Should Apple rethink its naming conventions for the iPhone?

By Cody Lee on Apr 7, 2013

Former ad man and longtime Apple consultant Ken Segall has been very critical of his old company in recent months. And he continues that trend with a new blog post called ‘iPhone naming: when simple gets complicated.’

In the post, Segall argues that Apple screwed up the way it names its handsets—particularly on the ‘S’ models. He says that iPhones marked with an ‘S’ not only look awkward, but also send a weak message to consumers… Read More

 

Former Apple ad man says iPhone could have been called the ‘Telepod’

By Cody Lee on Mar 5, 2013

Former Apple ad man and creator of the famous ‘Think Different’ campaign Ken Segall has been garnering a lot of headlines in the Cupertino blogosphere lately. Last week, he published a blog post on why Samsung’s anti-Apple marketing has been so effective.

And this week he was spotted at an event for the University of Arizona’s Marketing Department, again talking about his former employer. Among other tidbits, Segall divulged that Apple considered some silly names for its smartphone before calling it iPhone… Read More

 

‘Think Different’ ad man explains why Samsung’s anti-Apple advertising is working

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 26, 2013

Apple, the world’s greatest marketing machine, is no longer untouchable. That’s the sentiment shared by Ken Segall, the former creative director at advertising firm TBWAChiatDay, the guy who came up with the name “iMac” and worked alongside Steve Jobs on Apple’s famous Think Different campaign. In a post over at his personal blog, Segall opined that Samsung’s commercials are getting the best out of Apple and he offers two reasons why that’s the case… Read More

 

The genius behind Shit Apple Fanboys Say

By Christian Zibreg on Sep 10, 2012

Apple commands cult-like following and rivals like Samsung and Motorola (Verizon, too, in its pre-iPhone days) were quick to isolate Apple’s core base as both its biggest advantage and a major PR vulnerability. If you believe a series of anti-Apple ads by Samsung, people who stand in the line for a new iPhone are weirdos collectively known as iSheep.

These ads play to the widely accepted notion that die-hard Apple lovers are fanatics. Just ask Mac consultant and FileMaker Pro developer Scott Rose, the brains behind a pair of clips conveniently titled “Shit Apple fanboys say” (here and here).

The funny videos that rationalize on Apple’s behalf blew up in no time and became a trending topic on social media sites, racking up nearly a million views on YouTube in just a couple days, here’s how he went about doing them… Read More

 

Steve Jobs’s marketing whiz on what makes Apple tick

By Christian Zibreg on Aug 8, 2012

Ken Segall is the guy who dreamed up the iMac name and one of Steve Jobs’s most-trusted ad men who advised Apple’s late mercurial CEO on advertising concepts since the NeXT days, which includes work on the famous Think Different campaign. Segall is also the author of Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success, a book on Apple that focuses on the company’s Simplicity mantra.

Segall sat with TIME’s Editor-at-large Harry McCracken to talk for more than an hour about the ingredients that made Apple such a success, the company’s DNA, leadership tips, marketing, advertising and much more… Read More