[misterzeno225]

1 Personally is see their advertising as neutral. People have a tendency to over reach at times.

2 They do an EXCELLENT job of showing what the iphone is great at and pretty much a no comment on what it cant do or has a hard time doing. They have the phone as the main focus of the commercial and they are showing someone using it. On the other hand lets take a blackberry commercial for example, it shows a bunch of random pictures representing face book and myspace.. they never show the screen of the phone in operation. Now lets say you never used a berry and have seen both commercials you would be in for a surprise when you saw the UI. And all of these points refer to casual users, the people that are FAR away from these forums.

The mac vs pc adds are just funny, the music is great and the know just what weak points to point out on the pc side. Also the avatar representation of the pc and mac are spot on to the public eye. I my self use pcs and build my own, I have no hate for the macs or mac users each is own. I personally just like building my own and choosing my own parts and doing my own tweaking HOWEVER I can see how other folks would feel completely opposite. I mean an whats better then just bringing your mac to an apple store and having someone there in person that can explain to you whats wrong and fixing it for you.. or **** even replace it there if necessary.

And the blackberry commercial was for example only... nothing towards berry users

[berryite]

Sorry for the delay in response. Snowed under with things here. Kinda crazy.

Anyway, my responses ...

1 Personally is see their advertising as neutral. People have a tendency to over reach at times.

Really kinda of a dodge of the question. Here's the question again:

Do you believe there is merit in the article's contention that Apple is secretly targeting women as iPhone adopters? If so, why? If not, why?

Can we be a little more specific in answering this which really is the topic of the thread?

2 They do an EXCELLENT job of showing what the iphone is great at and pretty much a no comment on what it cant do or has a hard time doing. They have the phone as the main focus of the commercial and they are showing someone using it.

Not sure I agree. I don't think their iPhone commercials are inspiring at all. I find them forgettable. Highly forgettable.

On the other hand lets take a blackberry commercial for example

Nah, really not interested. The topic of the thread has nothing to do with BlackBerry.

The mac vs pc adds are just funny, the music is great and the know just what weak points to point out on the pc side.

Couldn't agree more. They are classics of advertising. Some of the best commercials on TV ... and when I say "best," what I mean is "most effective."

I mean an whats better then just bringing your mac to an apple store and having someone there in person that can explain to you whats wrong and fixing it for you.. or **** even replace it there if necessary.

Well this is starting to sound like an echo in here but again, couldn't agree with you more. Apple has been stunning in their outreach to consumers with their in-store programs. It's really set the Mac image even further apart from the boring old PC. Apple does such incredible strategy things on how they run their stores. It, in my opinion, puts their products on a far more upscale notch than the competition.

--

An aside, I was out for dinner last night and walked through the AT&T store near where I was going for dinner. 2 iPhone sales in process. Both to young girls. It is amazing to me how many times I go into Apple or AT&T stores and see young girls buying the iPhone. Again, absolutely nothing scientific about this, just my experience. But it certainly is interesting to me how often I see young girls, at least here in LA, buying the iPhone. I've made it a habit to walk through Apple and AT&T stores these days and count up who is buying the iPhone. I've yet to see anyone other than females buying it. No idea why it is, but those are my observations. I'll keep looking.

[Zipster]

[snip]
Well this is starting to sound like an echo in here but again, couldn't agree with you more. Apple has been stunning in their outreach to consumers with their in-store programs. It's really set the Mac image even further apart from the boring old PC. Apple does such incredible strategy things on how they run their stores. It, in my opinion, puts their products on a far more upscale notch than the competition.


--

An aside, I was out for dinner last night and walked through the AT&T store near where I was going for dinner. 2 iPhone sales in process. Both to young girls. It is amazing to me how many times I go into Apple or AT&T stores and see young girls buying the iPhone. Again, absolutely nothing scientific about this, just my experience. But it certainly is interesting to me how often I see young girls, at least here in LA, buying the iPhone. I've made it a habit to walk through Apple and AT&T stores these days and count up who is buying the iPhone. I've yet to see anyone other than females buying it. No idea why it is, but those are my observations. I'll keep looking.

I would say "upscale" only to the generic store-bought computer. I say computer because at this point, it's really nothing more than OS X vs. Windows. You can get pretty much the same hardware for both "sides" and it just boils down to which OS you want to run.

