idea blog

Marketing commentary for better. Or worse.

This holiday season, Apple has cast itself as a sensitive, misunderstood teenage boy.

Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlmVqH_5HM

There have been a lot of reactions to the ad, both positive and negative. Here in the office, we have to admit, we were all kind of moved by it.

But did we still want our son on his iPhone all freaking Christmas?

We think Apple’s marketing team may have been a little thrown off this year. They spent the bulk of their time addressing negative perceptions of the company, whether directly or indirectly: in “Designed by Apple in California,” that Apple parts are made in deplorable working conditions (at Foxconn factories) somewhere far far away (in China); in the holiday ad, “Misunderstood,” that their mobile devices are alienating us from real (“IRL”) human connection.

There’s a problem with this approach, when it’s even just a little bit off: when Apple presents me with the tagline “Designed by Apple in California,” what I actually read is “Made in a Sweatshop in China.”  I have a feeling I’m not the only cynical one out there.

Apple’s marketing team does better when they are thinking magically, which is what the holiday ad is on the cusp of: it tackles a difficult and relatable emotional reality (alienated teens on their iPhones instead of with their families) head on. And it uses that very starting point to convince us that Apple’s products are actually helping recover the human core in all this.

Apple devices, unlike their competitors, don’t cause Candy Crush addictions. They make brilliant home movies and restore human connection. That’s Apple.

Suddenly, we’re all sobbing tears of forgiveness, wishing we had never judged Apple so harshly for being on its phone all that time.

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I guess the message works pretty well as long as it’s really well produced. What if the kid’s video had sucked?