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Steve Jobs explains branding

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Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#81

Post by nlogn »

rryyan wrote: post #42
alsomike wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think reading Apple's marketing as being about hip and cool says more about the anxieties and insecurities of the hacker culture than it does about what Apple is actually doing. In the first place, coolness is way oversaturated in advertising, trying to project a cool image is the fastest way to get lost in the noise. Authenticity is a much more important brand value to project than cool, and Apple succeeds at that…

I agree. For example, many people view the "Mac and PC" ads as being about uncool vs. cool -- I think the actual marketing message is more about technology-that-does-what-I-want vs. technology-that-doesn't-do-what-I-want[1]. The Mac in the ads is portrayed as transcending the petty hassles and inconveniences the PC gets caught up in, and letting the user simply accomplish their task with ease. It makes the Mac appear…

What explanation do you offer for why the PC guy was just some suit and the Mac guy was a well-known, kinda funny young actor (certainly never in a suit)?

Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#82

Post by whatusername »

refulgentis wrote: post #46
erikstarck wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, as soon as Apple removed "Computers" from their name they also stopped being a "tools for the passionate"-manufacturer. They now sell primarily media consumption devices. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not the same core Jobs talks about in this video.

I thought an iPad was for consumption, not creation. Then I found out it has not one, but two, complete office suites compatible with Microsoft Office. (Documents To Go, Pages, Numbers, Keynote). Then I found out it could completely replace my guitar amp, with 5 different amps, 11 stomps, 5 cabinets, and 2 mics. (AmpliTube, AmpKit) Then I found out it could do advanced photo editing. (PhotoGene, PhotoForge) Then I fo…

The iPad is a tool like a torx screwdriver -- when you need to do something specific then it's awesome. (Perhaps even a multi-screw set -- when you load up different apps)

A computer is a tool that can make other tools.

Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#83

Post by maguay »

erikstarck wrote: post #52
refulgentis wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought an iPad was for consumption, not creation. Then I found out it has not one, but two, complete office suites compatible with Microsoft Office. (Documents To Go, Pages, Numbers, Keynote). Then I found out it could completely replace my guitar amp, with 5 different amps, 11 stomps, 5 cabinets, and 2 mics. (AmpliTube, AmpKit) Then I found out it could do advanced photo editing. (PhotoGene, PhotoForge) Then I fo…

Yes, you can use it for creating but it's not its primary purpose. Just as you can use a laptop for reading books. The experience is just so much better on an iPad. It's a "lean back" consumption device not a "lean forward" production tool. Come to think of it, perhaps it's more like a "lean back" production device.

Actually, this is one interesting spot that netbooks fill in the PC ecosystem as well. I use Kindle for PC all the time on mine, but then can still write blog posts, touchup images, etc. I'm not saying it's better or worse than an iPad, but it is filling a unique need, and I'm amazed how much different a computer feels when you can carry it around so easily (10 in. screen and <1kg) and still use it for a whole day. It's the promise of laptops, portable computing, fulfilled. And yes, it's way more a content consumption device, even though it's a PC. So there :)

Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#84

Post by lionhearted »

refulgentis wrote: post #46
erikstarck wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, as soon as Apple removed "Computers" from their name they also stopped being a "tools for the passionate"-manufacturer. They now sell primarily media consumption devices. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not the same core Jobs talks about in this video.

I thought an iPad was for consumption, not creation. Then I found out it has not one, but two, complete office suites compatible with Microsoft Office. (Documents To Go, Pages, Numbers, Keynote). Then I found out it could completely replace my guitar amp, with 5 different amps, 11 stomps, 5 cabinets, and 2 mics. (AmpliTube, AmpKit) Then I found out it could do advanced photo editing. (PhotoGene, PhotoForge) Then I fo…

After reading this comment, this is the first time I felt like I wanted an iPad. I never had a great personal use case for the iPad, but I'm starting to see what's possible with it.

Thanks for taking the time to write that up.

Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#85

Post by othermaciej »

nlogn wrote: post #81
rryyan wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. For example, many people view the "Mac and PC" ads as being about uncool vs. cool -- I think the actual marketing message is more about technology-that-does-what-I-want vs. technology-that-doesn't-do-what-I-want[1]. The Mac in the ads is portrayed as transcending the petty hassles and inconveniences the PC gets caught up in, and letting the user simply accomplish their task with ease. It makes the Mac appear…

What explanation do you offer for why the PC guy was just some suit and the Mac guy was a well-known, kinda funny young actor (certainly never in a suit)?

John Hodgman (the PC guy) is pretty well known and certainly funnier than Justin Long (the Mac guy). I think part of the effectiveness of the ads is that PC is portrayed as sympathetic, if somewhat clownish.

Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#86

Post by chriseidhof »

boredguy8 wrote: post #2

Let me pass along "Art & Copy" as a suggested movie for those interested in marketing. They talk with agencies both for Apple (Chiat/Day) and for dairy farmers. http://www.artandcopyfilm.com - and on Netflix instant play.

Great tip. I just watched it, awesome movie. It's full of advice for entrepreneurs.

Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#88

Post by scrrr »

mmaunder wrote: post #73

A rare, wonderful and inspiring look inside the greatest marketing organization ever created. Many businesses create Ogilvy style campaigns that sell benefits (rather than features). For example: "Only Dove is one-quarter moisturizing cream" "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock" Apple understands that they are essentially in a commodity business much like Nike.…

I think 6. is the most important point on your list. The rest can be summarized as "control your marketing message so your message stays the same over time" and "you don't sell on specs, you sell on emotions."

Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#89

Post by andreyf »

brlewis wrote: post #69
andreyf wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been awhile since I've done iPhone development, but it seems this is available starting in iOS4: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/Grap... It's hard to find engineers who can work on products like iOS, so I think it's understandable if they can't get every nook and cranny of the API into v1.

It was recently that I heard somewhere that you couldn't write metadata to photos in the photoroll. I think the Camera+ authors have seen iOS4. So I wouldn't read too much into the existence of EXIF data structures in the documentation; it doesn't say what you can do with it.

I think the Camera+ authors have seen iOS4

Sure, but it doesn't mean they had time time update to use every of the 1000's of feature changes that came with it. This is why Flash as a competing platform is a terrible idea - it adds another stage of "rolling out is blocked by ".

Re: Steve Jobs explains branding

#90

Post by jdietrich »

Apple has a living, beating heart; That heart is Steve Jobs.

He is a megalomaniac, an obsessive driven by the desire to shape the world in his image. He is an artist whose canvas is metal and whose paint is code. Apple is simply a machine that turns Jobs' vision into reality. On Infinite Loop, his word is absolute.

You may love or hate that vision, but just you try and ignore it. Apple inspire many emotions, but very rarely indifference. That is the essential genius of Apple - of all computer companies, they and they alone seek not just to appeal to the intellect, but also to the emotions. No other computer company announces new products to rapturous applause. No other company attracts such vitriol, against not only themselves but their customers. No other company elicits gasps of delight and desire at their packaging.

Apple have done many things to frustrate me and anger me. They have made many decisions that I strongly disagree with. They have also made me cry with joy, on several occasions. To me, "Branding" seems far too mild a word.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndkIP7ec3O8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0FtgZNOD44

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