<strong>So lets all of us enjoy what this is all about and praise Apple for their awesome efforts. If you have a hang up about being in a minority "get over it!", not everything in this world is about you.
Apple Rocks !!!!!!.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Apple is a minority. Praise apple for awesome advertising??? I'll praise them when they get their hardware in check.
Apple is getting incredibly AGGRESSIVE!!! According to todays ZDNN (zdnn.com), the Genius at the Apple Store will transfer your files from your PC to your Mac for you! You just have to bring your PC into the store. I guess the Geniuses will have to know some stuff about Windows.
Steve Jobs was asked if this campaign would bother Microsoft. He says:
Our relationship with Microsoft is really pretty good. What's a few market-share points between friends? It wouldn't matter to them, and we would be eternally grateful."
And the Switch web site is incredible! It's got detailed pages on every aspect of switching to the Mac including many pages showing side by side comparison of apps available for both Mac and PC.
This is the most amazing day to be a Mac fan. This is much bigger than Apple's taunts before it released the iMac. They are going full speed ahead straight for Windows users.
Thanks for the NY Times link. And that's great news about using Apple Geniuses to help in the transition. The entire aspect of the campaign is great. It hits exactly where people are most hesitant to switch in the end. It's nice to see Apple really do its homework. I guess Apple does listen to someone!
Kinda makes me wonder where things would be had these ads been running for the past couple of years.
Then again, right now Apple seems to really be hitting on all cylinders...for the most part. OS X is quite usable, has really come of age in the past 6 months and is only getting better with each update. The iBook, iMac and eMac are all VERY solid and likable products.
The PowerBook is just an awesome piece of portable machinery. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a dipstick. And dual GHz G4s wrapped in beautiful plastic and paired with the nicest flat panel displays in existence isn't too shabby either.
And let's not forget the iPod!
Oh yeah, and iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie.
2002 (and, I suspect, 2003) is a wonderful time to be a Mac user...either a long-time user or a fresh newbie.
And an earlier poster was right: it's that element of PC users who only use PCs because "that's what everyone uses...but I don't really like them and don't enjoy using them..." that Apple has the best chances of converting and welcoming to the fold.
Your ultra-hardcore Windows/PC geek who wouldn't be caught dead using a Mac is probably a lost cause. Screw 'em. Those type of people get on my nerves anyway.
But there are oceans of soccer moms, students, home users, cubicle jockeys, grandparents and others who are simply fed up with the Windows way and would be willing - if correctly educated and coaxed along - to truly "think different" and give the Mac a try.
This campaign is a nice step in the right direction.
And how many times do we get to say that about Apple?
I totally disagree with that. Remember the FOX Sports bit with Shaq + the iPod? That was 100x better as an advertisment than anything Apple has ever done, including these ads.
I'm not talking about getting celebrities to falsely prop up the product, nothing like getting Suzanne Somers to advertise some new cheapo exercise equipment. I'm talking about honest anecdotes from people we recognize, not bagel schmoozing from Regis Philbin.
There are plenty. Shaq may not have the best presentational skill, but he certainly sold the iPod well.
There are plenty of celebrities that would be willing to do ads like these. These are a lot like the promotional videos we see at keynotes...too bad we never see those on TV.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I'm not sure getting celebrities into the fold this time will jive well with the purpose of this campaign. Celebrities have been endorsing Apple for ages - why? They're rich, and they like luxurious, pretty things better than boxy, ugly things.
Celebrities are already on the fringe of society (arguably on the upper fringe), so it would be none too surprising that they'd be using "niche" products from Apple. So what if a celebrity uses an expensive, shiny Mac? I'm not a celebrity, so I use what everyone else uses.
When Oprah praised the Cube because it didn't clash with her home decor, everyone thought it would fly off the shelves because of her market influence. Uh...
Here's an idea. Get a genuine message out there from a regular, real person I can relate to. This person used to be a Windows user, and now she can tell me why she switched. She's not some obscenely rich eccentric who buys a Cube because it looks nice on her desk.
