Compare and contrast Apple's two other advertising campaigns: the black-and-white dancers for iPod [0], and the 'resistance' 1984 for Macintosh [1]. In the former, the target were people who wanted to have a good time but also highlighted the fashionable white chord that was unique to iPods of the time. It said you could have fun and be cool (if you bought an iPod). In the latter case, the target were people who wanted to be free from soulless computers and express themselves. It said you could have freedom and be unique (if you bought a Macintosh).
Now lets compare the newest advertisement. If you are a creator, watching a bunch of the things you like and create destroyed is unsettling. If you like appreciating those creations, then watching a bunch of artwork, games, etc destroyed is unsettling. If you like to preserve things, watching a bunch of well-crafted instruments and technology that last decades destroyed and replaced by a device that barely lasts a few years is unsettling.
Every advertisement has one job: Persuade TARGET to do ACTION. Advertising is designed to manipulate your feelings toward this end. This advertisement is not just a flop, but is triggering strong negative feelings in the very target demographic. It became an organic and viral Anti-Marketing campaign for Apple itself. From a marketing perspective I would want to yank and kill this ad as fast as possible and get ahead of all the strong negative reactions.
As an exercise in these ideas, I'm going to try rewriting this ad in a way that isn't so off putting.
---
> Open with a dark room.
> Cut to a montage of hands turning on a light switch.
> Cut to scenes of well-maintained basements slowly lighting up, florescent lamps flickering
> Pan over various details of each room as lights flicker, one an art studio, one a musician studio, a couple of others
> Shots of each person doing some care maintenance (musician dusting a guitar, painter cleaning a brush, etc)
> Cut to musicians picking up a couple of instruments, sync shots together to get a soundtrack, soundtrack continues until the end of the commercial
> Montage of other people being inspired and doing a few quick drawings/paintings/singing/music/etc.
> Wind down with everybody slowly putting everything back
> Quick shots of everybody in their basement/studio's doorway, each put a hand over the lightswitch, look back into the room, then looking down.
> Cut to framed image of an iPad, and a hand reaching to unplug its charger and put it into a backpack or carrier.
> Cut to hand on a lightswitch turing out the lights, cut music, cut to black
1. Who is this advertisement for?
2. How persuasive is it for that person?
Compare and contrast Apple's two other advertising campaigns: the black-and-white dancers for iPod [0], and the 'resistance' 1984 for Macintosh [1]. In the former, the target were people who wanted to have a good time but also highlighted the fashionable white chord that was unique to iPods of the time. It said you could have fun and be cool (if you bought an iPod). In the latter case, the target were people who wanted to be free from soulless computers and express themselves. It said you could have freedom and be unique (if you bought a Macintosh).
Now lets compare the newest advertisement. If you are a creator, watching a bunch of the things you like and create destroyed is unsettling. If you like appreciating those creations, then watching a bunch of artwork, games, etc destroyed is unsettling. If you like to preserve things, watching a bunch of well-crafted instruments and technology that last decades destroyed and replaced by a device that barely lasts a few years is unsettling.
Every advertisement has one job: Persuade TARGET to do ACTION. Advertising is designed to manipulate your feelings toward this end. This advertisement is not just a flop, but is triggering strong negative feelings in the very target demographic. It became an organic and viral Anti-Marketing campaign for Apple itself. From a marketing perspective I would want to yank and kill this ad as fast as possible and get ahead of all the strong negative reactions.
As an exercise in these ideas, I'm going to try rewriting this ad in a way that isn't so off putting.
---
> Open with a dark room.
> Cut to a montage of hands turning on a light switch.
> Cut to scenes of well-maintained basements slowly lighting up, florescent lamps flickering
> Pan over various details of each room as lights flicker, one an art studio, one a musician studio, a couple of others
> Shots of each person doing some care maintenance (musician dusting a guitar, painter cleaning a brush, etc)
> Cut to musicians picking up a couple of instruments, sync shots together to get a soundtrack, soundtrack continues until the end of the commercial
> Montage of other people being inspired and doing a few quick drawings/paintings/singing/music/etc.
> Wind down with everybody slowly putting everything back
> Quick shots of everybody in their basement/studio's doorway, each put a hand over the lightswitch, look back into the room, then looking down.
> Cut to framed image of an iPad, and a hand reaching to unplug its charger and put it into a backpack or carrier.
> Cut to hand on a lightswitch turing out the lights, cut music, cut to black
> White-on-Black text centered: "You'll be back"
> cut to the text: 'iPad'
> fin
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjFgMyDtKSU
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I