EVALUATE THE CAMPAIGN: APPLE & PRIVACY
Updated: Nov 14, 2019
EPISODE 67
According to Apple they are now a privacy company, but we’re not sure consumers feel the same way. Many of us have bought into the Apple ecosystem and their products are involved in almost every aspect of our day-to-day life. However, those same people are still very weary of privacy especially in the midst of recent Facebook scandals.
In this episode, we break down exactly where Apple went wrong with their new privacy campaign, ‘Privacy. That’s iPhone.’ Although it was timely given privacy scandals from other companies, they missed the mark on their explanation. Their ads seem extremely confident and for that reason, very unreliable. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — 92% of consumers trust influencers more than brands. People do not believe your brand’s voice over advocacy, so a campaign like this one needed to be backed up with trusted users who could vouch for their very grandiose claim.
Don’t get us wrong — this campaign was smart and clever, but here’s our advice for Apple on what could’ve been done differently.
1. Focus on differentiation.
By playing into the current privacy climate, this campaign was an opportunity to explain how you are different from the Facebooks and Googles of the world in a more direct and factual way. Think Verizon’s Coverage Map commercials.
2. Be more relatable.
Explain exactly why ‘privacy [is] phone.’ Present facts that can be checked, reviewed and thus respected. Comparisons to small examples of privacy in day-to-day life was a great idea in theory, but at the end of the ad, can anyone actually explain how iPhone protects its data?
3. Open the doors for advocacy, and then don’t control the message.
Let others advocate for your privacy standards, and let that review be honest. This will turn what seems opportunistic right now into humility and honesty, enhancing your campaign at least three-fold overall.