ads are better in any real sense.
Why, because he used to work for the company that did Apples ads. That makes him more valid to make lame statements based on zero facts. Don't think so.
Now if he had access to some data to back up those claims . . .
For the most part I agree with Segall.
His opinion is based on years and years of experience in the business and successful years I might add. He looks at what Apple is doing, he looks at what Samsung is doing. Based on his years and years of experience he forms an opinion of what he sees and hears.
The responses of this young actress - J. Lawrence - show how superficial this piece by Ken Segall is.
What really maters?
To respect your clients or would be clients as Apple ads tries to or to treat them as ignorants who need to be schooled ( using the Mr. liar and Mr Drones Hypocrite debate example )?
His opinion is based on years and years of experience in the business and successful years I might add. He looks at what Apple is doing, he looks at what Samsung is doing. Based on his years and years of experience he forms an opinion of what he sees and hears.
Don't think this has anything to do with whether Apple's ads are good or bad. Samsung is carpet bombing the world with advertising. I don't expect Apple to follow suit. But I do think people will start to tire of seeing Samsung 24/7.
I think Samsung's ads are pretty good, but not great. They're nothing compared to the 'Think Different' campaign of Apple's yesteryear. Sounds like another Apple story to generate hits. Personally, when I hear the Samsung commercial music, the orchestra playing a comical score, I think it's annoying. Is that what you want people to associate with your company? Also, I don't think bashing another company works well in advertising. Apple tried to do it to the PC market a few years ago, and look how far it took their computer division - not very. On the contrary, I've always thought that making fun of your competitor cements them as a standard to beat, it makes users of the 'mocked' company less likely to use the offending company, and it gives the 'mocked' company extra air time - because any publicity is good publicity. Like it or not, if people see a commercial painting an opposing company as terrible, the person walks away, forgets the commercial, and remembers the product logo. I don't think Apple is hitting it out of the park right now, but I think Samsung is performing abysmally in the ad space.
This. If you've spent any amount of time in the advertising business you know it's the one thing you NEVER do: Don't name your competitors. The entire push by Samsung to frame themselves as being more like Apple (Offering an integrated ecosystem of products) is undermined by the fact that they turn around and insult the very customers that they would (presumably) like to attract.
With Apple, the message (under Tim Cook, at least) is quiet confidence. With Samsung, it's "look at the iFans, we're not them so we must be better." Seeing things like this makes me wish that Google exerted a bit more control over Android, not just in the products themselves (User Interface, etc.), but in the message that its partners send to potential customers.
I've said it before and it bears repeating: If the iPhone isn't for you and Android suits your needs better, fine. However, the only "safe" choice on Android at this point is the Nexus. Anything else is asking for trouble.
When we all have PVRs to pause live TV and then skip over adverts, or use our remotes to switch channels during ads, or at the very least have our laptops/tablets/smartphones to use whilst the adverts are on, are you peeps really saying that you WATCH adverts?
I'm shocked. Even at the cinema I'm chatting to friends or on my iPad whilst the adverts play.
I couldn't even tell you what a Samsung advert looks or sounds like. I only see Apple adverts if Appleinsider or Macrumors has them on their homepages. Even then, I rarely bother to check them out.
People still watching ads. That's so last millennium, darling
Don't think this has anything to do with whether Apple's ads are good or bad. Samsung is carpet bombing the world with advertising. I don't expect Apple to follow suit. But I do think people will start to tire of seeing Samsung 24/7.
No.
People like that. People like attracting attention, people like attention-grabbers.
Lets be honest- the guy has immensely more perspective and more valid of an opinion than you or any of us. Unless you named the iMac and created one of- if not THE greatest ad series of all time.
....
Those "achievements" were a long time ago though and nothing about them stops him from being a "drama queen." Many famous people, Tim Burton included are drama queens.
