A recent post by @famouscampaigns on Instagram showcased two hoardings from Apple: one advertising the iPod in 2000 and the other one for iPhone & Apple Watch in 2020. It showed the advancements in technology and storage capacities in twenty years. Many pointed out that it also highlights the consistency in Apple’s advertising over the years. While the focus was on aesthetics of the two hoarding designs two decades apart, there are a few other…
The launch of a major Apple product – especially the iPhone, brings out a slew of negative articles around the company. The narrative is broadly as under: – Apple has stopped innovating- The magic of Apple has vanished after the demise of Steve Jobs There is a sound economic reason behind this: such articles are great for generating traffic. Positive news about Apple (record sales, profit) only appeals to a niche audience. News of a…
It’s that time of the year again. An Apple Event has triggered the by-now familiar social media wars between fans of Apple and Android. Not surprisingly, the jokes, barbs, memes and parody videos about Apple in general and iPhone 7 in particular have also started. Apple fans profess their faith in the brand and put down Android owners given an opportunity. This is not new and perhaps has intensified over the years with the growth…
Another Apple event is over and the headlines are filled with the usual: merits and demerits of the products launched, fan wars taking sides and punditry on whether Apple has lost its mojo. Amidst all this, what goes unnoticed is the near perfect execution of the event itself from a presentation and overall ‘communications’ perspective. Herewith some unsolicited observations: Script out everything Ever since I have followed the Apple Keynotes (from 2007, I guess) I…
Every Apple event follows a set pattern when it comes to media coverage: – First, speculation and rumours about what will be announced with some leaked images if there are hardware announcements expected – post the event, a report card of what was announced. The analysis will rarely be balanced with Apple fan sites going over the top while non-Apple fan sites will trash everything – list of features which were copied from elsewhere will…
The Apple Event held yesterday was low-key (‘underwhelming’ as many called it) with announcements along expected lines. The lack of energy was palpable in the presentation. But it is unfair to expect Apple to reveal a breakthrough product every year and deliver it in a high-energy, goose-flesh inducing presentation. That’s the price Apple is paying for setting the bar high. The iPhone SE was expected to be an India-specific phone with respect to its pricing.…
The residual image of ‘Apple Keynote’ in most people’s minds is likely to be that of a large visual of an Apple product showcased in a dark grey screen or held in the hands of an Apple executive in the same dark grey screen as background . It has been so for years now and it is not by accident. Every little detail of an Apple Keynote presentation is planned and executed meticulously. Well, almost…
I am an accredited app junkie (aside from being an accredited Apple fan) and I have truck loads of apps on my iOS devices. Sure enough, there are only a handful one uses on a regular basis but hey, one can get into the mood to explore all the apps once in a while, right? I also eagerly await app updates and never leave updates pending even if it a 1GB update of the iMovie app which I hardly use. I also look forward to Friday mornings when Apple updates its iTunes with ‘App of the Week’, ‘New and noteworthy’ and ‘Editor’s Choice’ apps. Aside from the usual Twitter, Tweetbot, Nuzzel and Flipboard I havee begun to use these apps often nowadays.
Apple revealed a new page, ‘Shot on iPhone 6’, dedicated to showcasing great pictures taken on the phone. The page has some truly haw-dropping pictures making one wonder if such pictures are possible through a phone camera. In a clever move, the images are used in an outdoor campaign (apparently synchronised to be launched globally including markets in India) – all of which are meant to evoke a ‘wow!’ reaction. I don’t know if the campaign was timed to launch alongside the Samsung S6 launch but it appears to be so. At the Samsung S6 launch event the brand took pains to compare pictures taken on that device along with those from an iPhone 6, obviously showing the latter as worse off.
The ‘Be Together. Not the Same’ addresses a critical need for an identity among all of us. We all want to showcase, express who we are and the most personal device we carry with us – the smart phone does just that. Such a proposition appeals to both current users (reinforcing their choice) and potential users – creating doubts about them being unable to ‘stand out’.