Over the years, I have noticed quite a few advertisements by Apple that focus on the superior quality of the Apple camera and filters. In 2016 and 2017, Apple ran worldwide Shot on iPhone campaigns to surprise viewers with the quality that iPhone photos have. Now, Apple is trying to encourage iPhone 8 and iPhone X owners to use all of the features on their iPhone camera to show non-iPhone users what they are missing out on and to encourage them to switch.
Given the growing importance that photos and social media have on the target market’s everyday lives, Apple has picked the right phone feature to harp on. Being able to create studio quality pictures not only means preserving memories but also showing off to friends and increasing one’s social standing. Currently, with the World Cup underway, Apple released a commercial showing how users can take studio-quality soccer pictures on their phones. The ad is very inspiring, claiming that “if I can do it, you can too”. The double meaning here on whether the singer-narrator is referring to his ability for soccer or for photography ties the two together. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. So, if Apple can convince soccer enthusiasts that they should get an iPhone in order to capture soccer successes on camera, that will be a large win. What I love most about the ad is that there is no one directly trying to sell anyone anything. Apple is merely suggesting that people buy an iPhone X and go to apple.com/how-to-shoot in order to show off in front of their friends, whether with their soccer talents or their soccer photography talents.
Along the same lines, earlier in the year, Apple came out with their commercial for the updated portrait mode feature. In the typical Apple commercial style, inspiring music played in the background while text narration ran across the screen. By comparing the capabilities of the iPhone portrait mode to all of the technology needed to create studio quality pictures, Apple is effectively showing how advanced its technology is and how much benefit its customers can draw from it.
In the end, the goal of all of the aforementioned campaigns is to leverage the iPhone network of users in order to highlight the superior quality of iPhones by creating an army of pseudo-professional photographers to advocate for the brand.