Exemplary Analysis Essay I: Apple's Advertising Strategies for the iPhone 5

In our previous post, we showed you how the Advanced Writing class of the Loyola Intensive English Program began our summer session by creating advertisements of their own in preparation for writing an essay analyzing an actual online, television, or magazine advertisement. In this post and in our next one, we would like to share with you two exemplary essays written by students in the class. We begin here with the essay of Felix Garmendia of Venezuela, who chose to analyze the advertising strategies used by Apple in a video promoting the iPhone 5.

Felix Garmendia of Venezuela

Felix Garmendia is a corporate lawyer in Venezuela and is preparing to enter the College of Law of Loyola University New Orleans for his LL.M. degree. In addition, Felix is an accomplished artist. His artwork is on display at Garmendia Art Gallery in New Orleans. Felix's series of white horse paintings and flower paintings are especially remarkable.

Below is Felix Garmendia's essay. You may want to view the iPhone 5 advertising video itself in conjunction with reading Felix's essay.

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ADVERTISING STRATEGY FOR THE IPHONE 5

By Felix Garmendia

Selling a product can be hard if the right TV commercial strategy is not used.  It will be possible to see an example of how a successful company like Apple uses advertising strategies to promote one of their cell phones known as the iPhone 5.

In the last TV commercial made by Apple, some of the executive directors of the different departments describe the quality improvements they made to the iPhone 5. In the commercial they talk about the iPhone 5 while they show different scenes related to the subject that they are talking about.

APPEAL TO THE HUMAN QUEST FOR AN EASY LIFE

The useful applications of the iPhone 5 is one of the most competitive characteristics of this new model of cell-phone. In the TV commercial, the executive talks about how useful the iPhone 5 applications are and how they were designed to provide solutions to daily life problems. Currently, people live in a very busy world. Everyone has to do many things at the same time. Teenagers have to attend school to do their homework and sometimes to practice sports or social activities. They need to socialize with many groups of people. On the other hand, the adults also have to do several activities: to work, to study in the university, to exercise, to pay bills, to take care of the children´s education, and to spend time with the family and friends. Each age group has a busy life and many different activities. They have something in common; they feel the necessity to be connected socially.

With this strategy, Apple offers to make people´s life easier using the iPhone 5 applications.

Fast Access to the Internet. In the first scene the Senior Vice President of Apple talks about the functionality of this new model of iPhone. He talks about the fast Internet access, while a person opens several web pages at the same time using an iPhone 5. In the modern world people have many available options to make daily life easier using the Internet. It is possible to pay the utilities of the house or the business, to pay the tuition of the children´s college or the university, to buy something that we need, to check the emails, or to read the news while we are waiting in the doctor´s room or in the subway. With this strategy, Apple wants to gain customers of different ages and occupations.

Useful Applications. In this scene the Software Senior Vice President talks about the characteristics of some applications designed for the cell phone.

• High resolution camera. In the TV commercial while the Senior Vice President is talking, a man is taking a picture of some friends playing basketball. Then, he posts it in Facebook, which is one of the most visited websites around the world. Every day we see an increase in the use of cell phone cameras. The tech companies are becoming more competitive to provide more attractive options to their cell phone cameras. The cell phone companies are designing great functional cameras with high resolution. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram have become an important part of the life of a large number of people around the world. In the TV commercial, the people who use these applications every day find that the iPhone 5 is the best cell phone option.

• Video chat using the iPhone 5. In the TV commercial, there is a scene where a mom, with her newborn, is having a video chat with the husband who is working out of town. In many countries, especially in the United States, it is common to see people in long distance relationship who have to live apart from their family for several reasons. For instance, some people have to work for long periods of time in a different city. The young people usually go to study in other cities when they leave the high school. In the same way, the business people or the universities use this function to have video chats with their clients or students. Today we see how technology is a great way to reduce the distance among people who live far away. This TV commercial effectively shows how useful this application is in daily life.

