Does mindshare really matter?
Well we all remember the switch ads. Many experts say it was unsuccessful, while other people said it increased mindshare and helped pave the way for the ipod's runaway success. But we haven't seen increased sales of Apple computers. On the other hand, Dell has the mind share and the marketshare to validate their advertising budget. Dell owns about 20% of the PC market, and everyone shopping for a PC has Dell on their short list.
Dell's campaign is simple. Dell makes computers built for you, and you get to pick in choose what you want. We understand computers and we understand you so give us a call.
Apple's marketing efforts are: people dance with ipods. Apple = cool. This has pretty much been the theme since Steve jobs return, with George Clinton appearing in ads, and we have seen movie makers, DJs, college kids and celebrities endorsing Apple. The recent ads are even more quirky. Theg5 Ad reminded me of a Sega ad, it was definitely geared towards techy people. The ilife ads are good, but we will have to see if it helps.
Is Apple too cool for it's own good. I mean to most customers Apple computers are for rich people, moviemakers, celebrities and graphic designers. This leave out much of the potential computer shopper. Everyone knows about Apple, but Apple is too much like BMW: I can not afford one until I hit the lottery.
Apple's are a hit with young people, and it will lead to increased marketshare over the next 5-10 years, but will Apple still be a hardware company then? Will the mac os still matter?
Dell has done a great job representing the everyman appeal. And apple's ilife suite and user friendly products should be able to sell the same thing. Everyman is a fim maker, photographer, musician, web-page builder and everything else in between, but the consumers do not see it that way. What can Apple do to solve this challenge?
Dell's campaign is simple. Dell makes computers built for you, and you get to pick in choose what you want. We understand computers and we understand you so give us a call.
Apple's marketing efforts are: people dance with ipods. Apple = cool. This has pretty much been the theme since Steve jobs return, with George Clinton appearing in ads, and we have seen movie makers, DJs, college kids and celebrities endorsing Apple. The recent ads are even more quirky. Theg5 Ad reminded me of a Sega ad, it was definitely geared towards techy people. The ilife ads are good, but we will have to see if it helps.
Is Apple too cool for it's own good. I mean to most customers Apple computers are for rich people, moviemakers, celebrities and graphic designers. This leave out much of the potential computer shopper. Everyone knows about Apple, but Apple is too much like BMW: I can not afford one until I hit the lottery.
Apple's are a hit with young people, and it will lead to increased marketshare over the next 5-10 years, but will Apple still be a hardware company then? Will the mac os still matter?
Dell has done a great job representing the everyman appeal. And apple's ilife suite and user friendly products should be able to sell the same thing. Everyman is a fim maker, photographer, musician, web-page builder and everything else in between, but the consumers do not see it that way. What can Apple do to solve this challenge?
Comments
Originally posted by Crusader
Yes macs will continue to be relevant.
that's sort of a 'duh' statement, don't you think?
Even more depressing is the fact that 90% of kids 5-7 are creative thinkers...you wonder what they are being exposed to later in life that reverses this figure so drastically...
Could it be Windows? Haha, anything is possible.
Get this: tonight I was composing theme songs for montages in my upcoming movie in GarageBand...who the hell is doing that on a PC? Not many people.
The challenge is the OS that has become the standard - Windows. People feel safe with what is widely used, be it bad or good.
Apple needs to go where the users are at, the PC world, to bring the mind-share up. That's the tricky part, how do you do that while strengthening the need to use a Mac? If Apple creates too much software for the PC then owning a Mac becomes mute.
Popular equals normal which equals average.
my point - sell the ipod, not the babe in the shaddow
By the way Apple has been in business considerably longer than Dell and Dell will go the way of Compaq, eMachines, Gateway.
It's a cycle with PC's their star rises and falls, Apple remains.
See this story
For our [Mars] landing site work, we always get the highest-end desktop Mac we can find, so we just got one of the G5s with dual 2-GHz processors and 8 GB of RAM," Matt Golombek, a planetary geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told the E-Commerce Times.
Smart people get Macs, smart businesses get Macs because you don't need a whole IT dept to maintain them. I have no problem with creating jobs for people to earn a living, but todays IT departments are bloated, thus the outsourcing epidemic.
The sooner businesses wise up to the fact it would be more cost effective to use Macs than out source IT jobs to India, the better.
Originally posted by a_greer
if apple is so conserned about the sales of computers and ipods, the first thing to do is fire the consultant who is responsable for the whole dancing shaddow thing, as a guy who follows thw tech industry it is cool, but they are trying to sell ipods to NON-GEEKS, the kind of people who when given the choice would read rolling stone as apposed to macworld/pc magazine. and the only thing in the ads thet even points you in the right direction is the logo at the end..
my point - sell the ipod, not the babe in the shaddow
I sit here baffled and bewildered by your post.
Apple is selling "hip". Apple is saying iPod == hip. Apple is saying people that buy iPods are hip. People like to be hip. They buy iPods.
You appear to know nothing about advertising and marketing.
If it were a Toyota 4Runner ad, you'd probably say, sell the 4Runner not the 4 guys out on an adventure in the wilderness.
It's "image" advertising.
The "babe in the shadow" DOES sell the iPod...or at least 2 million of them anyway.
( Gosh, I wish I had a dollar for everyone that "knows" what Apple should be doing...that is wrong. I could retire now. )
Originally posted by Chris Cuilla
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( Gosh, I wish I had a dollar for everyone that "knows" what Apple should be doing...that is wrong. I could retire now. )
you are absolutly right on this point. (forget the 1$ take 10 and u would be richer than gates)
Originally posted by Sailfish
Apple has a great product and people who realize a quality machine that costs slightly more up front, but saves them considerable money and time to use is a smarter choice than running out and buying a el-cheapo box.
By the way Apple has been in business considerably longer than Dell and Dell will go the way of Compaq, eMachines, Gateway.
It's a cycle with PC's their star rises and falls, Apple remains.
Well Dell is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. Certainly not chump change in the computer industry. So obviously they are doing something right.
I mean everyone knows about Harley Davidson's and Zippo lighters, but 9 time out of 10 people buy the cheapie lighter at the drugstore or the free match book at the gas station.
Originally posted by jade
Does hip sell computers?
I mean everyone knows about Harley Davidson's and Zippo lighters, but 9 time out of 10 people buy the cheapie lighter at the drugstore or the free match book at the gas station.
It might. It seems to be selling iPods anyway.
Originally posted by jade
Does hip sell computers?
.
Ipod revenues are nowhere near enough to carry the company, more like icing on the cake.
Hip works well for consumer electronics (ie toys). But in the necessity department more than looks alone are needed to sell the product.