Conceptually, has there ever been a better ad campaign than the “Hi, I’m a Mac” series? Seriously. These ads are engaging, entertaining, and creative, while also being informative – subtly – about the brand and the brand image they want to convey. You leave each ad in this series with a clear picture of what a Mac can do, as opposed to the negatives of a PC – at least from Apple’s perspective.
Microsoft has attempted a rebuttal campaign, which on paper I’m sure looked pretty good; it even looks pretty good on air. However, the strength of the Mac ads overpowers everything. To be able to reduce your brand essence down to a T-shirted guy, and use this same guy to illustrate each strength of your product, is illuminating.
Now, there’s been debate as to whether or not the Mac ads are entirely truthful, and they are obviously selling their product on the ‘coolness’ factor. Plus, I’d love to see a study on how these campaigns have affected sales for each brand – for a time, Mac’s share went up, but with the economic downturn, their sales have been declining (the speculation is that while Macs aren’t losing customers, people aren’t buying them right now due to their hefty price tag). But have these ads helped to boost Mac sales? Not sure. Regardless, this is marketing and advertising conception at its finest creatively.