• Music display functions. In this scene a man is running in a beautiful park while he is listening to music. The iPhone 5 media player is shown during the commercial. In the past, there was a series of portable music displayers designed by different companies including Apple. Many people live stressful lives and they relax by listening to music. With the scene of this TV commercial, people can imagine listening to their favorite songs anywhere using the iPhone 5.

• GPS. In this scene, a girl is driving and she is following her GPS to find an address. The GPS is very helpful for some people and has become indispensable for others. People use this application to go wherever they want. With this strategy, the executive will gain more customers interested in buying the iPhone 5.

CONNECTION WITH EMOTIONS

One important way to get people interested in a product is to connect with them emotionally. The TV commercial tries to connect the human emotions in different ways.

Customs. At the beginning of the TV commercial, the Senior Vice President tries to connect with all the people who are using the old version of the iPhone named iPhone 4. He explains that the iPhone 5 is better than the older versions, but the design and applications are similar. With this strategy, he is trying to convince the people that Apple has improved the product. The iPhone 4 has been very successful. Millions of people have been using the iPhone 4. All of these people feel comfortable using the iPhone 4, and it is a challenge to the iPhone´s executives to improve their cell phone without changing too much their main applications and design. This strategy is directed to the customers who are using the old version of iPhone. If they see the TV commercial, they will think that this new version of iPhone is better than the version they have, and they can change one for the other easily without suffering a dramatic process of adaptation between one version and the other. They maintain the fidelity to the product.

Family Affection. In the scene of the TV commercial with the mother and her newborn, the executives are trying to connect with human emotions. People imagine reducing the distance among family members who live far away, or in some cases the children live in a different house apart from their mother or father. So, the emotional support is very important for the humans. In this TV commercial Apple tries to touch the sensibility of the customers. People who are experiencing a similar situation will be identified with the iPhone 5.

Friendship / Sharing. The scene where a man takes a picture of his friends playing basketball and then uploads to Facebook is a clear representation of how the cell phone can be used to share information instantly. In our globalized world the social media has become an important way to keep the relationships active. Nowadays, it is common to know people who have traveled around the world, and they usually have many friends from different countries. However, they maintain contact in real time using the iPhone 5. In the TV commercial this strategy works very well because it is aimed to many people of different ages, and nationalities who consider friendship something important to their life.

OFFER OF A RELIABLE CELL PHONE

The use of some experts to explain the quality of the product is another strategy used by Apple to offer credibility to the product.

Experts. The main stars of the TV commercial are Apple's high executives. During the different scenes, the executives explain the main features of the iPhone 5. Each executive is an expert in the area he is talking about. For instance, the Design Senior Vice President, Jony Ive, provides details about the design improvements of the iPhone 5. Then, the Senior Vice President, Bob Mansfield, talks about all the new functions that the iPhone 5 provides. Finally, the Software Senior Vice President, Scott Forstall, explains details of each application of the iPhone 5. This strategy is very effective because it provides details and information of what the cell phone can do. In the same way the TV commercial offers credibility to the product when the people can hear these characteristics of the cell phone directly from its designers.

The creation process. This is another important point in the TV commercial. Apple shows some parts of the making process of the cell phone. With this strategy Apple provides technical information about the different pieces and materials of the iPhone 5.  People can see that the product is made with high technology machines and high quality materials. This offers reliability in buying a quality cell phone.

The TV commercial for the iPhone 5 is a successful example of how advertising strategies work. Each detail is taken into account to communicate the right message to customers in the most effective way. The TV commercial shows several characteristics of the iPhone 5, with Apple´s executives focusing on people´s needs. Apple offers multifunctional, high quality cell phones that provide solutions to daily life problems. It is likely that many people who watch this TV commercial will want to buy the iPhone 5.

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Thank you, Felix Garmendia, for sharing your excellent analysis of advertising strategies with us!

Our next post will feature the essay of Sorapon Witchurungsee of Thailand, known to his friends as Gorn. Gorn chose to analyze the various uses and users of Facebook.