Abstract
The case study adopted in this paper relates to Apple’s iPhone series concentrating more on the latest Apple’s product the iPhone 5. The advertising campaign for the iPhone 5 operates under different banners and slogans taking different advertising forms and media channels. Each of the campaign section gets evaluated with regard to its content in terms of persuasiveness of advertising messages. (Allsopp 2013) A critique is done on several persuasive methods employed by apple in its advertising campaign. Some of the examined methods include a comparison of the iPhone with other competing rival products in the market, bringing out the sophisticated technology underlying the functional features of the iPhone and many others (Bajaj 2013). There are several media channels’ messages used in the iPhone advertisement campaign explored; ranging from TV adverts, online messages and broadcasted messages. This paper also examines how the ads receive placement with regard to the media planning issues. It examines if the right message gets clearly channeled to the target audience through the advertisement messages.
IPhone 5 Advertising CampaignTarget customers
The target current consumers with regards to gender indicates that out of the total 230,416 users of the iPhone, 111,472 are men with and women being 118,944 thus women take a bigger portion of the total current users of the iPhone. The target audience of the iPhone advertising campaign is structured in terms of age, gender and the level of instruction. The total figure of 230,416 is further chunked into different smaller target groups. The target groups comprise of college graduates, college students, high school graduates, dropouts and different age consumption share (Allsopp 2013).Campaign Analysis
The first iPhone 5’s campaign section evaluated in this paper is the Apple’s “smarter than a genius campaign.” The launch of this campaign comes at a strategic time putting in mind the manner in which Apple’s adverts have received close viewership by its consumers in the last six years (Bajaj 2013). The launch of the latest Apple’s product the iPhone 5 late September 2012, marked yet another set of TV spots for America’s favorite fetish item. The TV commercial is a good example of a well thought persuasive sales promotion effort by Apple.
This campaign proficiently aced with regards to advertisements’ rank when compared to previous advertising efforts on previous Apple products. The 30 second long advert’s focal point mount on the domineering reasons ‘why the new iPhone 5’ – which does not seem any different from the other previous version of the Apple iPhone. (Allsopp2013) The campaign efforts argue that the iPhone 5 is a lot better than the previous generation models among them iPhone 4, 4, s and the versions preceding these.
The advert outlines how “physics” is at play in the features of the new iPhone 5 through the significant reduction in weight and width of the new magnificent gadget. These comprise some of the top requested features by iPhone fans all over the world; this advert cleverly conveys this picture. A light phone is desirable to any user thus the light weight fact expressed in this advertisement message works to entice the potential customers to be attracted to this sophisticated product.
Another greatly emphasized feature of the iPhone is the phone’s screen size.” Thumb” used as an appendage or a suitable yardstick to measure the smartphones utility. The ad proceeds to draw attention to other subtle features of iPhone 5; the next feature being its paranormal camera. The camera was depicted as a camera that takes vivid pictures that seem to reflect the reality on the ground. (Allsopp2013) The camera posses a retina display (an ultra modern technology. This heightens the curiosity of its potential buyers most of whom do not understand the phrase retina displays. This makes them eager to want to know the capabilities of a retina display paranormal camera. Another profound feature is its redefined modern headphones that were designed to fit different types of ears and at the same time give a quality sound surround output.
Considering other previous campaigns on the iPhone's series, it is worth to say that this particular campaign ultimately nailed it in terms of conveying a persuasive message to consumers. Previous iPhone promotion campaigns have received negative feedbacks. A classic example of such a campaign is the ad featuring a smug Apple employee trying to explain the features of Apple devices to an unknowing audience. With regards to placing this advert in the media’s limelight, Smarter than genius campaign communicates the right message that the audience want to hear.
