I see this morning that Apple is taking its PR in-house. I must say I'm not surprised. But that is no criticism of the agency who worked on the account, rather of Apple's approach towards media relations.
Thinking back to my journo days, Apple's media relations appeared to be about little more than building an immovable road block on a foundation of unshakable - and justified - confidence that consumers will still flock to the brand no matter how many publishers or bloggers Apple’s lawyers hit with some paperwork. After all, to quote The Onion, consumers will "buy anything as long as it's shiny and made by Apple", so why bother engaging in a meaningful way with the press?
Never was a company so uncommunicative. Never was a knock-back so predictable. And I know my experience was fairly typical of many journalists' dealings with Apple across all corners of the press.
Hopefully the good people at Bite will take it in their stride. They sound pretty pragmatic, though understandably keen to iron out some inaccuracies in the way the story was reported.
If I was them I'd start by buying some shiny new PCs.
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Apple changes tack with PR... will say 'no' to journalists directly from now on
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Apple was one of the companies on my "beat" when I was a channel hack at VNU some 12 or so years ago. I fondly remember being able to get review kit (we never did reviews), visits to Apple UK HQ, launches and press parties, etc before the transformation/renaissance into the brand it is now.
There were even clone Apple PCs – other vendors making/selling Apple-based machines.
And then it all changed.
Like you said, I don't expect the difference to the jobbing hack will be all that significant.
I'm also inclined to agree with Clive Armitage (one of the first PRs I met when I started in IT journalism, and always a top chap to deal with) when he points out that Bite have a well-stocked larder of top brands, so although the loss of Apple will be felt it's perhaps not as significant as made out by PR Week.
Speaking of which, I got name-checked in the aforementioned publication this week!
Good points Will. Bite always did a decent job with Apple, within what I imagine were very strict restraints.
Like Sean I covered tech for some years and watched Apple morph from a company that was accessible, open and communicative into a marketing machine so far up its proverbial it could see daylight.
The only thing that was consistent about the whole set-up throughout was that Bite's staff offered a solid and professional service, even when their role was reduced to the roadblock, or buffer, you reference.
I'm not in PR but I'm willing to bet despite being a 'name' on Bite's books there was little joy or reward in working on that account over the past five years or so.
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