Remember Creative

Despite waning sales figures for Apple’s highly lauded and highly expensive, iPhone X, they’re pushing ahead with a buffet of slick and swanky ads. However, dwindling sales figures aren’t the least of their worries, with some noticing that their latest spot features a software bug in the ad itself. (UPDATE: Apple has since fixed the bug on the iPhone X ad featured above but the actual bug remains)

 

 

After this explosive rampage, I wouldn’t be surprised if the schoolgirl spends the rest of her life in detention for purposefully destroying every piece of school property in her line of sight!

Frankly, it’s unbelievable that at no point does a bystander attempt to stop her during her parade of destruction.

Furthermore, not once is she reprimanded for exploding lockers, and carrying out an unnecessary invasion of privacy.

Further-furthermore, her superpowers go unquestioned.

But then again, vandalism and breaches of privacy should never get in the way of a great ad … just ask Facebook.

Apple are known for their ads, and overall, this one does not disappoint. The upbeat tempo, colour explosions and elements of fantasy make this ad truly unique.

The production quality is high. And the concept of ‘unlocking the world’ is creative, and clever. It undoubtedly met Apple’s brief to demonstrate one of their key selling points, that being facial recognition.

When Apple releases a new iPhone, they generally hold a few extra features which give them a unique point of difference, and justifies the price increase. Apart from the phone’s exterior, the only feature which distinguishes the iPhone X, from the iPhone 8, is facial recognition.

But does this single feature justify an extra $500 AUD at the cash register? We’re not convinced, and neither are consumers.

The decision to focus heavily on this one feature has clearly not resulted in an increase in sales. While other ads have focused on features like Portrait Mode, not all consumers will see every ad … and Portrait Mode is on iPhone 8 anyway.

So, while Apple’s marketing strategy might not be the most sophisticated, the production of this ad is great … except for one little mistake … the bug.

Unfortunately, what brings this ad down, is that is shows a software bug in action!

 

The words from the text message are not supposed to escape the bubble, but as you can clearly see here, they have.

Although it is extraordinary that Apple signed this off, it really is a trivial detail that doesn’t impact the overall brilliance of this ad.

There are certain aspects of this ad that are problematic but Apple must take responsibility, because ultimately is it exceptional!

So, for these reasons, this week, it’s a Marketing Masterstroke.

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