I totally disagree with that. Remember the FOX Sports bit with Shaq + the iPod? That was 100x better as an advertisment than anything Apple has ever done, including these ads.
I'm not talking about getting celebrities to falsely prop up the product, nothing like getting Suzanne Somers to advertise some new cheapo exercise equipment. I'm talking about honest anecdotes from people we recognize, not bagel schmoozing from Regis Philbin.
There are plenty. Shaq may not have the best presentational skill, but he certainly sold the iPod well.
There are plenty of celebrities that would be willing to do ads like these. These are a lot like the promotional videos we see at keynotes...too bad we never see those on TV.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The proble with the celebrety angle is no one belives them They assume they are paid.
Even if they got celebretry for free to go on- people think they are paid. Plus people think Mac's=money. Ruch people pitching that just reinforces this.
The proble with the celebrety angle is no one belives them They assume they are paid.
Even if they got celebretry for free to go on- people think they are paid. Plus people think Mac's=money. Ruch people pitching that just reinforces this.</strong><hr></blockquote>
That was my whole point...If you are sincere, you will sound sincere. Shaq sounded quite sincere to me. Okay, Moby sounded like he was struggling with a script a couple of times...the Smashmouth guy was definitely repeating canned lines, but Apple should be able to pick out a few that will sound absolutely sincere. Just look at their Apple Master's page and take your pick. The people on that page aren't Top 40, pop-culture, Old Navy sporting, manufactured stars. They are real people...and some people won't recognize them anyway...so it would work either way.
Sydney Pollack, Harrison Ford, John Cleese, Michael Kamen, Richard Dreyfuss (he did the "Here's to the Crazy Ones" voice-over) et cetera...They don't need a whole bunch...just a trio maybe...
Ask an average Joe if he's ever heard of Sydney Pollack.
This wouldn't be like a recurring spokesperson role...no series of Toyota commercials with Steve Young...or ATT commercials with Carrot Top...just one ad for one celebrity.
<strong>Kinda makes me wonder where things would be had these ads been running for the past couple of years.
Then again, right now Apple seems to really be hitting on all cylinders...for the most part. OS X is quite usable, has really come of age in the past 6 months and is only getting better with each update. The iBook, iMac and eMac are all VERY solid and likable products.
......blahblah
</strong><hr></blockquote>
exactly.
All of Apple's current products are extremely solid, pure quality and the best in their nice. iTunes, iMovie, iDVD. Simply THE best apps in the industry, that do exactly what you want to do for the specific task. iBook, iMac, and the proline. Quality products. And then there's OS X. Has come a long way, but it matured. And is very usable in it's current state. OS X 10.2 will be the icing on the cake.
What this means, is that now, in 2002, Apple has a solid productline. Everything works as advertised. So THIS is the right time for Apple to launch such a marketingcampaign. I'm glad they waited. When they would have done this one or two years ago, it would have been a disaster. OS X was in very early development around 10.0. It was slow, full of bugs and there were NO apps. be honest. There would be a lot of frustrated new mac users. A lot of things wouldn'[t have worked as advertised. Also, the old iMac wasn't anything to write home about and we were stuck on the 500 mhz Powermac G4 for quiiiittte some time.
This is also the reason there has been very little advertising for OS X when it was launced. Apple knew it wasn't perfect yet. But they knew it would grow and they saw the potential of OS X. And potential is has. We see it. Apple sees it. And now Apple realises that Windowsusers need to see this too.
This year has been pretty good so far. All good and solid new productreleases and all the major apps are now available for OS X.
It's save now to switch. It wasn't before.
This is the right time and I'm glad Apple does this.
It's a very exciting time to be a macuser indeed and I'm really curious to see how the campaign turns out. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
well said /\\ldie. its only because of the maturity of OSX and their hardware designs, that apple can release these ads today. its been a long time coming, but way cool now that its here.
