Apple, once untouchable in terms of marketing, has gotten a little roughed up lately.

For much of the decade, Apple got away with bashing longtime adversary Microsoft without repercussions. Apple also dominated the MP3 player category without a serious rival. But now, as Microsoft has reinvigorated its marketing and it navigates into the phone handset category, suddenly everyone is bashing Apple.

First there was the Microsoft “I’m a PC” TV spot from Crispin, Porter + Bogusky  featuring a send-up of the dorky “PC” caricature in Apple’s “Get A Mac” campaign. Then, three weeks ago Verizon launched a teaser pitch from mcgarrybowen for its new Droid, a phone based on Google’s Android operating system. The commercial, which opens with a white background reminiscent of Apple advertising, runs a litany of “iDon’t have” features offered on Droid and unavailable on the iPhone. Verizon didn’t stop there, though. The company is also running ads that lampoon the iPhone’s “There’s an app for that” with the line “There’s a map for that,” which points out iPhone partner AT&T’s alleged gaps in coverage. (AT&T is suing Verizon over that ad.)

Apple, at the moment, may have little to worry about. It sold more Macs and iPhones in the fiscal fourth quarter, ended Sept. 26, than ever before and fans are buzzing about a rumored tablet PC, which could be another game changer. (Both Apple and Microsoft declined to participate in this story.) But industry watchers say there’s a sense that the company’s marketing momentum is stalling as it faces tougher new competition.

The Droid, which went on sale last week, is supported by Verizon Wireless’ largest marketing budget ever for a phone.  More critically in the computer marketing wars, with last month’s release of Microsoft’s well-reviewed Windows 7, Apple doesn’t have the problem-plagued Vista operating system to kick around anymore.

“Apple is under threat on the brand front in a way they haven’t been in recent years,” said Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey. “You have a situation where the quality is no longer significantly different. Windows 7 is much more Mac-like and it’s harder to compete against that. The iPhone is going to find it harder to compete against Android phones, which are positioning themselves by saying ‘Everything the iPhone doesn’t do, we can do.’”



Some observers think Apple’s feeling the heat and detect a biting tone in Apple’s current ads that is a departure from previous work. A new ad called “Broken Promises,” for instance, from TBWA\Media Arts Lab, shows the PC guy over the years averring that each iteration of Windows would be different this time. That’s just the latest defensive ad, said Apple observer and former company exec, Steve Chazin, CMO at software start-up, Dimdim. “Even before the launch of Windows 7, Apple uncharacteristically went negative pretty early on,” Chazin said.  “That doesn’t seem like Apple because its advertising isn’t focusing on Apple’s strengths but on Microsoft’s flaws. It’s a bit defensive.”

Microsoft has had success portraying Apple as too cool and out of touch with mainstream consumers. In addition to its “Laptop Hunter” ads, which showed consumers dismissing the more expensive Macs for Windows PCs, there was Sean Siler who introduced himself as “I’m a PC. And I’ve been made into a stereotype” in an ad that became a popular You Tube post.

After that spot broke last September, Apple responded with a new Mac ad that criticized Microsoft for spending on advertising rather than fixing Vista. That’s more than a little ironic, given that Apple has hugely outspent its PC rival. As recently as 2007, Apple’s outlay behind measured media was 71 percent more than Microsoft’s, $401 million to $234 million, per Nielsen. Through August of this year, however, the two companies have spent the same amount, $240 million.

Microsoft is getting more bang for that buck. According to BrandIndex, in the beginning of the year consumers thought Apple provided more value than Microsoft. In the March-April time period, that began to change after Microsoft ran its “Laptop Hunters” pitch. “The two brands have been neck and neck ever since,” said Ted Marzilli, BrandIndex’s managing director, who added the value metrics were based on what consumers got for what they paid, not whether the computers were expensive or inexpensive.

Another challenge on the marketing front is erosion of iPod sales—they fell 8 percent last quarter. That’s due in part to cannibalization from the iPhone, but still spells change, said Danielle Levitas, a senior analyst with IDC. “iPods pulled people into the Mac ecosystem and then the iPhones pulled people into it,” she said. “Those products may have pulled more people than Apple’s advertising--of course, it does become circular: People bought them after seeing ads for the simple, beautifully designed products.”