On Tuesday, May 7th, Apple uploaded the commercial “Crush!” as part of their promotion for the new iPad Pro. While the commercial is visually and technically stunning, it garnered a lot of scrutiny, ultimately leading Apple to apologize for the commercial. While many people have expressed what the ad conveyed to them, I’d like to analyze this from a marketing perspective.
What was the intended message?
Apple has a pretty straightforward mission when it comes to this campaign. Sell more iPads. Its proprietary technology with the M series has allowed them to make all their devices more powerful without compromising their designs. This innovation has been crucial in keeping them competitive in the professional space. Apple has built their brand on marketing to creative professionals while offering a simple interface that anyone can use. As Apple’s market share has grown, their customer base has become all encompassing. So how do you market a product that has to find market share, not only against its competitors, but its other products? In Apple’s case, it chose to use a hydraulic press to crush instruments used for creating art and compress everything into an iPad. The idea is straightforward. You can do all of these things on an iPad. That is a big selling point to a company or individual that doesn’t have a huge budget.
Why did the ad miss its target demographic?
Commercials, like any form of media, are a product of their time. They need to make something memorable that resonates with an audience long enough for them to buy the product. Apple has a long history of making advertisements that create public discourse. Apple’s “1984” ad and the ongoing “Get a Mac” campaign in the 2000’s are both examples of how successful Apple has been with its marketing. Both examples paint Apple as the hero who is overcoming a problem that the audience agrees with. The audience’s wants and needs reflect the message of these ads.
This is where “Crush!” misses the mark. Apple was correct in identifying a problem, but failed to account for public opinion, specifically when it comes to AI. Artificial Intelligence has become one of the hottest topics within the past few years because of what it is able to do currently and what it could potentially do in the future. Many high-profile people have gone on record expressing their concerns regarding AI as it’s a tool that can automate jobs and put people out of work. Legal gray areas have popped up as people’s intellectual property is being used to teach AI without compensating the creator. AI has the capability to write, design, code, and even speak using people’s voices. There is a lot of nuance to this topic, but generally speaking, this is a topic where people in these industries are going to have strong opinions. To those that oppose this ad, they see Apple marketing a product that will at best, replace the human touch in art, and at worst, put people out of work.
What could Apple have done instead?
Sometimes it’s not about what you say, but how you say it. In marketing, you want to convince the consumer that your product will improve your life in some way. Apple was effectively promoting a quality of life improvement for working professionals. If Apple is able to compress an entire production studio into an iPad, then that revolutionizes the field of marketing as well as so many others in the creative space. However, instead of crushing the things that the audience relates to, Apple could have been more gentle and created a story that bridges physical art and the human touch with the revolutionary tech within the iPad. Perhaps a parent is recording their kids’ music recital, first with the camera on stage and then at home and onto a recording app like Garageband or Logic Pro. Then, the ad could follow the kid through college where they use it to take notes and compose sheet music, ultimately ending with the child all grown up, being recorded by the parents now on stage with a famous symphony. If they did something like that, the sentiment is no longer crushing dread, but one that tugs at the heart. It becomes easier to see yourself in the ad.
Is this what Apple wanted?
At the end of the day, Apple succeeded on a lot of fronts. They made an ad that got people talking. This struck a nerve within an industry with a lot of high profile people that will keep this ad relevant longer than it would have otherwise. If you believe that no press is bad press, then this is a lot of free advertising for Apple. With how big Apple is, this likely won’t have much of an impact on them as a whole. However, this can act as a teaching moment for marketing teams to always identify your target audience and ask yourself if the message you’re telling is the same as what your audience is hearing.