Spanish Perspective: The Mac scene in Spain

Posted by Dennis Sellers Jun 23, 2004 at 11:15pm

I’ve been the person in charge of contents of FAQ-Mac, a Spanish Mac Web site. Dennis has invited to me to share my experiences and points of view on what it is to be a Mac user in Spain. My goal is to offer the “macsimum perspective” of how the things outside the U.S.A. are seen by people such as myself. Naturally, no matter where a Mac user lives, his eyes on are Cupertino, watching for product launches, updates, the news, etc. However, after this first wave of information, things are very different depending on where you are from.

I have expressed my opinion in different forums that Apple behaves more and more like a company that sells its products in the United States and, secondarily, also has markets in other places of the world. If we imagine these markets as concentric circles, the USA would be the center. Next would be Japan, Germany and France. In the following circle it would be the rest of Europe (that is to say, Spain), and in successive circles, Latin America, the rest of Asia, etc.

The policy of globalization that has prevailed to control the cost, stocks, investments, etc., has supposedly drained Apple’s resources so that the different representations of the company in other zones outside the U.S. has turned them into mere drive belts turned by the instructions that arrive from California. For example, in Europe, the headquarters are in Paris, but its significance, both representative and operative, is non-existent. And let’s not talk about local Apple offices (for example, in Spain) where they have almost no room to act in their own local markets.

A publicity campaign cannot be equal in Japan, Sweden and Spain. The public, the economy, the local knowledge of the product—everything is different. Apple’s publicity is usually focused on a public that is supposed to know what Apple is and what products it makes. In other words, a market with Apple “mindshare.”

In Spain these days, we’re enjoying a big wave of advertising for the iPod. There are great spots of color ads visible for kilometers. But what meaning do the ads have for a public that doesn’t know what Apple or an iPod is? What possibility is there of mass market penetration when you can only get an iPod from American distributors and some major technology chain stores? Very little. The onslaught of “beige” Wintel systems has hit the Mac market hard, leaving it reduced mainly to professional niches (and even disappearing from many universities). In Spain, Apple is pretty much outside the buying expectations of the general public basically due to ignorance about the company and its products.

Apple’s main claim to fame is its aesthetic appeal and great design. However, these aren’t sufficient reasons to move Apple products, as is evident by the majority of PCs. As a MacNewsWorld MacNewsWorld article recently pointed out, price is the main factor in determining which computer to buy.

Still, in Apple’s case, the problem is more complicated than a mere decision based on the amount of money that we are going to remove from our wallet. Apple does not have practically any point of comparison for, say, anybody new one in computer science. We need to know how Mac processor speeds compare to Intel and AMD chips and how the Mac operating system compares to that of a “normal” (Windows) personal computer.

What’s more, in the case of Spain (and practically everything what it is not the USA) the problem is even more serious, because distribution is practically limited Apple’s own network of distributors (plus a pair of chains of department store). In 99 percent of the cases, the Mac is out of sight when it comes to the moment of the purchase.

Publicity (or lack of it) beyond the American borders suffers. There are few opportunities to “fall in love” at the sight of an iBook or an iMac. In order to buy a Mac it is necessary to understand the Mac mindset because we have little criteria for comparing it to other systems. We Mac users in Spain deal in faith more than hard data.

It’s possible that in Cupertino they’re pleased with little, occasional publicity campaigns in Spain and the little repercussions in sales. But, overall, if the publicity campaign doesn’t offer the information that the public needs, no matter how many times you run it, you’re not going to get the desired effect. For example, if Apple runs an iPod ad (and in the case of iPod, it’s definitively an expensive product for the Spanish standard of life) and people see the ad they’ll have questions. Where can we see/get one? What characteristics does it have? The Apple logo doesn’t necessarily carry the branding impact in all countries that it does in the U.S.

Apple needs to adapt its publicity (and its structure) to the different realities of places where it has a presence, so that it can give to each country’s public the information needed. To make this happen, there needs to be a certain autonomy of budget and creativity specific to each locale and it should be handled by those who know the situation of the local market.

Any other approach is like trying to kill flies with an elephant gun.

Alfonso Tejedor Escobar better known simply as “Alf” is content manager of FAQ-Mac, a Spanish Mac Web site.

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