Social Media Marketing Is Fast; Control Freaks Step Back

If @Apple’s brand team applied itself in social media channels, its flock of fanboys and fangirls would be all over it.

Whether Apple needs social media to create or sustain interest is questionable, which may explain why the company that works in a new spaceship-like building barely deigns to dabble in the medium.

Tim Nudd of Adweek provides context:

That Apple is finally joining Instagram may be a surprise, but the content strategy really isn’t. As a brand with a tightly controlled brand voice, Apple has long resisted getting its hands dirty in social, where spontaneity and honest connections are everything.

#ShotoniPhone by… – 1. Shawn T. @_xst "I love it when people find out that they’re in a photo because the reaction is so beautiful. They’re like, 'Oh my God! How did you get this and when was it shot? I didn’t even see you!'” – 2. Laura I. @lauraiz “The person in all of these photos is my daughter. She is my first kid. Every little cliché about love is what I feel about Joey.” – 3. Percy O.A. @fotombo “My poetry and my photography go hand-in-hand.” – 4. Danilo L. @danilo “I’m attracted to everything experimental.” – 5. Laura Z. @laurazazanis “I had to tell my neighbors what I was doing, because now that I do this all the time, they’re gonna think that I’ve lost my mind, dropping all these crazy things into the pool everyday.”

A post shared by apple (@apple) on Aug 7, 2017 at 5:17am PDT

#ShotoniPhone by… – 1. Kathy R. @kathyryan1 “It’s the New York Times building, in the middle of Times Square. It’s not an ordinary building, but it’s one building and honestly it could keep me occupied for life.” – 2. Gregg B. @greggboydston “I work for the United States Forest Service on the Hotshot Crew. We go to wildfires and help put them out.” – 3. Michael Z. @symmetrybreakfast “Since 2013, I have been making breakfast for my husband every day.” – 4. Khasar S. @inomad “I’m lucky that what Mongolia offers, even in the 21st Century, are people and cultures that still pass on centuries of tradition to future generations.”

A post shared by apple (@apple) on Aug 7, 2017 at 5:14am PDT

Interestingly, Microsoft isn’t too good or too careful to play in the social sandbox. On Facebook, the technology brand has more than 11.7 million followers. That’s the population of several large cities combined.

A tweeting dress. A pollution-detecting makeup concept. The retro-futuristic farm of 2050. See what else Microsoft Research designer and "fusionist" Asta Roseway is up to by clicking the link in our bio.

A post shared by Microsoft (@microsoft) on Mar 9, 2017 at 12:01pm PST