When Great Marketing Caught the Falling Apple

Apple was falling. Not off a tree, but off corporate profitability charts. The master magician had to take charge. No, I am not referring to Isaac Newton. In came Steve Jobs, in 1997, in a bid to resurrect a struggling company. And the rest is history.

In that concise summary, one key detail is missing. A critical piece in the resurrection of Apple is the outsized impact of the “Think Different” marketing campaign, along with the “To the crazy ones” advertisement that propelled it[i]. That 1997 campaign—launched under Jobs’ watch—set Apple on an entirely different evolutionary course in comparison to its time of struggle during much of the 1990s.

Jobs commissioned the agency TBWA/Chiat/Day to conceptualize the campaign[ii]. Hailed as one of the most creative pieces of marketing campaigns in global corporate history, “Think Different” now enjoys universal cult status in the marketing world[iii]. It is testament to the power of creative marketing and advertising.

Marketing may not be able to rescue a weak or bad product. However, a quality product will almost certainly not achieve its potential if good and creative marketing does not support it. When done right, marketing has the capacity to catch many a falling apple.

REFERENCES:

[i] https://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2011/12/14/the-real-story-behind-apples-think-different-campaign/?sh=7387eb1662ab

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] https://medium.com/ad-discovery-and-creativity-lab/think-different-b566c2e6117f#:~:text=This%20week%20we%20decided,we%20see%20computers%20and%20technology.