Apple goes for functional over emotional with new iPhone ads

The first ‘Hardware & Software’ ad features the ‘If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone’ slogan as a voiceover champions Apple’s build to a backdrop of its apps and features in action.

Talking up the manufacturing of the iPhone and how both the software and hardware are designed in-house, the ad appears to take a swipe at Android, which notably has its hardware made by a separate manufacturer and only its software designed by Google itself.

A second ad – titled ‘Loved’ and following a similar visual style with the same slogan – says that the iPhone stands out ahead of competitors as it is achieves a satisfaction rate of 99% among its owners.

The message for both ads appears to be a departure from the cinematic, emotive storytelling Apple has championed to date for the iPhone. Instead it is more in line with the combative messaging seen in Samsung’s A/B comparison style ads for its Galaxy devices.

Positive times for Apple

The new ads come as global sales of the iPhone showed positive growth for the first quarter of 2015.

In Q1 2015 Apple shifted 61 million iPhones, which was up from 43.7m sales in Q1 2014, according to IDC.

Although the two new ads are for the iPhone 6, Apple is expected to launch its new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus in September.

It has been a busy few months for the Apple brand. In May, the Californian tech powerhouse surged back to the top spot in Millward Brown’s 10th annual list of the world’s 100 most valuable brands, achieving the first $200bn valuation and pushing Google into second.

Earlier this month, it also released its Apple Music streaming service as it looks to rival Spotify. Its Apple Pay NFC payment technology is expected to launch in the UK later this month.

However despite brands rushing to release apps on the Apple Watch, the wearable device has seen its US sales drop 90% since its launch in April according to new research by Slice Intelligence.