One of the biggest sections of the "PC" side that doesn't get advertised is the gamers. We can do any and everything we want to our computers that Macs can. Some of the case mods that I've seen are truly awesome!

I would be brazen enough to say that we are holding the non-business side up, as desktop gaming rakes in huge amounts of money. Each new Windows-based game that comes out pushes graphics ahead and out churns more hardware to compensate for that.

I agree with you that the iPhone commercials are mostly forgettable. They're not showing off the iPhone, as much as they're just showing off the apps for it. Because if you think about it, the iPhone is pretty much built on the apps it can run. Without them, it's just another smartphone with pretty graphics.

[berryite]

I would say "upscale" only to the generic store-bought computer. I say computer because at this point, it's really nothing more than OS X vs. Windows. You can get pretty much the same hardware for both "sides" and it just boils down to which OS you want to run..

Disagree. The Mac Book is the sexiest looking box on the market. Nothing Sony, HP, Dell or any other PC manufacturer makes is as nice. It's just simplistic elegance in design.

Which brings us back to the topic of this thread ... is Apple a discreetly feminine brand? Applying the generalization that men are more mechanical and women are more aesthetic (yes, yes, yes - some women are highly analytical/mechanical while some men are very aesthetic/design oriented -- I said it was a generalization -- but in the greater scheme of things, a guy is generally going to get the mechanics while a woman is going to get the design) is it Apple's discreet strategy to appeal to women? If you are into design and appearance, the Apple brand is the sleekest on the market. Yet another example of where perhaps the Forbes author perhaps is correct in her assumption that Apple is a discreetly feminine brand.

With this said, it is not just a matter of OS vs. Windows. It's also a matter of who markets the sexiest package and without a doubt, I believe that is Apple.

I would be brazen enough to say that we are holding the non-business side up, as desktop gaming rakes in huge amounts of money. Each new Windows-based game that comes out pushes graphics ahead and out churns more hardware to compensate for that.

Probably true but has little to do with this thread.

I agree with you that the iPhone commercials are mostly forgettable. They're not showing off the iPhone, as much as they're just showing off the apps for it. Because if you think about it, the iPhone is pretty much built on the apps it can run. Without them, it's just another smartphone with pretty graphics.

I've admitted my bias that I'm generally not impressed with the iPhone. I believe Apple is a terrific company. I am not dismissing them as an organization. I believe they are an amazing design and marketing operation. However, I believe the iPhone was a ***** of a product with little other than apps to offer and most of the apps are basically toys. I see the iPhone being little other than an app machine with pretty graphics and a marginal phone. Still, my personal opinion isn't really important here.

What is important in this thread is the topic ... is Apple trying to market to women as a secret plan. As I've earlier said, Apple is nothing if they are not a savvy marketing operation. Women represent the largest consumer buying audience in the nation. Apple whups everyone else in design ... appealing to women ... and low tech application (works out of the box, no difficult processes to get started) again appealing to women as a generalization.

Still looking for ideas and input on the marketing strategy here. IS APPLE TRYING TO DISCREETLY MARKET TO WOMEN (above men) AS AN INTENTIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND TACTIC?

Additional thoughts on this topic welcome.

[Archangel00195]

Disagree. The Mac Book is the sexiest looking box on the market. Nothing Sony, HP, Dell or any other PC manufacturer makes is as nice. It's just simplistic elegance in design.

Which brings us back to the topic of this thread ... is Apple a discreetly feminine brand? Applying the generalization that men are more mechanical and women are more aesthetic (yes, yes, yes - some women are highly analytical/mechanical while some men are very aesthetic/design oriented -- I said it was a generalization -- but in the greater scheme of things, a guy is generally going to get the mechanics while a woman is going to get the design) is it Apple's discreet strategy to appeal to women? If you are into design and appearance, the Apple brand is the sleekest on the market. Yet another example of where perhaps the Forbes author perhaps is correct in her assumption that Apple is a discreetly feminine brand.

With this said, it is not just a matter of OS vs. Windows. It's also a matter of who markets the sexiest package and without a doubt, I believe that is Apple.




Probably true but has little to do with this thread.



I've admitted my bias that I'm generally not impressed with the iPhone. I believe Apple is a terrific company. I am not dismissing them as an organization. I believe they are an amazing design and marketing operation. However, I believe the iPhone was a ***** of a product with little other than apps to offer and most of the apps are basically toys. I see the iPhone being little other than an app machine with pretty graphics and a marginal phone. Still, my personal opinion isn't really important here.

