Apple's movie marketing strategy

Recently, Knives Out director Rian Johnson told Vanity Fair that bad guys in the movie can't use iPhones or other Apple products. "Apple allows you to use iPhones in movies, but requires - and this is crucial in a thriller - that the bad guy in the movie can't use an iPhone," he said.

Director Rian Johnson's words reveal two pieces of information. First, Apple allows you to use the iPhone in the movie, but the voice-over says that Apple will not pay for it. Second, you must abide by your own rules when using it and not allow bad people to use the iPhone.

These two pieces of information reflect Apple’s strategy for film and television marketing. One is to obtain free placements through product strength, and the other is to maintain the brand’s consistent image through some special regulations.

01 Apple’s free film and television placement strategy

If you have watched a lot of Hollywood movies, you will not be surprised by the appearance of Apple products in movies, but unlike other companies, Apple has never paid any fees for its products to appear in movies or TV series, which means that Apple never pays for movie advertising placement.

In the 1990s, Jon Holtzman was Apple's marketing director. At that time, many filmmakers wanted to use Apple products as movie props, but they often couldn't get the latest products.

Holtzman successfully persuaded Apple management to give priority to filmmakers, along with the media and employees' relatives, in the supply of Apple products. Since then, Apple products, especially the latest ones, have begun to appear in Hollywood movies in large numbers for free.

In 1996, Apple agreed to work with the film production company of the first Mission: Impossible to allow Apple PowerMac to appear in the movie, in exchange for Apple helping to promote the movie in its own commercials. In other words, Apple used resource exchange to get its products to appear in the movie, and Apple still did not pay any fees for its products to appear in "Mission Impossible".

Holtzman said that in this cooperation, "we saved nearly $500,000 in production costs and got a commercial directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Cruise."

In 2011's "Mission Impossible 4", Apple products shined. According to statistics, Apple's iPhone, iPad and Macbook appeared in the movie for more than 8 minutes. Below are some shots I captured.

The agent's phone at the beginning was an iPhone. Although this person died as soon as he appeared, he was indeed a good person.

The Macbook that appeared when Tom Cruise escaped from prison

The most impressive scene is when two agents use iPad to perform "holographic projection" operations to deceive the security guard.

Macbooks found inside the Dubai Tower

According to market research firm Smallwood, the value of Apple products appearing in these scenes in "Mission: Impossible 4" is $23 million. But Apple didn't spend a penny on advertising, it just released some devices.

There are countless scenes in which Apple products appear in movies. A film advertising research company called Brandcameo has been dedicated to the selection of product placements in movies since 2001. In the data that can be found, Apple has been at the top of the list from 2010 to 2014.

In 2009, during the heyday of Apple products, its products appeared in an incredible 42.5% of movies.

Even in the 2010s, when advertising competition was fierce, Apple still maintained its lead, with its appearance rate in one-quarter of American blockbusters in 2014. At the same time, 9 out of every 35 movies had Apple ads embedded in them.

Appearing in movies for free is a reflection of Apple’s brand and product power. So what about Apple’s other rule: “Bad guys can’t use iPhones”?

02 Is the rule that “bad guys can’t use iPhones” true?

Regarding Apple not allowing bad guys to use the iPhone, some media claimed that Apple's legal guidelines for third-party use of Apple trademarks and copyrights clearly stipulate that Apple products must be positively described. Its products must be "displayed only in the best light and in a manner or context that reflects the strengths of Apple products and Apple."

I don't know where this sentence came from, so with doubts, I opened the official website's trademark and copyright usage guidelines.

This guideline is only available in English. With a high school English level, I glanced through it and only found two pieces of text related to this statement, which are the red-boxed parts in the picture. The meanings of the two sentences are:

Apple or its products may not be portrayed in a false or derogatory manner.

You may not use the Apple trademarks or any other Apple-owned graphic symbols, logos, or icons in a derogatory manner.

The guidelines are very vague, and simply state that Apple's trademarks and products cannot be displayed or used in a derogatory manner. I believe most brands have similar regulations.

But is it derogatory to the brand when the bad guy in the movie uses an iPhone? This question is controversial, and combined with what director Rian Johnson said, I tend to think that this was a verbal instruction from Apple to the director.

03 Why can’t bad guys use iPhones?

If bad people using iPhones is considered derogatory to the brand, then why?

The products a person uses and the brands he likes largely represent his personality. The tools or products used by characters in film and television will also make the audience think that they are consistent with the characters' personalities. For example, in martial arts films, the famous and upright people mostly use swords and fight with grace, while the villains often use double-hook sickles, meteor hammers, and even hidden weapons.

When a positive character in a movie uses an iPhone, it will give him an image of decency, grace, taste, and fashion, while when a negative character, or a bad guy, uses an iPhone, it will give him an image of evil, scheming, and weirdness.

The same scene from Mission: Impossible 4, the villain is not using an iPhone

For a brand that spends money on advertising placement, it can control this and make its products appear where they should appear and in the hands of the people it wants.

However, as mentioned above, Apple does not spend money on advertising placement. At this time, in order to maintain the consistency and positive brand image of its own brand, such regulations can not only simplify and standardize the issues, but also achieve the purpose of maintaining the brand image.

The Apple Store in Captain America: Civil War

However, Apple products have hundreds of millions of users around the world, so it is difficult for it to ensure that all villains in all movies around the world do not use iPhones. For example, in the following movie “Unfriended”, there can be no decent characters in the whole movie, but Macbook still appears in the movie.

Unfriended

So regarding the rule that bad guys in movies can't use iPhones, I think it only applies to movies that provide props and equipment, especially those directed by big directors and with big productions. For other movies, it's hard to say that Apple has 100% control.

But more importantly, from Apple’s strategy for film marketing , we can see that as a brand with the best products, Apple’s brand strength is fully reflected here. Not only does it do free advertising placement in the movie, but it also stipulates that bad guys cannot use iPhones.

There are only a handful of companies that can achieve this kind of brand power.

Author: Xunkong2009

Source: Xunkong2009