It’s well known that Apple exercises tight control over the apps in its App Store. Anything related to usability, user experience, and relevant content is carefully reviewed, and corrected or rejected if it fails to meet a guideline. This blog has already covered Apple’s app acceptance process, and this time we’ll look at another aspect Apple tries to control, with mixed success: the marketing and advertising of apps published on the App Store.
This article will lay out Apple’s guidelines for using its brand correctly. We won’t include all of them since there are many — we’ll just highlight the most notable ones.
Introduction
The introduction itself makes it clear, as if it were article 1 of the constitution:
“Important: Apple’s approval is required. Apple should approve all video, print, or other materials with any visibility before distribution or publication, for both marketing and advertising purposes. Send your initial concept or final version by email as described below. The response will take about seven business days; not receiving a response from Apple within this period does not mean the materials have been approved. You can send Apple materials that are still in development for review, but final versions must be approved by Apple before distribution or publication.
About the Apple and Apple Store badge. You must not use it in the following situations:
- Don’t use the App Store badge in general promotions for your company or for any other products you offer. The badge must be associated only with an app that is available on the App Store.
- Don’t use the badge if the medium it needs to appear on can’t reproduce it clearly and in high resolution.
- Don’t turn the badge into the main message or graphic of the design. It should take a secondary place relative to your main message and your app or company’s own badge.
- Don’t use the iTunes logo.
- Don’t use the Apple logo on its own.
- Don’t animate, rotate, or tilt the App Store badge.
- Don’t modify the badge’s design.
- Don’t refer to iOS. Use the correct product names.
- Don’t use graphics or images from Apple’s or the App Store’s website.
- Don’t use the App Store badge as part of a compatibility message. Include a list with the names of the products compatible with your app.
Product use. You must not use it in the following situations:
- Don’t crop, remove, overlap, or cover Apple product images.
- Don’t alter, distort, or modify product images. Don’t add or modify reflections. Don’t create buttons or icons using a product image.
- Don’t use white Apple products in place of the black products shown in the images provided by Apple.
- Don’t group Apple products together with those of other brands. Always show Apple product images on their own.
- Don’t place an Apple product image on a cluttered background.
- Don’t show an Apple product with a blank screen.
- Don’t tilt or change the angle of product images.
- Don’t animate, flip, or rotate product images.
- Don’t create die-cut printed materials shaped like an Apple product image.
- Don’t use graphics or images from Apple’s or the App Store’s website. Don’t imitate Apple’s designs.
- Don’t cover any part of an Apple product image with violator badges, callout messages, or promotional text. Don’t add any highlighting around the product.
- Don’t place one Apple product on top of another.
- Don’t add cases or covers to Apple products.
- Don’t depict any Apple product in 3D or create any simulation.
- Don’t use an illustration to represent an Apple product except in an instruction manual. If you show generic handheld devices, don’t include details exclusive to Apple products, such as the Home button.
About the App Store icon. You must not use it in the following situations
- App Store icon
- Only use the App Store icon when including a group of media icons of the same shape and size.
- Never use the icon in place of the App Store badge in marketing communications, even when the available space is limited.
Conclusion
Apple wants to convey a sense of control, not only over the mobile app business, but also over how its brand is presented in each and every one of them — even when that’s next to impossible. Either way, these serve more as recommendations when designing a marketing campaign for a new mobile app. Mobile marketing is something that will be talked about a lot in the coming months.