I think some people underestimate the ammount of people that are truly Mac users stuck in WinTel world. The sheer number of those people is probably staggering. Even if Apple attracts 10% of those people that would probably AT LEAST double their market share!!!
I do think Apple should add some minority to the campaign. Not because we Caucasians "owe you anything" but because, it is a fact in marketing that you want to relate to your customers...
Comments
<strong>So lets all of us enjoy what this is all about and praise Apple for their awesome efforts. If you have a hang up about being in a minority "get over it!", not everything in this world is about you.
Apple Rocks !!!!!!.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Apple is a minority. Praise apple for awesome advertising??? I'll praise them when they get their hardware in check.
<strong>
Apple is a minority. Praise apple for awesome advertising??? I'll praise them when they get their hardware in check.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, their hardware needs to get better, but these are the type of ads Apple should've had a while ago, and they really get the point across IMO.
..or something like that..
And in a New York Times article:
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/10/business/media/10APPL.html"; target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/10/business/media/10APPL.html</a>;
Steve Jobs was asked if this campaign would bother Microsoft. He says:
Our relationship with Microsoft is really pretty good. What's a few market-share points between friends? It wouldn't matter to them, and we would be eternally grateful."
And the Switch web site is incredible! It's got detailed pages on every aspect of switching to the Mac including many pages showing side by side comparison of apps available for both Mac and PC.
This is the most amazing day to be a Mac fan. This is much bigger than Apple's taunts before it released the iMac. They are going full speed ahead straight for Windows users.
Then again, right now Apple seems to really be hitting on all cylinders...for the most part. OS X is quite usable, has really come of age in the past 6 months and is only getting better with each update. The iBook, iMac and eMac are all VERY solid and likable products.
The PowerBook is just an awesome piece of portable machinery. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a dipstick. And dual GHz G4s wrapped in beautiful plastic and paired with the nicest flat panel displays in existence isn't too shabby either.
And let's not forget the iPod!
Oh yeah, and iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie.
2002 (and, I suspect, 2003) is a wonderful time to be a Mac user...either a long-time user or a fresh newbie.
And an earlier poster was right: it's that element of PC users who only use PCs because "that's what everyone uses...but I don't really like them and don't enjoy using them..." that Apple has the best chances of converting and welcoming to the fold.
Your ultra-hardcore Windows/PC geek who wouldn't be caught dead using a Mac is probably a lost cause. Screw 'em. Those type of people get on my nerves anyway.
But there are oceans of soccer moms, students, home users, cubicle jockeys, grandparents and others who are simply fed up with the Windows way and would be willing - if correctly educated and coaxed along - to truly "think different" and give the Mac a try.
This campaign is a nice step in the right direction.
And how many times do we get to say that about Apple?
<strong>
I totally disagree with that. Remember the FOX Sports bit with Shaq + the iPod? That was 100x better as an advertisment than anything Apple has ever done, including these ads.
I'm not talking about getting celebrities to falsely prop up the product, nothing like getting Suzanne Somers to advertise some new cheapo exercise equipment. I'm talking about honest anecdotes from people we recognize, not bagel schmoozing from Regis Philbin.
There are plenty. Shaq may not have the best presentational skill, but he certainly sold the iPod well.
There are plenty of celebrities that would be willing to do ads like these. These are a lot like the promotional videos we see at keynotes...too bad we never see those on TV.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I'm not sure getting celebrities into the fold this time will jive well with the purpose of this campaign. Celebrities have been endorsing Apple for ages - why? They're rich, and they like luxurious, pretty things better than boxy, ugly things.
Celebrities are already on the fringe of society (arguably on the upper fringe), so it would be none too surprising that they'd be using "niche" products from Apple. So what if a celebrity uses an expensive, shiny Mac? I'm not a celebrity, so I use what everyone else uses.
When Oprah praised the Cube because it didn't clash with her home decor, everyone thought it would fly off the shelves because of her market influence. Uh...
