Mac marketing can be frightening, says Apple exec Has Apple finally come to its senses? According to a short story in Macworld on Friday, Apple’s U.K. director Mark Rogers says the company will have to shift its marketing for the Mac if it wants to expand its appeal; it can't just focus on the Mac's reputation for being the computer for creative types. Rogers admits that such marketing “scares a lot of people off.” That's the big problem I've had with the current commercials, which, while amusing, do little to expand the market of potential Mac users, and Mac Daily News agrees. Before everyone gets all excited and starts assuming that the current effort is about to go the way of the Newton, there's no suggestion of that in the story—still, if the above is true, it’s difficult to see how the current campaign could continue as is. —Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

July 17, 2006 | Permalink

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Good branding is about choices, and Apple is where it is today because it chose clear-cut positioning over mass appeal. As a matter of fact, it tried the mass appeal approach in the mid-90s -- and it nearly went bankrupt until Steve Jobs fixed it. Even though some executives think this "scares a lot of people off," compare the passion of the average Mac user to that of the average Dell user.

Posted by: Morley Zhi | Jul 18, 2006 9:45:34 AM

I think Apple's new campaign speaks to the average computer user who's tired of the difficulties associated with Microsoft and PCs in general, not just to creative types.

Look at the ad topics: simple plug-n-play connectivity, relative viral immunity, and robust, easy-to-use software. Combined these with a long-standing tradition of elegant hardware design, and can you blame Apple for poking a bit of fun at the competition?

Over all, I feel Apple's newest campaign is a softer sell than many of their past efforts (remember the trash / recycle bin comparsion ad from years back?) The hipster Mac persona in the ads is fairly kind to his befuddled PC brethren, even going so far as to wipe his nose for him in the "Virus" spot. I think the PC guy actually comes across as rather endearing.

As always, Apple is simply celebrating the differences between the Mac and the rest of the PC world. If their message "scares" some people, then so be it. New ideas are scary. The bold will embrace them. The rest will continue to use PCs. :)

Posted by: Tom | Jul 19, 2006 2:13:15 PM

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