Marketing in the News: Apple Put Hollywood in my Pocket

By Kaiona Menguita

My interest in Apple’s latest ad campaign for their iPhone 13 Pro stems from my curiosity of what makes Apple so successful as a company, my appreciation for cinematography, and the fact that I had just upgraded my phone a few weeks ago. Knowing what new phones are on the market has significantly increased in personal priority.

 

ADWEEK, “the leading source of news and insight serving the brand marketing ecosystem”, recently posted an article on the collection of ads released by Apple to promote the iPhone 13 Pro. David Griner, author of the article, points out, “As an extension of the “Shot on iPhone” campaign, each ad is shot with the device and often makes a point of calling out the features that make the ads possible.” Included in his article are the three Apple ads that I have come to discuss with you today. The first ad titled “Pavel” features a man sitting in a chair with a blank stare. Apple’s optical zoom adds emotion to the image and suggests an emotional build up within the man in the chair introduced to us as Pavel. The second ad “Detectives” promotes the new shift focus feature. The iPhone shifts focus between the star and supporting character as the focus alone reveals which actor is which in terms of importance. The third ad “Basement” uses the classic elements of horror (eerie voice, mysterious basement, and most importantly low light) to sell the iPhone 13 Pro’s new low light feature. The three main points of the article suggest that Apple uses fun cinematic shots to draw in the viewer, points out the power of the “shot on iPhone” campaign, and uses these marketing strategies to bring awareness to the iPhone 13 Pro’s new camera features.

Ads -    Pavel: https://youtu.be/nuACd3xTXNM

  Detectives: https://youtu.be/lJ3Vu8INg8U

  Basement: https://youtu.be/JZk88UGFay4

 A website called The Four Week MBA identifies Apple’s value proposition to be three sided. The three sides include “think different”, “your privacy is safe with us”, and “tech that works”. An idea by Simon Sinek about why Apple is so successful: Apple sells the why behind the product before the “how” or “what”. In other words, Apple sells their ideas. The three ads I mentioned above all end with the text “Hollywood in your pocket”. This speaks to one of their value propositions “think different”, challenging the viewer to get excited about the “why”.

 

Yet another reason why Apple is so successful as a company is the amount of effort they put into marketing. They don’t just market their product, but they market their brand. Marketing their brand gets customers excited about “Apple” products. You see, it’s not necessarily WHAT the people are buying (because there are many other companies that make cell phones just as good, or arguably better compared to Apple), but it’s the WHY people are buying it. Customers believe in Apple’s message “think different” or “Hollywood in your pocket” as the ads suggest. 

 

Apple must overcome the challenge of competing with other tech companies selling phones. Apple is not the only company selling phones with cinematic capabilities as the ads may have you believe. Samsung, for example, is a top competitor when it comes to electronics. In fact, the rumored release of the Samsung Galaxy s22 coming out in 2022, has many, if not all, of the back camera features included in Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro! If Apple competes by simply selling the “what”, they will only have a 50/50 percent chance of winning versus top competitors like Samsung.

 

Apple’s marketing approach demonstrated in the three ads above, appeals to the people who want to be different. Essentially, Apple says, “Hey! Buy our phone because we put the power in your pocket.” Or as the ads suggest “Hollywood in your pocket”. Evidently, this appeals to the masses. Turns out, people like being in control. People like being different. In a way, that is something we all have in common.

 

It is hard to critique Apple on marketing because they are one of the most well-marketed and brand-building companies as of today. One thing I would suggest Apple do, is post the three ads I mentioned above to Instagram. Morse specifically to igtv. Apple’s Instagram currently has 27.1 million followers. I think the ads mentioned above fit the style of their igtv content. Posting these ads to their igtv would increase people’s awareness of the iPhone 13 Pro. Apple’s igtv videos have been consistently getting anywhere between half a million to over a million views lately. 

 

If I were the brand manager for Apple, I would expand my marketing reach. Apple already has a TikTok dedicated to show behind the scenes with projects shot on iPhone. I would like to make a separate tiktok and call it “shotoniphone”. A page where people can send in their finished cinematic works and Apple posts it. This way Apple uses the front of the bell curve customers (innovators) to market the brand for them. If my “shotoniphone” page gets the same type of recognition as Apple’s main TikTok page does, we could bring in anywhere from half a million to twenty-one million in a single post!

 

In this assignment I learned how crucial marketing was in building a brand and how a reputable brand in turn brings about customers. I also learned of Apple’s value proposition and how they use it in their marketing strategy. They studied people, learned what people liked, and found a way to make that thing individual to everyone. Basically, we buy Apple because we believe in their message. Apple without their “why” is just another phone on the market. 

 

Apple inc: https://www.apple.com

Apple tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@apple?lang=en

Apple Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apple/channel/?hl=en

.           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           

FourWeekMBA: https://fourweekmba.com/apple-value-proposition/

.           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           

ADWEEK article: https://www.adweek.com/creativity/these-dramatic-movie-moments-are-actually-fun-apple-ads-for-iphone-130-pro-features/