About those Apple Genius Ads

They’re not cool; they’re not “Steve” ads; I don’t like them. But they may be appeal to “non-Apple” folks, and if that works, that’s fine. They’re also the first Mac-rather-than-iOS-device-ads I’ve seen since the “I’m a Mac” spots, and that makes them a good thing.

Apple's new ads are great for the right marketApple’s new ads are great for the right market

Since the cessation of the renown “”I’m a Mac” ads starring Justin Long and John Hodgman, every Apple ad I can think of has featured an iOS device — pimarily the iPhone or iPad. Apple’s new spots put the spotlight squarely Back on the Mac, and while I think it’s easy to be a Monday Morning Quarterback on the execution of the new ads, it’s hard to find fault with the strategy — tout the advantages of the Macintosh (you remember that, right?) The ads feature an Apple Genius in admittedly hokey scenarios, solving problems of the typical Mac user. 

In fact, it may be in that “crass” acknowledgement of those very problems that most Mac afficianados take fault. But that may well be where Apple needs to focus. A casual look at mainstream society quickly shows the mass adoption of the iPhone and iPad (take a look at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, for instance, which were a veritable commericlal for Apple’s i-devices) and it’s easy to see that Apple has done a phenomenal job of making those products ubiquitous. So perhaps it is time to move the company’s marketing efforts — or at least some of them — to the company’s legacy product: the Mac.

The efficacy of the campaign is yet to be seen, but I think the idea is on track. Let’s capitalize on the affinity of the iPhone and iPad to promote the Mac. If the halo effect is working, perhaps the time is right to give it a little prime time boost.