Deep Pockets, Big Spender (2/2/99)
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After watching them spend over $3 million on a single sixty-second commercial during the Super Bowl-- their first Big Game ad in fourteen years-- few people would doubt that Apple's being a little more "casual" about its advertising expenditures these days. But have you wondered just how much more Apple is spending on ads these days? According to Insanely Great Mac, Apple spent almost $62 million on television, magazine, and outdoor advertising campaigns during the third quarter. That's up 71.8 percent from the same quarter in the previous year, and it makes Apple the fifth biggest spender among computer companies when it comes to shelling out cash for advertising. Sounds like a marked improvement to us.
On the other hand, when it comes to commercials, Apple seems to have far less media saturation than other companies in the top five. Take Microsoft, for example: sure, they spent more than twice as much as Apple on advertising during the quarter, but we get the sense that we must have seen Microsoft commercials at least five times as often as we saw Apple ones. And you can't sit through a single TV commercial break without seeing an IBM commercial these days; sure, they spent a whopping $208 million, but the proportions still seem a little out of whack. Perhaps IBM and Microsoft funnel most of their funds into television advertising, whereas Apple spreads their money out more into magazine ads and billboards?
Whatever the reason, we find it a little frustrating. Apple's finally got a lot of great commercials, but they aren't the easiest ones to catch on the tube. Consider this: Gateway spent about the same amount on advertising as Apple did in Q3. We know we see Gateway commercials a lot more often than we see Apple commercials. So what's up with that?
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SceneLink (1313)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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| | The above scene was taken from the 2/2/99 episode: February 2, 1999: Apple plans to lay off factory workers on three continents, as iMac production gets handed over to a Korean firm with a mediocre reputation and ongoing labor problems. Meanwhile, Apple's increased its advertising budget, yet we still seem to see fewer Apple commercials than we should, and "Redmond Justice" heats up for Sweeps Month with a little tampering of evidence...
Other scenes from that episode: 1312: Pink Slips & Gold Stars (2/2/99) It seems like those rumored Cork, Ireland layoffs are official-- Apple PR rep Rhona Hamilton has commented on the situation and confirms that there will be layoffs, but states that the situation isn't as dire as many predicted... 1314: Sweeps Month Scandal (2/2/99) Ah, February-- one of those glorious months known to TV lovers everywhere as Sweeps Month, when the airwaves are thick with extra doses of sex, violence, scandal, and all things wicked and ratings-building...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | | |
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