Posted by SEOScribe in There is no disputing the success of Apple Computer’s recent advertising campaign. If you don’t watch television, or you’ve been sleeping under a rock, here’s the basic premise of the campaign: A series of ads with two guys, standing side-by-side in front of a white background, talking back and forth - what could be more boring, right?
But, leave it to Apple to make something this simple successful. There are many reasons these ads work, but there are three very basic marketing principles that make the campaign effective. And for the copywriter, whether it’s search engine optimization, web content, advertising or marketing materials, tying these ideas into your copy separates good writing from yawn writing.
- Original - Giving an inanimate object human characteristics, or making the object completely human is not necessarily an original idea - but in the Apple ads, the idea is executed to perfection because the common stereotypes associated with the Mac and with the PC are visualized. Every commercial in the series begins with two lines: “Hello, I’m a Mac,” “And I’m a PC.” Immediately, the viewer’s attention is grabbed because the marketers have made inanimate objects human, and played on the stereotypes that we all think of when we think about the difference between the two. But the genius is this: the marketers put themselves in the viewer’s shoes - they went beyond just asking, “If a Mac were a person, what would he look like,” or “If a PC were a person, what would he look like?” Instead they asked themselves: If the viewer were to describe either one as a person, what would that look like? And the same is true in your writing - whatever your subject matter, you must stop and ask yourself where is the reader coming from - what do they know or not know, understand or not understand? Writing from this angle, and expanding on their perspective will keep the reader’s attention.
- Simple - The visuals for the ads - what the viewer sees - are about as simple as you can get: Two guys standing in a white room with the camera directly pointed at them. There’s nothing to distract the viewer from the focus of the ad - the two guys and the exchange between them. Your eyes are almost forced to zero in on them, because there’s nowhere else for your eyes to go. And in this way, the advertiser has your full attention. At a time when we are inundated with ads that are all over the place with fast-moving images set to a background of very boisterous music, the Apple ads are different because they are so stripped down it is just plain refreshing. You have just a couple of seconds to do this with your writing - and it must be accomplished in your headline and the first sentence of the article. The lesson is an old principle of marketing that is far too often overlooked by writers: keep it simple. Get to the point right away, and keep the writing focused and on-topic.
- Relate - Most everyone these days has to deal with a computer. And most of us can accept that there are two types of users: Mac Users and PC Users. This is something most of us, especially people who work in offices, or have a home computer, can relate to. The Mac is cool and fun, while the PC is serious and all about business - the ads poke fun at the stiff seriousness that the PC represents, and highlights the versatility of the Mac. Again, something that most of us can relate to, that most of us can understand. As a writer, you must “speak” or relate to the reader on a level that is generally common ground for that market. If the reader can’t relate to any aspect of your writing - the tone, scope, flow or outline of information - they won’t read it. You must establish at the beginning of the article, and incoprorate throughout the article, a common ground that your audience can relate to. This is at the core of persuasive copy - establishing commonalities to introduce something new.
Over the years, Apple has gained a reputation for user-friendliness and marketing-savvy. They’ve scored another big win with their current campaign. Not only are the ads entertaining, they provide principles that can be observed and applied to learn really great writing.