I would agree myself that the adds are "scoring points" with consumers though I would disagree with any assertion (and note that Segal doesn't say this, only the posters here do), that this means Samsung is "winning" or that Apple has anything to worry about from them. The ads are funny, well-shot, etc. but they show *nothing* of the product at all. They don't say *why* you should use a Galaxy Tab or why it's better than an Apple iPad. This one in particular hardly shows the device at all and when it does, all it shows is that it has a stylus and a guy swipes a page with it instead of his finger. Wow.
These are the kind of ads that drive idiots to the store and maybe towards buying the actual product in some cases, but at the end of the day, a Galaxy is still a pretty shitty piece of kit that doesn't actually do very much and most of the owners will eventually discover that.
Not opining on the overall merits of what he is saying, but I thought the Samsung ads during the Oscars was just plain stupid. Apple's ads, which started appearing in the middle of the broadcast were, while safe and predictable, effective from an energy and simple messaging perspective.
Even Samsung's Super Bowl ad, while quite humorous, did not come across as effective in making their products compelling.
I do think it's time for Apple to break some new ground in their campaigns however..
Cool is Google, Apple cannot get away with what Google gets away with. Go to the Guardian or the BBC online for example.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plagen
I tend to agree with "becoming cool". I think, it's a generational and rebellion factor. The younger generation would not buy, use, or wear things that their parents have had. It's only natural.
Really?
Suggesting that Samsung is THE new cool, and no longer Apple for the kids, because those kids would not want any association with their father use of Apple products?
Um …
That is stupid thing i read/watch about Apple on BBC.
Apple has never attempted to appeal to everyone. There are plenty of people with purchasing power who are not in Apple's target audiences and the ads are therefore not directed at them.
To take it to the extreme, people who live in trailer parks and drive 1980 Chevy Novas have purchasing power. There would not be much point in Apple pursuing them to try to sell them Mac Pro computers.
Apple's ads are targeted at specific demographics. While they may miss some people that way, they also stand a better chance of getting the people they want. It's a trade-off. The one thing that's certain is that attempting to appeal to everyone is usually a mistake.
Firstly, people who live in trailer parks and drive '80 Chevy Novas don't have purchasing power, since otherwise they would live in houses and drive cars. Secondly, if you look at the Samsung ads it is pretty clear that Samsung is trying to target (successfully, according to Segall) the exact same target audience as Apple.
Comments
Just like id trust a structural engineer to give me his opinion on my foundation vs my uncle who has bought a couple houses before.
But if your experience as a successful advertiser gives you more credibility than him, I'd love to hear it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ochyming
Cool, Apple is cool?
Since when Apple is cool?
Only stupid journalists said that.
Cool is Google, Apple cannot get away with what Google gets away with. Go to the Guardian or the BBC online for example.
Is this a comprehension problem or are you just not following the thread?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cherrypop
I've got Segall's blog post open in the next tab, but even before reading it I have to say I agree that Apple's ads have been missing the target for years.
Yep. The girl singing to her grandfather, the iPad ad above, and so many more recent ones are just totally unengaging. Samsung's have some humor to them - arguably too little of their product (shown or in any way differentiated), and the end of the ad looks like a Best Buy commercial, but let's face it, I'm a Mac / I'm a PC weren't tech heavy ads, were amusing, and did much more for Apple as a brand than the smarmy pieces that seem to be de-riguer at the moment.
But the other issue may be that Apple needs an ad with someone getting in a car, having the magical car integration automatically give them a car touch interface to iOS apps (CarPlay enabled?) on the touchscreen... Or someone ask Siri to find the 'big game' or the unwatched episodes of some show - and have the TV 'magically' do the right thing ("Bob, You missed 3 episodes... Would you like me to start playing them?"... Or something else new and different. iOS hasn't moved forward enough in the past few years, making the domination by cool a bit challenging at the moment.
BTW, I would certainly argue that the competition got away with copying Apple's design & user interaction metaphors for phones, tablets, and light laptops, but these ads don't make any case about that. Hell, run a few ads that mock the blatant copies Mac vs. PC style.
Actually, the evidence is there to back up his claims. Too bad he didn't claim what people here are pretending that he did.
