Analysis: The many of faces of Apple advertising Page 2 of 2

This Is How You Turn It On

Despite the fact that the iPhone is the newest of Apple’s products, having hit the market just six months ago, it’s already been the focus of two separate ad campaigns. The first, which aired around the time of the iPhone’s June 29 launch, actually showed the phone in action—unusual for Apple’s advertising.

Images of the iPhone interface have given way to shots of real users talking about their experiences with the phone.

The commercials showed off the device’s features as you might really use them—for example, to look up a restaurant in Maps, and then call and make a reservation—while a narrator explains what’s going on. The iPhone’s interface is very much the selling point, so the ads let the phone speak for itself.

“These ads focused a lot on applications and capabilities; these have been the differentiators for the iPhone,” Rubin said. “In contrast to the Mac, where there’s a clear alternative that Apple needs to position against, the iPhone is in a category with very high penetration in the U.S., but it’s seeking to break from the pack.”

The second campaign relied on the same principle, but in this case featured real users relating their stories about how they use their iPhones. In many ways it’s reminiscent of Apple’s old Switch campaign, in which people who had switched from Windows to Mac shared their stories—and it’s no less compelling.

What’s in a name?

While Apple’s ad strategies clearly have some differences, they share an elegant simplicity that echoes the company’s own penchant for design and user friendliness. “There’s an artistic magic to all three of them,” Levins said.

The widespread parodies and homages to Apple’s various ad campaigns are a testament to their iconic and recognizable nature. Imitations of the ads have shown up everywhere from YouTube to Saturday Night Live, sometimes with surprising results.

Earlier this year, Apple spotted a homemade ad for the iPod touch uploaded to YouTube by 18 year old student Nick Haley. Haley was invited to come and work with Apple’s ad firm, TBWA\Chiat\Day, to produce a professional version, which ended up airing on national television. While the spot has more in common with iPhone commercials than the iPod spots, focusing on the features of the iPod touch, it’s easily recognizable as an Apple ad.

“It’s an exciting new format for brands to communicate with their audiences,” TBWA Worldwide chairman Lee Clow told the New York Times. “People’s relationship with a brand is becoming a dialog, not a monolog.”

Almost all of the ads—regardless of which product they’re touting—are shot on a monochrome background, and feature little if any text until the conclusion. And all end with a shot of the Apple logo, unifying the products in the minds of consumers and reinforcing both the brand and its image.

[Associate editor Dan Moren blogs about the Mac at MacUser.com.]