A is for apple
- 1. Tim Sprague CMS 200 University of Southern Maine Spring 2012
- 2. A is for Apple A Rhetorical Analysis of Apple’s Brand Building
- 3. Apple’s Brand Building • As the face of Apple, Steve Jobs aim was to convince consumers to buy products that they didn’t know they needed. • To reach the consumers Jobs used mulGple mediums such as TV, print and the Internet. • MulGple products with varying appeals have made Apple a world class company.
- 4. What is Rhetoric • Rhetoric refers to communicaGon that is used to influence others. • Rhetorical acts occur within a rhetorical context which includes at least 4 elements; Aim, Audience, Subject, and Medium • Three types of appeals are used to reach the audience. • Ethos, Pathos, and Logos (Olsen, 2012 Apr)
- 5. Ethos • An appeal to credibility and reliability (Alberts, Nakayama & MarGn, 2010) • Steve Jobs’s stage presence, minimalist image and hypnoGc elocuGon, established him as the supreme authority on all things Apple.
- 6. Pathos • Represents an appeal to the audience’s emoGons. (Alberts, Nakayama & MarGn, 2010) First establishing credibility and authority, Jobs then ignites the passion in the audience. His delivery, enthusiasm for his products, and showmanship had all turnouts electrified.
- 7. Logos • Logos is the use of rhetoric to help the audience see the raGonal for a parGcular conclusion. (Aberts, Nakayama & MarGn, 2010) • Job’s dissecGon of new products, Greless campaigning, and obvious pride in his company, capGvated audiences and helped them understand the advantages of owning Apple products.
- 8. Ethos -‐ Slogans • “Soon there will be two kinds of people. Those who use computers and those who use Apples.” • “Engineered for the creaGve class.” • “If you don’t have the iPhone, well, you don’t have the iPhone.” (Wikipedia, 2012)
- 9. Pathos -‐ Slogans • “Beauty. Brains. And now more brawn.” • “Get your groove on in five new colors.” (Wikipedia, 2012)
- 10. Logos -‐ Slogans • “It does more, It costs less, It’s that simple.” • “We’re looking for the most original use of an Apple since Adam.” • “The new, faster MacBook Air. Everyone should have a notebook this advanced.” (Wikipedia,2012)
- 11. Rhetorical Devices • Persuasion is the art that most rhetoricians have as the focus of their communicaGon process. • In addiGon to the appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos, rhetorical devices may be employed. • All of these appeals and devices Jobs incorporated in his aim to market Apple products to the discriminaGng consumer. • Jobs used mulGple mediums to communicate his message – stage, print, Internet, and television.
- 12. Rhetorical Devices (Berger, 2011, p. 82-‐88) (Wikipedia, 2012) Device Apple Slogan Examples Allegory “So 1984 won’t be like…1984.” (1984 Super Bowl Commercial) AlliteraGon “The ulGmate all-‐in-‐one goes all out.” Comparison “What’s an Intel chip doing in a Mac? A whole lot more than its ever done in a PC.” DefiniGon “The worlds most advanced operaGng system. Finely tuned.” Encomium “Blows minds, not budgets.” ExemplificaGon “The all-‐in-‐one is for everyone.” Irony “A liele mini, a lot of Leopard.” Metaphor “Random is the new order.” Metonymy “Leopard. Every One’s an UlGmate.” Rhyme “Room to grow. Introducing Mac Pro.” Rhythm “Twice as fast, for half the price.” Simile “Thin as always. Faster than ever.” Synecdoche “A is for Apple.”
- 13. Appeals, Devices, and Principles • By using these three appeals and thirteen devices of rhetoric, Jobs was able to build the Apple brand without the use of celebrity spokespersons or sex appeal. • Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs biographer, idenGfied fourteen guiding principles that ulGmately led Jobs to be “ in the pantheon of America’s great innovators’ along with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Walt Disney.” (Isaacson, 2012)
- 15. EffecGveness • Employing these fourteen strategies he built a company that created pioneering technological breakthroughs in several industries from music to computers to phones, whose products he sold to the public using his special brand of rhetoric. • Jobs leh Apple in 1985, but in 1997 returned to the struggling company. • At the Gme of his death in October of 2011, Apple had become the “world’s most valuable company.” (Isaacson, 2012, p. 94)
- 17. References Alberts, J. K., Nakayama, T. K., & MarGn, J. N. (2010). Human communica*on in society. (Second ed., pp. 300-‐301). Boston, MA: Pearson EducaGon, Inc. Berger, A. A. (2011). Media and communica*on research methods. (Second ed., pp. 82-‐88). Thousand Oakes, CA: SAGE PublicaGons, Inc. "Google Images." Google. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. <hep:// www.google.com/search? hl=en&cp=7&gs. Olsen, A. (2012 Apr). An introduc*on to rhetoric. Retrieved from hep://www.letu.edu/people/annieolson/online/intro.html Isaacson, W. (2012). The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs. (cover story). Harvard Business Review, 90(4), 92-‐102. Wikipedia. (2012). List of apple inc. slogans. In Retrieved from hep:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apple_Inc._slogans