What he said is that Apple was once untouchable. Now, with Samsung's massive media expenditures, that my no longer be true.
The market confirms that. Samsung is certainly selling lots of phones. Apple doesn't own the smartphone space they way they once did (in mindshare, if not in market share). Samsung IS a serious competitor and Apple can't take them for granted. That's really all that his statements add up to.
Note that he doesn't once say that Samsung's ads are better than (or even as good as) Apple's ads. He didn't say that the ads were good enough to convince people to switch. His main comment was that when you combine the ads with the enormous amount of money Samsung is spending on media space that they could constitute a threat to Apple. That statement rings true to me. It does not, however, imply that Samsung's ads are better in any real sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
Why, because he used to work for the company that did Apples ads. That makes him more valid to make lame statements based on zero facts. Don't think so.
Now if he had access to some data to back up those claims . . .
For the most part I agree with Segall.
His opinion is based on years and years of experience in the business and successful years I might add. He looks at what Apple is doing, he looks at what Samsung is doing. Based on his years and years of experience he forms an opinion of what he sees and hears.
[plus, read jragosta above]
The responses of this young actress - J. Lawrence -
What really maters?
To respect your clients or would be clients as Apple ads tries to or to treat them as ignorants who need to be schooled ( using the Mr. liar and Mr Drones Hypocrite debate example )?
Quote:
Originally Posted by island hermit
For the most part I agree with Segall.
His opinion is based on years and years of experience in the business and successful years I might add. He looks at what Apple is doing, he looks at what Samsung is doing. Based on his years and years of experience he forms an opinion of what he sees and hears.
[plus, read jragosta above]
Yeah, like Bernard Madoff made many people rich.
Don't think this has anything to do with whether Apple's ads are good or bad. Samsung is carpet bombing the world with advertising. I don't expect Apple to follow suit. But I do think people will start to tire of seeing Samsung 24/7.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daveinpublic
I think Samsung's ads are pretty good, but not great. They're nothing compared to the 'Think Different' campaign of Apple's yesteryear. Sounds like another Apple story to generate hits. Personally, when I hear the Samsung commercial music, the orchestra playing a comical score, I think it's annoying. Is that what you want people to associate with your company? Also, I don't think bashing another company works well in advertising. Apple tried to do it to the PC market a few years ago, and look how far it took their computer division - not very. On the contrary, I've always thought that making fun of your competitor cements them as a standard to beat, it makes users of the 'mocked' company less likely to use the offending company, and it gives the 'mocked' company extra air time - because any publicity is good publicity. Like it or not, if people see a commercial painting an opposing company as terrible, the person walks away, forgets the commercial, and remembers the product logo. I don't think Apple is hitting it out of the park right now, but I think Samsung is performing abysmally in the ad space.
This. If you've spent any amount of time in the advertising business you know it's the one thing you NEVER do: Don't name your competitors. The entire push by Samsung to frame themselves as being more like Apple (Offering an integrated ecosystem of products) is undermined by the fact that they turn around and insult the very customers that they would (presumably) like to attract.
With Apple, the message (under Tim Cook, at least) is quiet confidence. With Samsung, it's "look at the iFans, we're not them so we must be better." Seeing things like this makes me wish that Google exerted a bit more control over Android, not just in the products themselves (User Interface, etc.), but in the message that its partners send to potential customers.
I've said it before and it bears repeating: If the iPhone isn't for you and Android suits your needs better, fine. However, the only "safe" choice on Android at this point is the Nexus. Anything else is asking for trouble.
Quote:
Originally Posted by island hermit
Is this a comprehension problem or are you just not following the thread?
I believe you do not understand that cool IS INDEED relative.
Apple success as nothing to do with being cool. but making good products.
… Your turn.
People still watch adverts?
When we all have PVRs to pause live TV and then skip over adverts, or use our remotes to switch channels during ads, or at the very least have our laptops/tablets/smartphones to use whilst the adverts are on, are you peeps really saying that you WATCH adverts?
