Game of Perception – Apple Advertisements (People DO judge a book by its cover)

Apple advertisements have always been a delight to watch. Be it video commercials or print advertisements, they have always succeeded in hooking the viewers (prospective customers) with their creatives; basically not letting viewers change the channel when the ad runs or turn the page of the magazine or the newspaper on which their ad is on. While the major credit could go to the cult brand they have built but the very idea of this started with a three-point principle by Mark Markkula*: Empathy, Focus, & Impute. And this has been the guiding factor to the success at Apple and in building a successful cult brand.

*Mark Markkula was the early angel investor and served as the VP of Marketing at Apple.

Point 1: Empathy

“Apple should strive for an “intimate” connection with customers’ feelings. We will truly understand their needs better than any other company.”, Markkula wrote in his marketing manifesto.

While other companies, then and now, have been focusing on product specifications, Apple focused on touching the emotions of the consumers from the early days. Building a narrative through elegant storytelling, highlighting simple stories from the daily lives of common people helped Apple to hit the right chord in the mortals.

Stories like these made consumers perceive Apple as humans, like any other neighborhood friend. Moreover, Apple placed its products in day-to-day life scenarios and bring out the story without describing (but highlighting) about their products or the company. The famous 1984 ad is an example of that.

Point 2: Focus

“To be successful, Apple should center its efforts on accomplishing its main goals and eliminate all the unimportant opportunities.”, said Mark Markkula.

The basic idea behind this is about distancing oneself from old products or a variety of product lines but focusing the energy and resources of a few products and make them a STAR product in respective categories. By refocusing from a variety of products only to a few products, Apple is able to create and able to give a superior experience on their products or platforms. In addition to this, this has also led to creating authority in every category for Apple and to be seen as a premium product company.

Point 3: Impute

“Apple should be constantly aware that companies and their products will be judged by the signals they convey. People DO judge a book by its cover.”, Markkula wrote. “We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software, etc; if we present them in a slipshod manner, we will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.”

Quality & Innovation has been synonymous with Apple, but to augment the core pillars of the company, presentation plays a major role and determines the success. The way you present your product will determine how it is perceived among the consumers.

Deconstructing the Apple print advertisement

“Marketing should be a piece of art.”, Steve Jobs although did not say this but he laid the principle of marrying art and marketing and he was the one who really understood the role of art in marketing products and services. Not only Apples’ products but Apples’ ads too started to be seen as a piece of art under the leadership of Steve Jobs. He very well understood and applied the theory of perception that can be seen in Apples’ advertisements.

Every advertisement that Apple roles out focus on the below points:

1. Use of Selective Attention & Selective Retention concepts.

2. Short but a subliminal perceptive copy.

3. Minimalistic and Visually appealing design.

4. Highlighting benefits rather than features.

5. Use all the above to invoke emotion into the minds of the consumers.

Apple has been using concepts of perception into its communication across platforms from the beginning. (Selective Attention, Selective Distortion, Selective Retention, and Subliminal Perception)

1. Use of Selective Attention & Selective Retention concepts.

Selective Attention says that a customer pays attention only to those messages that address a need or interest or are consistent with the consumers’ attitudes, opinions, and beliefs. Basically, a person is more likely to notice ads for smartphones if he is motivated to buy a smartphone than ads for laptops. Therefore, Apple uses high graphic professional images with an artistic look of products to give undisturbed attention to the product being advertised. In this way, customers are able to retain more information even if the ad shows less info, but repetitive ads like these across platforms do let the customers have strong retention on their minds and are able to recall Apple products more easily.

Moreover, because of selective retention, people are more likely to remember good points about the company's products and forget the good points of the competitor products.

2. Short but a subliminal perceptive copy.

Copywriting is a very important aspect of any product or service advertisement. It can make or break the connection to the consumers. Apple has been using the short, crisp, abstract but a subliminally perceptive copy to drive the interest around its products among the customers.

3. Minimalistic and Visually appealing design.

Apples’ ad design is very minimalistic and thus (or otherwise) is very visually appealing. In this way, the focus of the viewers remains at the product picture and the copy. This design pattern helps customers retain more information and get away with a subliminal perception about the product which is triggered when they see similar ads across platforms or when they are in need of certain products.

4. Highlighting benefits rather than features.

Telling more about the benefits of the products and about how it can be used in the day-to-day life of the consumers impact more on the decision-making process of the consumers and helps them to make the right choice.

5. Use all the above to invoke emotion into the minds of the consumers.

Using all the above points hits the right senses and invokes the right emotion into the minds of the consumers that forces them to interact with the brand and aspires them to know more about the brand and the product.

Perception is the ability to notice or understand something. Perception in marketing is described as a process by which a consumer identifies, organizes, and interprets information to create meaning. It is a psychological variable involved in the purchase decision process that is known to influence consumer behavior. The perception model has 4 stages: Sensation, Attention, Interpretation, and Retention.