Bad apple

Your customer should be the hero of your marketing.

This is an extract from IMTW № 97.

Read on to learn why:

① Great marketing isn’t about products, it’s about emotion.

② Celebrating your customers, not selling to them makes for better ads.

③ Financial institutions continue to struggle to earn trust. Technology can help.

④ Both the securities and the cash leg of a transaction should be on blockchain.

⑤ People power is on the ascendant, from Cupertino to China.

⑥ Getting the right team on board and collaborating effectively is critical.

⑦ JP Morgan prefers unified ledger over public blockchain for tokenisation.

What's new

Apple launched a new iPad this week. Uncharacteristically for the Colossus of Cupertino, it also committed a faux pas, as the New York Times reports.

In short:

• “The trumpet is the first thing to be squished. Then the industrial compressor flattens a row of paint cans, buckles a piano and levels what appears to be a marble bust. In a final act of destruction, it pops the eyes out of a ball-shaped yellow emoji. When the compressor rises, it reveals Apple’s latest commodity: the updated iPad Pro. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, posted the advertisement, writing ‘meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we’ve ever created. Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create’.”
• “But some creators took a different message from the one-minute iPad ad. Rather than seeing a device that could help them create, they saw a metaphor for how Big Tech has cashed in on their work by crushing or co-opting the artistic tools that humanity has used for centuries. The image was especially unnerving at a time when artists fear that generative artificial intelligence, which can write poetry and create movies, might take away their jobs.”
• “Apple has been regarded as an advertising visionary since the 1980s. Its ‘1984’ Super Bowl commercial to introduce the Macintosh computer is among the most famous commercials ever made. The ad, which was developed by the Chiat/Day agency, showed an actor throwing a sledgehammer through a screen projecting the face of a ‘Big Brother’ figure that was meant to be a metaphor for IBM.”

Why it matters

Although I think this overreaction is the latest example of a regrettable trend fuelled by social media (people seemingly enjoy being offended by almost anything), there is no doubt that this isn’t Apple’s finest work. The mistake is glaring: it strays from the company’s usual approach of honouring its customers and honours its product instead. Compare the new iPad ad…

…with the best ad Apple - and arguably any brand - has ever made:

The difference is striking, isn’t it?

While there is something eerie about the former (it’s hard not to feel uncomfortable at the sight of beautiful things being destroyed, hard not to question the implication that instruments of creativity should be replaced by another slab of circuitry and glass), the latter fills us with aspiration, optimism and joy. It is a true celebration of creativity that draws us to the brand despite the fact that - perhaps because - there isn’t an Apple product in sight.

So, this story matters for three reasons.

The first is that it illustrates a shift in our cultural landscape. People power is on the ascendant (see ⑤ below) and even mighty Apple can get caught off guard by it. This week it was forced into a humbling apology (unthinkable even just a few years ago).

The second is that, in the age of AI, there is very real fear building up around Big Tech. Once embraced, technology is now increasingly perceived as the enemy of creativity. Technology marketers are going to have to start grappling with a challenge financial services marketers have had for decades: overcoming mistrust amongst their audience (see ③ below).

① And finally it matters because it reminds us that great marketing isn’t about products, it’s about emotion, about creating affinity. Steve Jobs - as ever - said it best when he introduced the now infamous ‘Think Different’ campaign:

“Marketing is about values.”

What to do about it

Take action

② You might think there isn’t much B2B financial or technology firms can learn from Apple’s misstep but I think there is plenty for us to take action on. The overarching lesson is simple: whether you’re selling consumer electronics or wholesale financial services, your customer should always be a the centre of your marketing efforts. What does this mean in practice?

1. Celebrate your customers: Demonstrate that you understand your customers be showcasing them and their wants - put them at the heart of your messaging, align your values with theirs, talk emotively to them.
2. Feature people not products: Don’t lead with your products or services. Focus instead on your customers’ challenges. What are they struggling with that you’re uniquely placed to help them with?
3. Guide the hero: Once you’ve cast your customer as the hero of the movie, take the role of a guide who can help the hero achieve better outcomes. Steer but be humble and let the hero take the credit.

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To learn why:

③ Financial institutions continue to struggle to earn trust. Technology can help.

④ Both the securities and the cash leg of a transaction should be on blockchain.

⑤ People power is on the ascendant, from Cupertino to China.

⑥ Getting the right team on board and collaborating effectively is critical.

⑦ JP Morgan prefers unified ledger over public blockchain for tokenisation.

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About

Written for senior leadership teams in finance and technology,?InMarketing This Week?is a showcase for news likely to impact you - delivered with insight on why it matters and ideas on what to do about it. It’s published every Sunday at six to give you a head start on the week. Read extracts?here, or subscribe to?have each full issue delivered straight to your inbox, before it's available anywhere else.