Here's an idea. Get a genuine message out there from a regular, real person I can relate to. This person used to be a Windows user, and now she can tell me why she switched. She's not some obscenely rich eccentric who buys a Cube because it looks nice on her desk.
<strong>
I totally disagree with that. Remember the FOX Sports bit with Shaq + the iPod? That was 100x better as an advertisment than anything Apple has ever done, including these ads.
I'm not talking about getting celebrities to falsely prop up the product, nothing like getting Suzanne Somers to advertise some new cheapo exercise equipment. I'm talking about honest anecdotes from people we recognize, not bagel schmoozing from Regis Philbin.
There are plenty. Shaq may not have the best presentational skill, but he certainly sold the iPod well.
There are plenty of celebrities that would be willing to do ads like these. These are a lot like the promotional videos we see at keynotes...too bad we never see those on TV.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The proble with the celebrety angle is no one belives them They assume they are paid.
Even if they got celebretry for free to go on- people think they are paid. Plus people think Mac's=money. Ruch people pitching that just reinforces this.
<strong>
The proble with the celebrety angle is no one belives them They assume they are paid.
Even if they got celebretry for free to go on- people think they are paid. Plus people think Mac's=money. Ruch people pitching that just reinforces this.</strong><hr></blockquote>
That was my whole point...If you are sincere, you will sound sincere. Shaq sounded quite sincere to me. Okay, Moby sounded like he was struggling with a script a couple of times...the Smashmouth guy was definitely repeating canned lines, but Apple should be able to pick out a few that will sound absolutely sincere. Just look at their Apple Master's page and take your pick. The people on that page aren't Top 40, pop-culture, Old Navy sporting, manufactured stars. They are real people...and some people won't recognize them anyway...so it would work either way.
Sydney Pollack, Harrison Ford, John Cleese, Michael Kamen, Richard Dreyfuss (he did the "Here's to the Crazy Ones" voice-over) et cetera...They don't need a whole bunch...just a trio maybe...
Ask an average Joe if he's ever heard of Sydney Pollack.
This wouldn't be like a recurring spokesperson role...no series of Toyota commercials with Steve Young...or ATT commercials with Carrot Top...just one ad for one celebrity.
[ 06-11-2002: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
<strong>Kinda makes me wonder where things would be had these ads been running for the past couple of years.
Then again, right now Apple seems to really be hitting on all cylinders...for the most part. OS X is quite usable, has really come of age in the past 6 months and is only getting better with each update. The iBook, iMac and eMac are all VERY solid and likable products.
......blahblah
exactly.
All of Apple's current products are extremely solid, pure quality and the best in their nice. iTunes, iMovie, iDVD. Simply THE best apps in the industry, that do exactly what you want to do for the specific task. iBook, iMac, and the proline. Quality products. And then there's OS X. Has come a long way, but it matured. And is very usable in it's current state. OS X 10.2 will be the icing on the cake.
What this means, is that now, in 2002, Apple has a solid productline. Everything works as advertised. So THIS is the right time for Apple to launch such a marketingcampaign. I'm glad they waited. When they would have done this one or two years ago, it would have been a disaster. OS X was in very early development around 10.0. It was slow, full of bugs and there were NO apps. be honest. There would be a lot of frustrated new mac users. A lot of things wouldn'[t have worked as advertised. Also, the old iMac wasn't anything to write home about and we were stuck on the 500 mhz Powermac G4 for quiiiittte some time.
This is also the reason there has been very little advertising for OS X when it was launced. Apple knew it wasn't perfect yet. But they knew it would grow and they saw the potential of OS X. And potential is has. We see it. Apple sees it. And now Apple realises that Windowsusers need to see this too.
This year has been pretty good so far. All good and solid new productreleases and all the major apps are now available for OS X.
It's save now to switch. It wasn't before.
This is the right time and I'm glad Apple does this.
It's a very exciting time to be a macuser indeed and I'm really curious to see how the campaign turns out. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
[ 06-11-2002: Message edited by: the_unknown_source ]</p>