What is important in this thread is the topic ... is Apple trying to market to women as a secret plan. As I've earlier said, Apple is nothing if they are not a savvy marketing operation. Women represent the largest consumer buying audience in the nation. Apple whups everyone else in design ... appealing to women ... and low tech application (works out of the box, no difficult processes to get started) again appealing to women as a generalization.

Still looking for ideas and input on the marketing strategy here. IS APPLE TRYING TO DISCREETLY MARKET TO WOMEN (above men) AS AN INTENTIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND TACTIC?

Additional thoughts on this topic welcome.

NO! Do you know why? Because Apple markets all things as easy to use. It takes a paranoid femnazi to think that
popular phone+one button+easy to use=thinking women can't use phones.

I mean I could on the same lines say..."RIM is marketing the Blackberry to women secretly, by making sure everyone famous has one, therefore making it stylish."

Also the new Sony's look just like Macs. And you can get the same hardward in each...unless you want a travel low power AMD/ATI book. Or...you want a good price on a PC. My 3GB, quad core, ATI 4870 PC costs less than the basic mac G5 towers.

[alikoolg]

looooooooooooooooool

[Zipster]

Disagree. The Mac Book is the sexiest looking box on the market. Nothing Sony, HP, Dell or any other PC manufacturer makes is as nice. It's just simplistic elegance in design.

MacBooks do look nice and smooth, but I personally am not a fan of the all-white, rounded design. Being an aerospace engineer, I'm more taken by the more angular, mechanical look. Something with some sharp edges as well as smooth blends.

But what I was saying is that the internals are pretty much the same on both sides of the fence. Hardware is hardware, and since Apple has adopted the Intel-based boards, it's pretty much a wash in my eyes between the two sides.

Which brings us back to the topic of this thread ... is Apple a discreetly feminine brand? Applying the generalization that men are more mechanical and women are more aesthetic (yes, yes, yes - some women are highly analytical/mechanical while some men are very aesthetic/design oriented -- I said it was a generalization -- but in the greater scheme of things, a guy is generally going to get the mechanics while a woman is going to get the design) is it Apple's discreet strategy to appeal to women? If you are into design and appearance, the Apple brand is the sleekest on the market. Yet another example of where perhaps the Forbes author perhaps is correct in her assumption that Apple is a discreetly feminine brand.

With this said, it is not just a matter of OS vs. Windows. It's also a matter of who markets the sexiest package and without a doubt, I believe that is Apple.

True that Apple offers to overall "sexiest" package, but I'm only expressing the whole OS X vs. Windows from my point of view. As a guy that builds my own computers, I'm not limited by what a single company offers me, so I'm not held down by that restraint. If I want a "sexy" case, I'll just go out and get one.

Probably true but has little to do with this thread.



I've admitted my bias that I'm generally not impressed with the iPhone. I believe Apple is a terrific company. I am not dismissing them as an organization. I believe they are an amazing design and marketing operation. However, I believe the iPhone was a ***** of a product with little other than apps to offer and most of the apps are basically toys. I see the iPhone being little other than an app machine with pretty graphics and a marginal phone. Still, my personal opinion isn't really important here.

What is important in this thread is the topic ... is Apple trying to market to women as a secret plan. As I've earlier said, Apple is nothing if they are not a savvy marketing operation. Women represent the largest consumer buying audience in the nation. Apple whups everyone else in design ... appealing to women ... and low tech application (works out of the box, no difficult processes to get started) again appealing to women as a generalization.

Still looking for ideas and input on the marketing strategy here. IS APPLE TRYING TO DISCREETLY MARKET TO WOMEN (above men) AS AN INTENTIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND TACTIC?

Additional thoughts on this topic welcome.

But yes, back to the topic at hand. It does seem like there's a hint of them discreetly marketing to women. I know this will seem like a generalization of women (and I apologize and don't mean any offense), but women more than men want things to just "work" out of the box and work forever. If it doesn't they'll hand it off to a guy to tinker and get it to work, as it seems men are more willing to do that.

Apple products do seem to hint towards this a lot. Non-expandable memory, non-replaceable battery, pretty colors, very easy to use, etc.. If there was any hassle with their products, you have to send it in for someone else to repair.

Kind of reminds me of a car company in Europe (I think ) that wanted to produce a "car for women" that had a sealed hood that only a technician had the tools to open.