In the web communications business, we talk about online advertising versus digital presence. To me, this divide is a fallacy. A brand’s digital presence is its advertising. Sometimes it's your most important ad. For complex products like cars, computers and mortgages, brand websites are often where purchase decisions are made.
Lee Clow, the brain behind some of Apple’s most famous advertising (including the acclaimed “1984” TVC), told Shoot magazine last December what he thinks was Apple’s greatest ad:
“The Apple Store is probably the best ad Apple has ever done. The store is an audio-video experience with passionate kids at the genius bar, an inviting design, interaction with the products, a theater in back where they teach and where other forms of film are shown that engage, inform, tell stories and sometimes entertain."
It struck me that Clow’s description of the Apple Store sounds just like what you'd want your brand's website and social networks to be. That’s the ad I want to see.