Apple’s In-House Advertisements Scoring Lower Than Its Outsourced Ads

Apple’s in-house advertisements are scoring lower than those created by TBWA\Media Arts Labs, a unit of Apple’s longtime ad partner TBWA\Chiat\Day, according to Ace Metrix ad-watching data compiled by Bloomberg.
Image via Bloomberg

So far, ads made by the in-house team have received a cooler reception from viewers on average than those made by the agency. Ace Metrix gathers data from hundreds of TV watchers to discern how persuasive and entertaining an ad is.

“Chicken Fat” is the Apple in-house team’s biggest ad success so far, scoring a 611 from Ace Metrix. However, the ad scored lower than two Media Arts ads, “From the Heart” and “Gigantic”, since late last year. “Gigantic” is Apple’s highest scoring ad since late last year. The highest ever score for an Apple ad was 696 for a 2010 FaceTime commercial.

The lowest scoring ads for Apple include its “Your Verse” campaign, showing off how people are using their iPads in various parts of the world doing different activities, like traveling the world, climbing mountains or directing a Bollywood dance number. None of those ads scored higher than a 600 in Ace Metrix’s scale.

Comparatively, Samsung and its agency have had better luck, netting a 739 score for a Samsung Galaxy S5 commercial showing the water-proof phone being used during a water fight. The ad is the second Galaxy ad to top the 700 mark for Ace Metrix.

Rob Siltanen, an advertising consultant who wrote the ad copy for “Here’s to the crazy ones” told Bloomberg that Apple’s struggles may be coming from trying to hard to represent themselves.

“The hardest ads I’ve ever worked on were ads for myself,” Siltanen says. “There’s a truism out there that applies: ‘The lawyer who represents himself in court has an idiot for a client.’ It’s very hard to have the necessary perspective to do the job right.”

Alternatively, Boston University ad professor Edward Boches says Apple could be struggling selling itself as a leading company and may be more comfortable playing off other companies, like Microsoft.

Apple has found it difficult to find its footing with advertising recently, expanding marketing efforts and creating its 1,000 person in-house ad team in recent months. While the Cupertino company has taken greater efforts to control its advertising, it is still collaborating with TBWA\Media Arts Labs.

App Extensions, Third-Party Touch ID Access Demoed With iOS 8 1Password Beta

AgileBits recently launched an iOS 8 version of 1Password for beta testers, which includes support for Touch ID and app extensions, two new developer features introduced with iOS 8.

With the update, 1Password beta testers are now able to use Touch ID to unlock the app’s main password, which then allows the app to supply passwords directly to Safari using extensions. The entire process has been demoed in a two Vine videos from Gabriel Nevado (via MacGeneration), who accesses his 1Password content using Touch ID and is then able to enter a password from the app directly in Safari using the Share sheet.

Accessing 1Password on an iOS device with iOS 7 requires users to enter a master password each time the app is opened, and while the app has a built-in browser, it is not possible for the app to input passwords in Safari automatically. With iOS 8′s new APIs, apps like 1Password are able to provide a much simpler user experience.

1Password beta notes image via Dave Teare
Earlier this month, MacStories shared an in-depth look at app extensions, which allow third-party apps to share services with other apps. The feature also lets developers create widgets for the Notification Center and it allows for custom system-wide keyboards for the first time. Touch ID integration for third-party developers is also one of the 4,000 new APIs Apple introduced with iOS 8.

The iOS 8 1Password update is only available to beta testers at the current point in time, but will likely be released to the public following the official launch of iOS 8, which is expected this fall.