Did Apple’s Scary Fast event trick or treat the public?

On October 30th, Apple hosted a Halloween-themed “Scary Fast” event to promote its next-generation M3 chips. The showcase highlighted a new 24-inch iMac, as well as upgraded 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros (all of which will feature the new chips). 

Data from YouGov BrandIndex shows that the event seems to have bolstered the Apple Mac line of devices among the general public. The brand’s Buzz scores, which measure whether the public have heard anything positive or negative about a company in the past two weeks, jumped from 2.7 to 6.8 (+4.1) between October 29 and November 5,  as favourable headlines focused on the new computers’ graphical and processing capabilities. Over the same timeframe, Impression scores, which track whether consumers have an overall positive or negative view of a brand, more than doubled from 11.3 to 24.4 (+13.1), while Quality scores improved from 26.7 to 36.1 (+9.4). 

Value for Money remained in the negative zone – perhaps unsurprisingly, given that the new MacBook Pros retail at £1,699 for the 14-inch and £2,599 for the 16-inch systems. But these scores nevertheless saw an improvement from -11.0 to -5.8 (+5.2) in the week after the Scary Fast Event. Purchase intent, however, which asks consumers which products from a list they would be most likely to purchase barely moved from 5.9 to 6.0 (+0.1). 

Nevertheless, the event saw the Apple Mac’s Reputation scores (which ask whether consumers would be proud or embarrassed to work for a brand) rise from 17.7 to 29.5 (+11.8). So a well-received product launch can clearly appeal to more than a brand’s die-hard fans or prospective customers – it can improve a company’s prospects in a more holistic sense as well. The fact that Apple Mac’s Index scores (which measure brand health) rose from 11.6 to 18.9 may well exemplify this.