Ch. 17 - Advertising and Public Relations

There might be some out there that may think Apple doesn't need advertising – Apple is an incredibly popular and successful company. Well, this doesn't happen by accident. Products don't just sell themselves, no matter how good they are. While Apple might have great products, a good ad and/or publicity campaign can do wonders for sales. While we may not think of Apple as one of those companies which advertises aggressively and is shoving their products down our throat, they put a lot of thought, effort, and time, not to mention money into ad and publicity campaigns.

Apple has had many iconic ad campaigns, including: the 1984 Superbowl commercial, which I've posted about previously, the "Think Different" campaign of the 1990's, and in the 2000's the "iPod People" and the "Get a Mac" campaigns. I have touched on these before and will post a history of Apple ads to take you through the evolution with detail and the great creativity at Apple – what has ultimately put them in the position they are today.

Advertising Age (AdAge.com) recently named Apple "Marketer of the Decade!"And with good reason, Apple has done a great job of appealing to the masses, building great loyalty among customers – any marketer's dream – and touching on something allusive as our emotions and "coolness." Apple understands that consumer perception is heavily influenced by displaying who uses a product and in what context. A great example of this is product placement of Apple products. In 2009 Apple products were in 18 of the 44 films that topped the box office (that's 41%) and in 2010 they were in 10 of the 33 (30%) number one films of the year! Not to mention they are featured in countless popular tv shows, such as 30 Rock, Heroes, Dexter, Sex and the City...

 

 

Mac in hit film Twilight

Mac in popular TV show Sex and the City