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The Problem With Apple's UK
Adverts
by: Conrad Gempf
"Is that a kind of PC, sir?"
That's the response I got this morning when I asked the
salesman in the computer section if he had the Apple iMac.
And this was in a Dixon's, and the day after Herr Steve
announced that Dixon's would be selling iMacs in the UK.
I didn't expect them to have iMacs in stock already, of
course. Nor was I really sure that the rank and file sales
force would know that they were going to have them; that's
what I wanted to find out. But how is it that someone whose
business is selling computers hadn't heard of the iMac or
know what it was? That I found a bit surprising, to say the
least.
Apple have spent a bundle on marketing the iMac, but in
the UK, I don't sense that they've really accessed public
consciousness the way that they seem to have done in the
USA.
One of the problems is that the best of the TV ads can't
be shown in this country, as they mention brand names of the
competition. This was a pity during the 'Think Different'
campaign, when we didn't get the snail or the Intel-bunny
ads, and it meant that Apple's public face was confined to
the "Here's to the crazy ones" spot. The range of
commercials in the US revealed a company with attitude and a
sense of humor. But if you had to judge the company by "The
Crazy Ones" alone, the impression you get is of a
pretentious company taking itself rather seriously.
But if this ad censorship was unfortunate in the "Think
Different" era, it was pretty disastrous with the iMac ads.
The only one I saw on TV here (and I only saw it once) was
the 'there is no third step' voice-over.
That ad alone doesn't make it terribly clear that the
internet is all that easy with a Mac. As far as most of the
Unwired are concerned, the ad might well have been
advertising the Internet itself: Apple telling you that you
needn't be afraid of getting connected.
The recent Apple ad campaigns have been absolutely
brilliant in their conception and execution. But when it was
discovered that the package of ads couldn't be used as a
package in the UK, Apple should have thought different
rather than just using bits. The iMac has been a hit. But I
would have liked the salesman in Dixon's to be looking
forward to selling this new machine rather than being
ignorant about it.
Dr Conrad Gempf lectures in London and
has had articles and product reviews published in such print
magazines as *MacUser UK*, *MacTimes* and *Program Now*. He
is webmaster of and regular contributor to the online
webzine 'Pages for You' at http://www.londonbiblecollege.ac.uk/
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