Eassy 3 Rough Draft

Michael Battista

English 151

Ms. Mudd

May 18, 2010

iPad marketing a Life Style

Apple inc. the company behind the highly successful IPod mp3 players and Macintosh computers has always set the bar when it comes to marketing. Their unique advertising has helped them to corner the market on mp3 players and computers. With the creation of these ads apple began to not only market their products but started to market a way of life. On April 3, 2010 Apple launched the long awaited iPad. Sales on the first day exceeded every expectation of the estimated sales numbers. Long before the launch date Apple began to advertise heavily for their new product.

I chose a print ad that had been displayed all over the web, in numerous magazines, and was even a still shot from one of the iPad TV commercials. As you look at the ad its very easy to the Apple way of Marketing. Over the years Apple has marketed their products in way to make it the cool thing to own an Apple product. You see the original IPod ads showcasing people who are being original and setting trends from a marketing standpoint it’s a brilliant idea to try and create this sub culture of people who use items like the IPod and other apple products. Today the vast majority of college students use apple products like the IPod and Mac computers because it is seen as cool to own those products. The apple ads portray being an individual while at the same time creating a following.

The ad shows what appears to be a person in their mid to late twenties. You can see their face or upper arms, only their hands and knees. The person is holding the iPad in their lap like a notebook. They are interacting in what appears to be an online bookstore. Some of the books are popular books that read are read by people in their early teens to people in their thirties. Some of the books that appear to be featured in the ad is a book by Michael Crichton, and a book by Edward Kennedy. The person appears as though they could be sitting in a coffee shop or more liking in their own living room. They have their feet propped up on a center table. Off to the right of the person’s legs there is a white coffee mug sitting on the center table. The person appears to be wearing a pair of blue jeans and a grey long sleeved shirt. There is a moderate amount of light coming in from the top right of the image.

When I start analyzing this picture the first thing notice is the person browsing an online bookstore on the iPad. I find this to be great advertising the due to the fact that the iPad is meant to replace the need for printed books and the need for bookstores all together. It gives people a way to relate to their old habits of reading printed books and visiting bookstores while at the same time introducing this new replacement medium. I find the use of the various notable book covers on the iPad screen to help tie all different types to people with iPad use. I find three books in particular to be very useful at targeting different demographics. The first book True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy helps to draw people who interest in politics as well as people who are democrats. Another Book a Michael Crichton novel helps to draw science fiction fans. One book is one of the newest highly successful twilight books. I find this to be one of the best books that they could have used in their ad. The twilight series has a very large fan base as well as fans that follow the books and movies as intently as fans of the Harry Potter series. It only makes sense that Apple would try and include one of the most recent cultural phenomenons. Another book used in the ad is titled Nanny Returns, which is a New York Time’s bestseller as well as a book that is associated with successful middle aged women. I find that targeting this demographic is good due to the amount of expendable income that is associated with this demographic.

In the ad the person using the iPad is wearing what looks like a gray long sleeve shirt and pair of dark blue jeans. I think that the use of these two articles of clothing together is interesting because they both symbolize different things. When it comes to a marketing stand point to use of the color grey is very crucial in its meaning. The color it self suggests timelessness and practicalness. The color grey is also a favorite suit of formal color. It is also important because it’s the most worn color of clothing in the world. When you see ads for Rolex or luxury cars the main color you see in all these ads is grey. This important for an advertising stand point because you help to tie to concept of the every day person with the concept of a device that is seen a luxury item but is affordable. The person’s blue jeans are also great way to look into the types of people that apple is trying to market to. The color blue itself is shown to be the most popular “favorite” color of people in the United States. The color blue is seen as the trustworthy, dependable, and committed. It can also be seen as a relaxing color and goes great with the over relaxation theme of the ad. Blue jeans symbolize everything that America is supposed to be. The stand for hard work but at the same time they carry a casual or social sense.

The IPad itself is looks like an enlarged version of one the widely popular iTouch MP3 players. The only visible colors of the iPad that you can see are silver and black. This color scheme is important because it can be seen on most of apple’s products and helps some one immediately identify it as an apple product due to this choice in color. The use of the color black is important because the color black is powerful and authoritative. It can evoke strong emotions but is not used so much in the ad that it is overwhelming. It is a classic color and is meant to make the iPad look sleek and sophisticated.