IBM's Television Spots
Anyone who has followed advertising, and particularly
technology advertising, for any length of time has a healthy respect for
IBM.
It’s easy to like their television spots. The befuddled management
team listening to sales pitches for pixie dust and time machines… The
CEO as King Arthur, facing danger from all directions…
The various people going to the IBM help desk for all manner of help. The spots are entertaining, yes, but they go further: they ring true to
their audience, and that’s what makes them so effective.
I admit to being old enough to remember IBM’s Charlie Chaplin campaign for
personal computers in the 1980’s. For a few years, every PC ad and
commercial had the man with the moustache, cane and bowler hat. Sometimes
just the hat, so strong was the image.
I was working for Digital at the time, and I remember many people in the
business didn’t like the ads. Too silly. Too trite. What did Chaplin have to
do with computers?
Talk about missing the point! Charlie Chaplin was every man. He was the
perfect image for a new technology that most people were still afraid of.
That’s one thing IBM has always been able to do: understand the audience and
speak to them. Maybe that’s why they’re still industry leaders, and Digital
is long gone. |
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