The History of Apple

Established as Apple Computer, Inc., on April 1, 1976, The company kept its longer title until 2007, when it changed to Apple, Inc. Started in Cupertino, California, the American corporation was incorporated on January 3, 1977.

Founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Apple, Inc., designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software for the electronics. Apple products include laptops, desktops, numerous iPods, and the iPhone; while software includes the Mac OS X Operating System, Final Cut Pro, iLife, and iTunes.

Apple, Inc., has 20,000 employees and 200 retail stores in 5 countries as of 2007. The company also boasts $24 Billion in annual sales.  Apple, Inc., also has an online store as well as iTunes which sells music, movies, audio books, pod casts, TV shows, and iPod games.

The company’s first logo was designed by Jobs and Wayne. The logo depicted Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. The logo did not last long, and was quickly replaced by a rainbow colored apple silhouette drawn by Rob Janoff. The apple, very similar to the logo used currently, had a distinctive bite in it. The logo was revamped in 1998 and was given a monochromatic color. The Apple logo is one of the most recognizable brand logos in the world. Apple includes its logo as sticker with the purchase of the company’s products.

The first Apple slogan was “Byte Into An Apple.” In the beginning, Apple used singular slogans for the company as a whole; however, today the company uses individual slogans for each of their products.

To introduce the Macintosh computer in 1983, Apple created an 18-page brochure that was sent out with a number of magazines. For a special post-election edition of Newsweek in 1984, Apple purchased each of the 39 ad pages in the magazine – spending $2.5 Million.

Also in 1984, Apple ran a promotion titled “Test Drive A Macintosh,” where people could take home a computer for 24 hours and then return it.

1984 is most famous for Apple’s Super Bowl advertisement to introduce the personal computer. Aired in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII, the $1.5 Million commercial, titled “1984,” was directed by Ridley Scott. The commercial was modeled after George Orwell’s novel 1984.

The commercial showed a heroine, Anya Major saving humanity from conformity – or “Big Brother,” – meant to depict IBM. The voiceover in the commercial stated “On January 24, Apple Computers will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 wasn’t like 1984.”

Apple’s Super Bowl commercial in 1985 was far less successful. The commercial, titled “Lemmings.” Created for the launch of Mac Office, the ad depicted blindfolded business people following each other off of a cliff. The last man in line stops and pulls his blindfold off, while the voiceover states, “You Can Look Into It…Or you can go on with business as usual.” The commercial was developed into a print advertisement for newspaper.

Apple consumers are unusually free thinking and unusually devoted. Surveys by J.D. Power show that Apple has the highest brand and repurchased loyalty of any other computer manufacturer. Apple’s consumers are youthful, artistic, creative, and well-educated. These consumers react best to artistic, free-thinking advertising messages. Each new Apple store opening draws crowds of thousands who stand in line for hours.

Apple is an environmentally conscious company in four specific areas: product and package design, manufacturing, energy efficiency, and recycling.

In the late 1990’s, Apple’s New York advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day compiled the “Think Different” campaign. The campaign consisted of both television and print advertisements. Running for 60 seconds, the commercials included black and white footage of Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon, R. Buckminister, Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Hensen with Kermit, Frank Lloyd Write, and Picasso. The commercial ended with a close up of a young girl opening her eyes – and therefore seeing the possibilities in front of her.

[youtube-http://youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE]

A shortened, 30 second, version of the commercial aired during the series finale of Seinfeld. Rather than close with the shot of the young girl, the commercial ended with Jerry Seinfeld.

Print versions of the campaign made appearances in magazines including Time and Newsweek. Some of the ads referenced products, while others just displayed the Apple logo and the current tagline “Think Different.”

The “Think Different” campaign was created almost entirely in house by TBWA/Chiat/Day in Los Angeles. The slogan was brought back three times after its retirement to be placed in ads on Apple’s online Home Page:

2000 – When Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize

2005 – When Rosa Parks died

2007 – When Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize

Numerous parodies of the campaign have been created and can be found online.

In 1990, Apple released the “What’s On Your PowerBook?” campaign. The company’s print ads and TV spots featured celebrities explaining how they use their PowerBook and how the PowerBook helps them with their lives.

In 1995, Apple created print and TV ads that responded to the introduction of Microsoft’s Windows 95 Operating System.

In 1998, the iMac slogan became “I Think, Therefore iMac.”

In 2002, Apple coined the term “Switcher.” A Switcher is someone who switches from Microsoft Office to the Mac Operating System. The “Switch” commercial showed real customers explaining their switch. The television commercials were directed by Errol Morris, and both the TV and print ads directed consumers to the Apple Website. The “Switch” actors in the US were different than those used for the “Switch” commercials in Japan. As with the “Think Different” campaign, numerous parodies of the “Switch” campaign can be found online.

Current commercials for the iPod show dark silhouettes dancing against brightly colored backgrounds and holding visible, white iPods. The commercials have been created for both print and television.

The iPod Nano commercials have a black background, with the iPod Nano glowing to show that the newest iPod Nano’s are colored.

The songs in the television commercials are both by known and relatively unknown artists. Some of the ads also feature the silhouettes of celebrities, including Eminem, U2, Jet, Wynton Marsalis, Ceasars, and Bob Dylan.

The ads in the iPod campaign have a consistent, unified style that can be found in print, television, posters, and public transportation wraps.

In 2006, Apple introduced the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign. The television commercials are directed by Phil Morrision, with actors Justin Lang (Mac), from Accepted, and John Hodgeman (PC), from the Daily Show. The idea was created by TBWA/Media Arts/Lab. The premise of the ads is that Mac can do everything PC can do, but Mac can do it quicker and safer, with more creativity and versatility.

In the commercials, Mac wears more casual, laid-back attire, while Mac Wears business attire and is uptight and overly concerned with work.

The US version of the ads air in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, while different actors are used for similar ads in Spain, Japan and the UK. In Japan, the country’s famous comedy duo The Rahmens, star in the commercials, while the spots in the UK use famous UK comedy duo Mitchall and Webb.

There are 42 different versions of the commercials in the US with 8 additional online-only spots which run for 20 seconds and reference online ad features. There are 12 spots in Japan and 15 in the UK. Not surprisingly, there are numerous parodies of the spots online.

Apple also advertises on Free Rice – a program online created in 2007 to fight world hunger. Apple is also in discussions with New York Yacht Club to sponsor America’s Cup.

~ by americanapersona on July 3, 2008.