According to most iPhone users, lightweight, large screen size and camera quality are the first features of iPhone that appeal to them giving them the zeal to want an iPhone with such features. It is accurate to say that this campaign conveys the right message. The camera features as emphasized by the advertisement message, have a persuasive impact to a potential purchaser. The revelation about the retina display brings out an imagination of the levels of quality pictures the camera can take that look similar to the underlying reality on the ground. (Bajaj 2013)
This message comes as pleasant news to the potential customers thus persuading them to have the knack of owning an iPhone 5 Smartphone.
In a separate campaign section, Apple advertises its iPhone 5 features in a comparison version comparing them to the iPhone 4s, a previous version of the iPhone series. This comparison was meant to lure the iPhone fanatics to purchase the upgraded iPhone and thus persuading them in the process. According to the advert, which is an online campaign effort from Apple, iPhone 5 has more sophisticated hardware components and more importantly when compared to its competitors in the market. The iPhone 5 uses an A6 microprocessor compared to the iPhone 4s’ A5 that bears half the speed of the new hardware. The battery in the new iPhone 5 is said to pack more power that last about 8 hours of browsing or talk time. The random access memory (RAM) on iPhone 5 is said to be twice that in iPhone 4s with iPhone 5 coming with a RAM of 1 GB as compared to 512MB in the previous versions. The comparison of the hardware features of the iPhones latest version of the previous version serves as a great personal tool to iPhone users.
The comparison of the doubled capacity of iPhone 5’s RAM and processor entices customers by proving its improved feature and new technology platform in play. This ad goes ahead to compare the most profound feature about the iPhone 5’ i.e. the camera. IPhone 5 is said to possess a paranormal hybrid camera that has the capability of taking ‘smart’ pictures even in low light intensity environs and a full HD recording capabilities better than those in the iPhone 4s. (Allsopp 2013)
The ad goes ahead with comparing the iPhone 5 with other competitors. For instance, iPhone 5 compares with its largest competitor product the galaxy SIII and Nokia’s Lumina 920. The features possessed by the iPhone 5 get subjected to a comparison with the two competing products. The adverts bring into sharp focus the superior characteristics of the iPhone 5 through a comparison with other smart phone products available in the market. This brings out a strong sense of customer persuasion since by merely comparing the features of the various available products; the customer could make an informed choice that realizes the value of money invested.
In a different advert on the iPhone 5 ad campaign, Apple creates an advert labeled “there is an iPhone, and there is everything else” The message makes efforts to persuade Smartphone consumers to purchase an iPhone since it is unlike any other smart phone in the market. In the quest to persuade its customers, Apple tries to outline reasons why iPhone owners love their iPhone Smartphone. This campaign came to hit Apple's rival Japanese Samsung who introduced the galaxy S4. This got termed as being a move to ensure customer satisfaction and thus persuade them to continue consuming apple products.
Apple further presents a collection of data from Yahoo’s Flicker indicating that iPhone 4, 5 and 4s as being the world’s top 3 most popular cameras that give the user the privilege simultaneously to take a picture using the front and the back cameras. This sounds as a fascinating feature announcement that captures the attention of the potential buyers of the Smartphone. This part of the iPhone campaign indicates a good media placement with regards to the persuasiveness of the messages it bears to its prospective customers. The slogan “the only retina display smart phone in the world” has an overbearing persuasive appeal to its target audience. Most of The iPhone fanatics are the young generation who possess a zealous fanaticism when it comes to smart technologies. With the portion of iPhone users being greater among the young and those below the college graduate age, this slogan ‘the greatest smart phone in the world” works to lure even more of this market segment share towards iPhone 5’s customer loyalty. Most of the young people want to be at the front line of technology, and these iPhone advertisement messages seem to quench their curiosity thirst.
“Take photos every day” is another section of the company to promote the iPhone 5. This is a TV commercial displaying the superior capabilities of the phone’s camera (Bajaj 2013). Unlike previous adverts that showcased people listening to music from the Smartphone, the new advert shows people taking photos from the sophisticated camera on the iPhone 5 bringing out a more “dramatic feel.” This advert, which is part of the app-centric campaign, averts from the previous adverts themes that concentrated efforts on touting the many applications that come with iOS(Bajaj 2013). The ad slogan reads: "Every day, more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera (Bajaj 2013).”
