Brian Zafron: I Eat Web 2.0 for Breakfast

C’mon. We’ve all experienced it. At one point or another, whether channel surfing between E! and Skinemax, or trolling through the jungle of youtube, you discover a psychedelic ipod commercial and want to start dancing alongside the sexy/Rastafarian/Paul McCartney silhouetted figure. The commercial drips with funk, freedom, and fucking awesomeness and what’s more, it’s so close you can taste it. But then, like always, the commercial ends and your brief feeling of elation makes you feel like a complete jackass: “Did I really just piss my pants (metaphorically speaking) over an ipod commercial?,” you ask yourself.

Truth be told, Apple’s success is predicated equally on their consumer-friendly products and their kick-ass, balls-to-the-wall marketing. (If you don’t agree with me then… well, I’ll fight you.) Their TV commercials, in particular, always stand out from the rest of the crowd: media critics, professional and armchair alike, cite them for their sleekness, their catchiness, their uncanny ability to translate Apple’s simple/cool products into an emotion that seeps into customers’ bloodstreams.

Certainly, we could spend the next two and a half hours deconstructing Apple’s marketing campaigns (in which time we could watch approximately 275 ipod commercials on youtube), but instead, allow me to roll up my sleeves and simply put the spotlight on their campaigns’ common thread, their reason for success:  escapism.

We hear this term “escapism” thrown around more than Ike Turner threw around Tina, but it’s usually in reference to films, novels, and TV shows. However – and this where I let the cat out of the bag – the most effective marketing campaigns, regardless of the medium, embrace escapism. In other words, when consumers “interact” with these campaigns – in magazines, on billboards, through TV sets – they are able to leave the real world for a moment and step into the world of the campaign.

This transition of worlds can be an incredibly pleasant experience, as in the case of ipod commercials, or an extremely haunting one, as in the case of “The Truth” anti-smoking spots or horror film trailers. Regardless, the transition itself is a sign of meaningful engagement, essential in building brand awareness and loyalty.

In closing, boys and girls, don’t feel bad if you wish your life were more like an ipod commercial. Just appreciate the escape… and the brilliant marketing.

By the way, a shout out to my boy Tony who asked me the titular question the other day on gtalk, the inspiration for this post.  And yes, I just said titular.  Deal with it.

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