Neocon Blues

Maybe I’ve been watching too much Mad Men, but I suddenly have an itch to expound on my voluminous marketing knowledge and experience ie. none. Apple has attracted my ire, mostly because its recent spate of ads (”I’m an Apple vs. I’m a PC”) are so painfully destructive to its brand. I don’t have the data to back up that claim, but I will rely on my intuition. As we’ve all come to discover, Apple computers are known for their higher quality, consistence in performance, and artistic flair. This, of course, comes at the cost of a higher price tag and, theoretically, less hardware flexibility. What Jobs has done to really bolster the Apple Brand is to produce a line of multi-media products that are seamlessly integrated into the Apple Lifestyle: expression through consumption, creativity, a post-modern definiton of “work”, Grupsterism, and SWPL Yuppy-ism. Whereas PC users might have a Dell Laptop running Linux, an HP printer, and a Blackberry, the Apple user is more likely than not to have a Macbook, iPod, and iPhone. What has made Apple so successful is its ability to sell such a lifestyle as effortlessly cool. At a recent personal branding seminar, I heard one Apple fanatic gush about how its products help him “liberate his creativity.” I had never before seen such passion, and such self-identification, with a brand.

The Mac vs. PC ads jeopardize Apple’s branding momentum. First, nobody likes Justin Long. He is annoying and narcissistic, weak and effeminate. To make him the spokesperson for Macs was a monumental mistake. Second, it’s generally not a good idea to insult your target audience. Having spoken to friends who are existent Mac users, I’m almost positive that these ads aren’t directed at them. Instead, they’re meant to persuade existing PC users who have a creative or brand-conscious flair to them to switch over on grounds of better quality and consistency, all within the context of an “Apple Cool, PCs Uncool” theme. But to persistently make fun of PCs is to persistently make fun of PC users. If Apple is right that we are what we consume (and it is indeed right about that), then it is being shamefully tacless in ridiculing the products existent PC users consume and lecturing them about the painfully obvious advantages Macs already possess. And by personifying the PC with a socially challenged straight-edge, they imply that the PC user is a socially challenged straight-edge. Third, when you are cool, the worst thing you can do for your reputation is boast about it. The over the top contrast between the two personnas in the ads wreaks of a desperation to let the world know about Apple’s identity. It is almost as if the ads inadvertently portray the company as the socially obtuse Michael Scott, who pleads with his audience tha the is “hip and with it and young.” If you’re cool, you should exude a quiet confidence, not an insecurity-masking bravado.