Question

Apple Company:

Write an Outline of Apple Inc. This should include the major campaigns the company has had in the past 25-50 years. Identify the Campaign and the slogan tagline.

This will be in chronological order from oldest to newest.

Answer 1

Apple Inc is one of the Big Four technology giants alongside Amazon, Google and Facebook. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc., in January 1977. Apple Computer, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, software, networking solutions, and peripherals, including a line of portable digital music players. The Company's products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple Watch, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, iPhone OS (iOS), OS X and watchOS operating systems, iCloud, Apple Pay and a range of accessory, service and support offerings.

You don't need a degree to be excellent at marketing. All you need is creativity and a strong understanding of the needs of the customers to sell your products. Apple has always understood this and that speaks for its success. Let's have a look at its various campaigns and the impact it had on the company.

1. "1984" (January 1984)

The "1984" Super Bowl commercial introduced the original Macintosh mimicking imagery from George Orwell's 1984. The spot showed a giant screen broadcasting propaganda from a Big Brother-like figure being smashed by a woman in front of disbelieving minions. 1984 was so disruptive that the Apple board attempted to have it pulled before it aired at the Super Bowl, but they couldn’t sell the spot. Despite being aired nationally just once (on 22 January 1984 during the Super Bowl), the commercial revolutionised the way high-tech products were promoted and the empowerment they could bring.

2. What's On Your Powerbook? (1993-1996)

Print ads and television commercials featured celebrities describing how the PowerBook (portable computer) helped them in their businesses and everyday lives. This campaign was meant to show that the portable computer was beneficial for everyone, be it a business owner or an artist or any person.

3. Think Different (1997-2002)

This campaign was a game changer in the advertising industry itself. This campaign defined Apple as an outsider brand for artists, thinkers and rebels. It's sentimental, short and the copy is memorable. It makes Apple users feel what they're supposed to feel -- different and probably better than others.

The one-minute commercial featured black and white video footage of significant historical people of the past, including (in order) Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon, R. Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog), Frank Lloyd Wright, and Picasso.

4. Switch (June 2002)

This advertisement featured that the people who switched to Mac were 'real people'. It was mostly targeted against Microsoft Windows.

5. iPod Silhouettes (2003-2008)

These commercials feature people as dark silhouettes, dancing to music against bright-colored backgrounds.The idea of the faces and bodies being silhouetted was liked by the people. These people could be them! Dancing in their room with their iPod while nobody's watching.

6. Get a Mac, aka: Mac vs. PC (May 2006 - October 2009)

In 2010, Adweek declared "Get a Mac" to be the best advertising campaign of the first decade of the new century. Apple released “Get a Mac” ads made fun of Microsoft and Windows. At the core, Apple’s “Get a Mac” ads were so brilliant because the characters played by Long and Hodgman — from the way they talked all the way down to how they dressed — perfectly embodied the narrative of the commercials themselves, namely that the Mac was an efficient machine with hip and creative users while PCs were clunky machines that you might want to consider if you were an accountant.

7. Shot on iPhone (2014- present)

Unlike so many ads today which which simply attack competitors , Apple’s iPhone ads celebrate the users behind the technology. To do this, Apple obtained photos taken with its iPhone around the world. Apple gathered the images via social media and wound up with shots from 77 people in 24 countries, which were subsequently displayed on billboards, bus stops and train stations.

8. Behind the Mac (2018)

Apple’s Behind the Mac campaign is one of its largest Mac ad pushes in recent years. While many of the company’s recent campaigns have spotlighted the iPad and iPhone, this campaign puts a focus on the Mac and the effect it has had on its users since 1984. The commercial shows stars, children, and budding creatives all sitting behind their MacBooks — paying homage to the laptop’s presence in popular culture and implying that it’s the key to success. Some celebrities featured in the ad include Serena Williams, Malala Yousafzai, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dave Grohl, and even Kermit the Frog.

While Apple's advertisements have been mostly successful, they have also been met with controversies. For instance, the "iPod People" campaign was criticized for copying a campaign from a shoe company called Lugz. Another instance was when photographer filed suit against Apple for using his "wall of videos" imagery to advertise for Apple TV without his consent.

Adversities do happen and the goal is to rise above them and make your mark in the society by creating a positive impact on the people's lives. Apple, the app store and their retail shops are a role model for any smart modern brand that wants to create a raving fan base and super-loyal customers who will refer their friends and family members.