Are you consistently producing high-quality content?
To paraphrase Stan Lee, the creator of Spiderman: “With great content comes great brands!”
To help you out, let’s take a look at this lesson on content marketing quality: Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl ad. Although it broke all the rules at the time, it remains the benchmark for not only Super Bowl advertising, but also the quality of content marketing.
Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl lesson on ad quality
Steve Jobs understood the value of content quality before the term content marketing was coined. Great content requires a memorable story at its core.
So Jobs didn’t leave storytelling to just anyone. He chose Blade Runner‘s high-profile director Ridley Scott.
With the tagline “Why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984,’” Apple’s ad borrowed George Orwell’s novel.
At the time, Apple’s Macintosh was a small startup that wanted to position itself against the IBM PC. The storyline comes straight from the Bible David versus Goliath.
Further continuing the connection with Orwell’s book, 1984transforms the IBM ad into Big Brother.
The 1984 Macintosh ad set the standard for great content and neither promoted nor pushed the product.
The only appearance of the product was the line drawing on the runner’s T-shirt and the slogan in the voiceover at the end. This was enough.
The runner’s message was bigger than that of the Macintosh. It positioned Apple as the feisty newcomer that challenged the boring establishment.
Television ads worked (and still do) on repeat viewings. Yet Apple only aired this ad once for the public to view. At the time, television was the only platform that showed a video advertisement. This created scarcity and talkativeness, which news programs were happy to provide!
7 lessons about content quality based on Apple’s 1984 ad
Here are the key features of Apple’s content lesson, regardless of the size of your marketing budget.
1. Position your brand, not just your product
Unlike most content marketing, Apple’s ad went beyond just incorporating brand elements. It positioned the brand.
You need a starting point that your audience knows, especially with a new offering. Apple positioned itself as the little guy against IBM, Big Blue.
Critical point: it wasn’t subtle; every viewer understood it. This is not new. Read Trout and Ries’s Positioning: the battle for your mind.
2. Know your customer
Apple targeted a new breed of computer users.
Not only did they want to rebel against the existing way of doing things, but they also loved science fiction. (Take it from me: I’ve sold a lot of science fiction in my career.) As a result, this content spoke the language of the audience. This understanding became a core element of Apple culture.
3. Use a classic storyline
Deeper than Orwell’s classic story was the David versus Goliath storyline. Even more striking in 1984 was that the runner was a woman. Although women’s freedom was well entrenched in society, computer users were almost all men. Back then, Apple was literally David; it had a small market share.
4. Add an element of surprise
The ad took emotion in the form of expertly built tension and literally shattered it with a hammer blow. Although the ad expanded on the 1984 story, the ending changed. Unlike Winston Smith, Apple’s runner triumphs.
5. Build controversy
The ad was either loved or hated. Apple’s board was not happy with the ad.
6. Speakability created
The price, content and scarcity of the ad created buzz. In an era when marketers did not plan Super Bowl advertising support such as websites and social media, Apple planned 100 days of promotion for the Macintosh after the Super Bowl.
7. Measure the ‘right’ results to prove greater profitability
What did Apple gain from this expensive advertising investment? By 1984 standards, Apple’s ad was expensive. Production cost $900,000 and $800,000 for the 60-second media spot. (Note: For advertising award quality, the ad aired in the early morning hours in a small TV market when no one was present.)
YET Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl investment produced measurable results:
- Earned media. In the pre-internet and pre-social media of 1984 Apple received $5 million in free television time covering news discussion after the Super Bowl. This was PR at its best.
- Sale. Apple sold $155 million worth of Macintoshes in the three months after the Super Bowl.
- Positioning. Apple strengthened its position as a competitor of IBM.
- Business knowledge. Steve Jobs built his blueprint for product launches based on the 1984 advertisement and rollout.
Why do marketers go wrong when it comes to quality content?
Big brands need great content.
It’s not about the size of your company or your marketing budget.
Rather, it’s about thinking differently, as Apple’s slogan says.
The Lesson on Quality Content Marketing:
To create and support your brand, you need quality content that is unique to your brand. You can’t achieve this by trying to copy another brand.
Apply these 7 high-quality content marketing elements to get your brand noticed by your audience.
Have fun marketing,
Heidi Cohen
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on February 3, 2014 and updated on February 5, 2023.
By Mark W. Schaefer and the RISE community.
This book belongs on every marketer’s bookshelf!
It’s a big book with strategies and tips on everything related to marketing, with contributions from 36 authors from 10 different countries, each an expert in a subcategory of marketing.
Mark Schaefer is a well-known author and sought-after speaker. His books include Belonging to the brand, Marketing Rebellion And Known. (By the way, AMG’s CTO, Larry Aronson, wrote the chapter on search engine optimization.)
Photo credit: Cover of the first Macworld Magazine (personal collection)
Reference By: heidicohen.com
