Apple’s Advertising “Accident”
A Perfect Example of Marketing So Catastrophic it Boggles the Mind
I don’t know if you heard, but Apple recently showed their worst ad ever.
Translation: their marketing department royally F#@*ed UP
And rather than spoil anything, I’ll let you watch it.
So first step… watch the ad:
So the point they WANTED to make was: “Look how much technology fits in the IPad now!”
But what point DID they make?
What did you feel while watching it?
There is a good chance you felt what most people felt:
“Look at all those instruments…
Paint…
Clothing…
Sketching…
Statues…
Cameras…
Lighting…
These marvels of human creativity…
Signals of life and culture…
OBLITERATED…
By a cold, steel, huge, invicible machine…
To be replaced by “the future”…
Lifeless, technology lacking humanity and personality”
It is SOUL CRUSHING (pun intended).
Compare it with Apples most famous ad… the “breaking through the glass” superbowl ad:
Before apple, every computer was gray, corporate, and professional. They were for efficient work and business.
Apple came along with vibrant colored computers you could use at home for anything you wanted. And eventually shifted to focus on computers for creatives.
And their 1984 ad is what got all that started, leading them to being the juggernaut they are today.
Now, you are not the size of Apple, so what does their horrendous mistake have to do with your board game marketing?
Apple forgot, and then abandoned, their brand identity.
They left everything that made them… THEM.
It was so bad that Samsung made a beautiful ad in response to the apple ad, and immediately seized some of Apple’s customer base:
Your branding is not the same as graphic design… it is your identity in relation to the customer.
It is the role you play in their life, and the personality that they experience whenever they interact with you and your products/services.
Before you do any marketing…
Before you make a single sale…
You have to define your branding.
You have to select what real values you have, and which ones will the your tabletop game company’s values too. You have to understand what emotional value you provide to your specific audience, and the best way to communicate it.
Because if you don’t you could easily alienate the very customers you want to attract, all while genuinely trying to meet their needs.
