Comments on: Do Cool Ads Move People to Buy? http://www.marketingrevisited.com/do-cool-ads-move-people-to-buy/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:30:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Ryan Paul http://www.marketingrevisited.com/do-cool-ads-move-people-to-buy/#comment-19 Fri, 02 Mar 2007 21:21:19 +0000 http://www.marketingrevisited.com/do-cool-ads-move-people-to-buy/#comment-19 You bring up some very good points. Apple's advertising really doesn't do enough to address the pragmatic concerns that often represent the most significant factors in consumer product selection. I think that Apple's plan is to use the commercials to push the brand and the image and then use their brick-and-mortar stores to actually make the sales. Many of the questions you ask about impediments to mac migration can be answered by Apple sales representatives in individual stores. Live CDs have been used with great success to promote desktop Linux adoption, and I personally think that Apple would benefit from adopting this strategy as well. Live CDs allow users to run an alternate operating system on their computer by booting from a special CD. By doing this, users can test alternate operating systems without having to modify their computer or install anything. Some Linux distributors offer to mail these CDs to users for free. If Apple allowed people to test the Macintosh operating system on their regular PCs with simple Live CDs, I think the company would get more switchers because people would have an opportunity to test the operating system and ensure that it will meet their needs. It's worth noting that there are other problems with Apple's image-oriented advertising campaigns, particularly cultural issues. The ads with the PC and Mac people are actually having a detrimental impact on Apple's brand image in places like Japan, where the "I'm-better-than-you" mentality of the advertisements go against the grain of a deep-seated cultural tendency to value humility. You bring up some very good points. Apple’s advertising really doesn’t do enough to address the pragmatic concerns that often represent the most significant factors in consumer product selection.

I think that Apple’s plan is to use the commercials to push the brand and the image and then use their brick-and-mortar stores to actually make the sales. Many of the questions you ask about impediments to mac migration can be answered by Apple sales representatives in individual stores.

Live CDs have been used with great success to promote desktop Linux adoption, and I personally think that Apple would benefit from adopting this strategy as well. Live CDs allow users to run an alternate operating system on their computer by booting from a special CD. By doing this, users can test alternate operating systems without having to modify their computer or install anything. Some Linux distributors offer to mail these CDs to users for free. If Apple allowed people to test the Macintosh operating system on their regular PCs with simple Live CDs, I think the company would get more switchers because people would have an opportunity to test the operating system and ensure that it will meet their needs.

It’s worth noting that there are other problems with Apple’s image-oriented advertising campaigns, particularly cultural issues. The ads with the PC and Mac people are actually having a detrimental impact on Apple’s brand image in places like Japan, where the “I’m-better-than-you” mentality of the advertisements go against the grain of a deep-seated cultural tendency to value humility.

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