Marketing

JCPenney airs TV ad apologizing for chickening out of Ron Johnson’s vision

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 2, 2013

Former Apple SVP of Retail, Ron Johnson, lasted barely a year on the job. After the struggling department store chain reported a $13 billion annual decline in revenue, the board ingloriously booted Johnson whose greatest sin was trying to change way too many things at the same time, namely insisting on his shop-in-shop concept.

The irony of it: the boutique store approach could have easily breathed a new life into JCPenney's garage sale concept and stood a good chance of reinvigorating the firm's fugly brick-and-mortar locations.

Figuring the best thing to do at this point is wash its hands of this whole Ron Johnson adventure, JCPenney yesterday begun airing a new television commercial. Titled 'It's No Secret' it's a pathetic attempt at apologizing for chickening out of Johnson's vision for the company. The video is right past the fold...

Windows Phone ad sees iPhone and Android owners trading insults at wedding

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 22, 2017

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19vR1GldRI

Despite the massive marketing blitz, Microsoft's Windows Phone platform has managed to regain but a fraction of market share lost to iOS and Android in years past. Figuring it could take a page from Samsung's marketing handbook, Microsoft on Monday published on its YouTube channel a new Windows Phone commercial which takes a mandatory jab at Apple's iPhone and its Siri digital personal assistant while also poking fun of Gorilla-sized Android devices from Samsung. The funny ad is aimed at boosting Microsoft's and Nokia's stagnant sales of Lumia handsets in the United States...

T-Mobile airs its inaugural iPhone ad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 31, 2017

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd4kIACVdLs

T-Mobile, the nation's fourth-largest carrier, today finally gets to sell Apple's iconic smartphone. We learned yesterday the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco has a massive ad blitz in the works to push the handset to the masses. And now, we just caught a glimpse of that campaign as T-Mobile starts airing its inaugural television commercial for the venerable iPhone...

How Samsung changed the game on Apple by focusing on advertising and distribution

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 11, 2013

Diagnosing Apple's Wall Street woes has become a bit of a cottage industry, prompting some to crown the consumer tech giant a has-been, while other observers point to a resurgent future. Earlier this month, a Forbes business contributor took a shot, claiming South Korea's Samsung has overtaken Apple using the iPhone maker's own weapon: promotion.

After knocking out music giant Sony with the iPod, using the iPhone to drive BlackBerry to the fringes and destroying the PC market with the iPad, Apple is "milking" its hard-won gains. Meanwhile, Samsung has plowed revenue back into promotion, outspending Apple by more than four-to-one. Ad attack coupled with Samsung's much wider footprint helped the Galaxy maker to change the game on Apple...

Apple rolls out new ‘Why iPad’ web campaign

Cody Lee ∙ March 28, 2013

Hot on the heels of its recently launched 'Why iPhone' web campaign, Apple has rolled out a similar advertising theme for its iPad. And as before, it showcases a number of reasons why the tablet has been so popular.

The new ‘Why iPad’ page highlights everything from awards, to features, and of course the iTunes ecosystem. Unlike tablets on other platforms, there are 300,000+ iPad-specific apps available in the App Store...

Way to go promoting a beer brand, Carlsberg!

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 27, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3rNQ2pTyAY

So along comes Carlsberg with a novel idea: how about we market a new cider brand by piggy-backing on Apple's popularity subtly? The results of the company's brainstorming are, well, hilarious and downright amazing - as you can see for yourself.

The creative concept calls for a tongue-in-cheek reenactment of an Apple-like product launch hype, down to the line sitters, an Apple Store-like environment, lots of cheering and clapping and Carlsberg' version of Geniuses.

You gotta love the ambiguous use of tech jargon and the obligatory Apple superlatives like "amazing". My favorite line: "works perfectly in direct sunlight"...

Apple launches new ‘Why iPhone’ web campaign

Cody Lee ∙ March 17, 2013

Apple this weekend launched a new advertising campaign for the iPhone showcasing some of the many reasons why the handset is so popular. It's added a new 'Why iPhone' page to its website, and has begun sending out promotional emails.

The 'Why iPhone' page highlights a number of the device's features including its Retina display, the iTunes ecosystem, iCloud and more, and the fact that it's won 8 J.D. Power and Associate awards and it's the most popular camera in the world...

Samsung outspent Apple in 2012 smartphone marketing by $68 million

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 13, 2013

For years, the knock (unfairly) against Apple has been its slick marketing was what pushed sales. A report earlier this week put a dent in that urban myth, showing South Korea's Samsung outpaced the iPhone maker in terms of self-promotion.

Samsung spent $401 million to promote its mobile devices in the U.S. during 2012, above Apple's $333 million during the same period, according to the Wall Street Journal. Although Apple's brand is much better known, Samsung is pouring money toward raising brand awareness in the U.S. market, trying to overcome the lead the iPhone already has.

Indeed, Samsung's marketing budget may be cutting into its profits - spending that will only increase as sales of the company's smartphones climb, say analysts...

T-Mobile to AT&T: if our network sucks, why did you try to buy us?

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Everyone loves a good fight, especially in the highly-contentious mobile carrier arena. Not to disappoint, spunky T-Mobile is expected to wallop one-time suitor AT&T in a series of upcoming newspaper ads.

The ads feature the corner of AT&T's recent 'Truth about T-Mobile' advertisements, asking readers whether the rival carrier may be getting nervous. In another, a snarky T-Mobile asks if their network performance is so bad, why did AT&T try to acquire the smaller network in 2011...

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

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

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...

Apple airs new ‘Hollywood’ iPad ad (update: Samsung, too)

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 24, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8pj3WQyOzY

Just in time for The Oscars, Apple on Sunday aired a new television commercial for the iPad during the Academy Awards broadcast. Conveniently titled "Hollywood", the app via a “lights”, “camera” and “action” sequence takes us through a series of programs for filmmakers, as well as various movie and video editing applications from the App Store. And in line with the previous two ads, called "Alive" and "Together", this one also has some interesting subliminal messages...

WSJ: competition forcing Apple’s PR to work ‘a little harder to get its message out’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

There used to be a long-standing joke about Apple's public relations department that it was the least demanding job in Silicon Valley. It was almost as if Apple's PR bunnies were only required not to return calls from journalists and disregard email inquiries from various media outlets. Couple this inaccessibility and Apple's penchant for dreaming up shiny gadgets people lust after with the infamous culture of secrecy and you have a winning formula for a kind of coverage other companies would die for.

But the times they are a-changin', to paraphrase musician Bob Dylan, Steve Jobs favorite songwriter. The Wall Street Journal fittingly reported Tuesday that Apple's public relations team now has to work a little harder to get the message across, a tell-tale sign that competition is heating up. Hit the jump for more tidbits and my own insight on how Apple owns the media...