Where Apple is with their advertising:

TV ads:

While I am glad that Apple has an advertising campaign that is targeted at PC users, the swithcing options are not clearly defined. No hardware is mentioned at all in the comercials, save one Switcher saying that she liked her iBook and that was that. I am embarrassed by the Switch ads, but that is no matter if they succeed.

Everyone that I have talked to, both PC and Mac users, know and love the Powerbook ads featuring Yao Ming and Vern Troyer. Some of the people that watched the ads went to the Apple site to see them a second time. Apple really used a good tactic in this campaign: (1)making the ad likeable, (2) depicting the products in a creative fashion, and (3) using the recognition of Vern Troyer, loved by many people as Mini Me, to lure people onto the site, seducing them with the laptops, and finally having them swept in as customers. Good job Apple. The iMac ad was cute, too, but in my opinion was less distinguished.

Magazine advertisements:

For the 5 week period following the introduction of the 12" and 17" Powerbooks, Apple featured a 2 page, beautiful, and powerful depiction of the computers in Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times magazine. And most importantly: this 2 page ad occupied the 2 most important pages of any publication: Cover 2 and page 2, the first pages a reader sees. This ad has slipped back to the 3rd and 4th pages, but still has a presence. The iMac ad was good also, showing the adeptness of the iMac as a digital center. (I'm talking about the "If you get one of these, you'll want one of these" ad, featuring a digital camera and an iMac)

Internet banners:
Apple has not used any internet banners to advertise its products, which is OK with me. I find banners obnoxious, and Apple wants to avoid being annoying and intrusive with its ads.

What Apple needs to do:

(1) Have an ad for OS X in magazines like Time. There was an ad flaunting OS X's Unix capabilities in Scientific American, but I don't think that an ad like that will draw many people, other than the targeted unix-admin audience. Having an OS X TV ad might be powerful, although TV is a tough medium for software advertisment. But judging by AOL's success, whose campaign was through TV, it might have a chance. But NO OS X infomercial! PLEASE! :D

(2) An ad for the Pro line. While the Powerbook campaign is sccessfull, the powermac remains unknown to almost all mundane PC users. The only Powermac ad that I ever saw was an ad on the back of The New Yorker, for the Quicksilver. It wasn't what you would call persuasive, with only 1 line of unimportant text, and no "MHZ Myth" propaganda.

(3)An iBook ad. I don't have a TV, but I am almost positive that the iBook is totally unadvertized out of Mac magazines. And the iBook is the most appeling Switcher option ever, being inexpensive and very competitive, not to mention very appealing aesthetically. The iBook should be Apple's iconic computer, with heavy advertisement. All the switchers I know have iBooks.

Please tell me what you think of Current campaigns, Past campaigns, and where Apple should move next.

Mods: Please tell me where to move this thread. And please don't bash my poor placemnt. This is thread about the direction Apple should go in the Future on advertising their hardware. :D