"1984" Focus Group

[G58]

IF I was going to use a focus group, & I wouldn't, these are the last people I'd choose. Everything about them is wrong. But that's not the biggest issue here. The agency that commissioned this test is utterly incapable of understanding its own business. The list of reasons why their ad is wrong is so long there isn't space on here. But importantly, none of them have anything to do with any of the reasons given by the morons in the room. If they understood advertising, they wouldn't be there.

[G58]

Good advertising works for largely subjective & subliminal reasons. It speaks to people's feelings & address their needs - without spelling out the detail. Apple's 1984 ad worked because it grabbed attention & exploited a perception about IBM's dominance at that moment in time. It played on a future/fear of a draconian regime via imagery of Orwell's '1984' dystopian landscape. By raising the creative bar, it also ensured that narrative could never be used again without accusations of imitation.

[G58]

By attempting to create a copy of Apple's 1984 ad, out of time, this agency committed a cardinal sin: it abandoned creativity by imitating without relevance - & for no apparent logical reason, other than to try to prove a point already disproved: their curious belief that Apple's '1984' didn't work! Well we know it did, but who has or had an interest in making that point? Microsoft - whilst it still believed it was relevant, was desperate to stem the tide of Apple success. They copied & failed.

[bretzy8]

People know nothing

[zzthex]

That animatic sucked a fat one.

[tadpoleontheweb]

Exactly as others have cited, a company that puts its faith in a focus group is abdicating its ability to come up with innovative branding and will often make a decision which could have devastating effects. Let the creative, smart people have full reign and you'll produce magic. Focus groups are the death of ideas.

[sillynrz]

what... no chimp??

[AceTracer]

Morons. This is why we never see movies like Blade Runner and Brazil anymore. They would just be focus grouped to death.

[AnarchistJim]

My first reaction upon seeing this was.. huh? 1984 in 2008? not really a great ad

The 1984 spot is one of the best commercials ever. But it worked because it was so timely. It _was_ 1984, Russia was a totalitarian superpower, and the corporate office of IBM probably looked a lot like the commercial. ;-)

Context matters alot, and it's difficult to see the 1984 ad having as much power and impact during the 2008 Superbowl as it did during the 1984 Superbowl, when DOS and mainframes still reigned.

[falloutfreak247]

wow... people are stupid. they completely misinterpreted that commercial. -_-

[nicksp]

A great commercial commented by a low IQ group. It's dumb.

[jpferreira81]

focus group does work. just gather a group with above 100 IQ and you'll be fine...

that's what i do here in brazil. i don't put together stupid people because you know what wil come out of that...

[x2v2]

this is why focus groups don't work

[phoneunlisted]

those people have NO idea.

[yashrg]

wow! this was a really remarkable commercial. I am really saddened that those people failed to see how well this "would work"

[sprucegoose9]

boring

[ampisinv]

let this video precede your showreel

[funnyhudson123]

The reason why Apple's "1984" commercial worked so well was because it was 1984, not 2008. In other words, it was timely.

Didn't the moderator tell them that this was a storyboard and that this would be shot with a generous production budget?

This was a teaser ad, people. Hello? If this same focus group was shown an animatic of the Infinity spot where there are just clouds in the commerical, they'd probably have the same reaction. Teaser spots are meant to--uh--tease.

[memorexe]

scary—and a compelling argument not to use "real people" in a focus group...