The “ heartwarming advert chiefly focuses on the iPhone’s camera and how many of the device users has turned into taking photos daily from the Smartphone. The advert expounds on how the camera captures the daily moments and assist the owner keeps the memorable moments of its users. The decision to include in the advert images of people taking photos using the iPhone 5’s camera and the quality of such pictures being highlighted sends a clear message to the potential customers of the device on the improved photo taking experience that comes with this magnificent gadget from apple products. (Bajaj 2013)
The messages communicated by this advert are quite persuasive, especially owing to a voice over present as at the conclusion of the commercial saying: “Every day, more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera.”With regards to the persuasiveness conveyed by the message in this particular advert, the advert creates a mindset among the potential customers that only the iPhone 5 Smartphone has improved camera capabilities that bring out an awesome daily photo taking experience. The statement every day, more photos is taken with the iPhone than any other camera” is an evidence of this fact.Conclusion
The iPhone 5 advertisement campaign is a good example of advert messages that clearly convey persuasive messages. The campaign passes the test of high quality advertising skills. Of all the advertising techniques employed by Apple, all have one chief goal of convincing its potential customers that its iPhone Smartphones are the best of all Smartphones and that no Smartphone compares to the Apple’s phones. The ads messages attempt to retain its existing customer base by emphasizing on the improved features of subsequent versions of iPhones in the Apple iPhone series. The iPhone ad campaigns employ different persuasion methodologies: The first is a comparison with other competing Smartphones in the market. An example of this is the comparison of the iPhone 5 with Samsung’s S4 and Nokia’s Lumina 920.The comparison meant to entice the iPhone customers by proving the worth of the iPhone in the market’s limelight was clearly outlined. The ads also compare iPhone 5 with previous versions. Another method used is outlining the key superior features that make the iPhone the desired smart phone.
Persuasion theories
McGuire’s Matrix
William McGuire in his theory describes a five step outcome process in the process of persuasion. The Apple’s advertising campaign captures McGuire’s five step outcome process in most of its constituent adverts. For instance, smarter than a genius campaign shows evidence of attention where it is argued that the campaign came at a strategic time when Apple's ads had been receiving close viewership in the last six years.
With regards to comprehension, the apple’s ad campaign ensures the use of simple language to explain some of the high-tech improved features of the iPhone 5 eg the campaign: “why the iPhone 5”. The advert tries to make the audience understand why the iPhone 5 is better than its predecessor models.
The outcome of yielding has been ensured through the emphasis of the fact that the iPhone 5 model is the only retina display smartfone in the world. The customer would be tempted to research on this fact thus assuring their acceptance of the ad’s message.
Apple ensures retention by using various media channels to send its persuasive message to the customers.
Action output is achieved through keeping the messages in the ads simple and clear to ensure their easy observation by the targeted customers.
Elaboration Likelihood Model
Richard Petty and John Cacioppo designed this model that deals in “heuristic” and “systematic” reasoning and how these relate to persuasion. The models argue that persuasion possesses two routes: central and peripheral route.
The central route is expressed in Apple’s ads where detailed features of the iPhone 5 are described. IPhone 5’s camera features are linked to a revolutionized photo taking experience.
The aspect of the peripheral route is expressed in the Apple’s advert whereby Apple’s “Take photos every day” ad show people taking photos with the magnificent iPhone 5 with a background vice over saying Every day, more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera.
References
Allsopp, A. (2013). Apple launches "Why iPhone" page to remind customers why iPhone is best. MacWorld .
appleinsider. (2013). Apple's latest TV ad focuses on the iPhone 5's camera . appleinsider .
Bajaj, K. (2012). Everything you wanted to know about Apple iPhone 5. The Economic Times .
Lee, C. (2013). Apple launches new ‘Why iPhone’ web campaign. IDownloadblog .