I'm shocked. Even at the cinema I'm chatting to friends or on my iPad whilst the adverts play.
I couldn't even tell you what a Samsung advert looks or sounds like. I only see Apple adverts if Appleinsider or Macrumors has them on their homepages. Even then, I rarely bother to check them out.
People still watching ads. That's so last millennium, darling
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
Don't think this has anything to do with whether Apple's ads are good or bad. Samsung is carpet bombing the world with advertising. I don't expect Apple to follow suit. But I do think people will start to tire of seeing Samsung 24/7.
No.
People like that. People like attracting attention, people like attention-grabbers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ochyming
I believe you do not understand that cool IS INDEED relative.
Apple success as nothing to do with being cool. but making good products.
… Your turn.
We weren't talking about Apple.
Your turn.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
I'd say Apple's competitors need strong advertising a little more than Apple does.
And that's all that needs to be said. Short post and spot on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andysol
Lets be honest- the guy has immensely more perspective and more valid of an opinion than you or any of us. Unless you named the iMac and created one of- if not THE greatest ad series of all time.
....
Those "achievements" were a long time ago though and nothing about them stops him from being a "drama queen." Many famous people, Tim Burton included are drama queens.
I would agree myself that the adds are "scoring points" with consumers though I would disagree with any assertion (and note that Segal doesn't say this, only the posters here do), that this means Samsung is "winning" or that Apple has anything to worry about from them. The ads are funny, well-shot, etc. but they show *nothing* of the product at all. They don't say *why* you should use a Galaxy Tab or why it's better than an Apple iPad. This one in particular hardly shows the device at all and when it does, all it shows is that it has a stylus and a guy swipes a page with it instead of his finger. Wow.
These are the kind of ads that drive idiots to the store and maybe towards buying the actual product in some cases, but at the end of the day, a Galaxy is still a pretty shitty piece of kit that doesn't actually do very much and most of the owners will eventually discover that.
Even Samsung's Super Bowl ad, while quite humorous, did not come across as effective in making their products compelling.
I do think it's time for Apple to break some new ground in their campaigns however..
Quote:
Originally Posted by island hermit
We weren't talking about Apple.
Your turn.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ochyming
Cool, Apple is cool?
Since when Apple is cool?
Only stupid journalists said that.
Cool is Google, Apple cannot get away with what Google gets away with. Go to the Guardian or the BBC online for example.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plagen
I tend to agree with "becoming cool". I think, it's a generational and rebellion factor. The younger generation would not buy, use, or wear things that their parents have had. It's only natural.
Really?
Suggesting that Samsung is THE new cool, and no longer Apple for the kids, because those kids would not want any association with their father use of Apple products?
Um …
That is stupid thing i read/watch about Apple on BBC.
Samsung started doing phones before Apple or not?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andysol
Oh- so you're that guy. The one who picks out one anomaly and passes it off as being common. Congrats on that perspective.
Guess you are a Wall Street guy.
No, i am the guy who believe that humans are humans because they are not perfect, which is not a bad thing.
Our imperfections makes us learn things and evolve.
… And Madoff was good, very good at what he was doing. Get it now?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Yes ---- and no.
Apple has never attempted to appeal to everyone. There are plenty of people with purchasing power who are not in Apple's target audiences and the ads are therefore not directed at them.
To take it to the extreme, people who live in trailer parks and drive 1980 Chevy Novas have purchasing power. There would not be much point in Apple pursuing them to try to sell them Mac Pro computers.
Apple's ads are targeted at specific demographics. While they may miss some people that way, they also stand a better chance of getting the people they want. It's a trade-off. The one thing that's certain is that attempting to appeal to everyone is usually a mistake.
Firstly, people who live in trailer parks and drive '80 Chevy Novas don't have purchasing power, since otherwise they would live in houses and drive cars. Secondly, if you look at the Samsung ads it is pretty clear that Samsung is trying to target (successfully, according to Segall) the exact same target audience as Apple.