Gary Potter reminisces about his time working in marketing for Apple UK in the 1980s. He discusses how Apple UK grew from being a small distributor (Microsense) to directly being owned by Apple Inc. Vertical marketing targeting specific industries like education was very successful. The launch of the Macintosh in the UK required designing a brochure that would appeal more to a British audience. Software development established the Mac's place in publishing and design industries. Through passion and creativity of employees, Apple UK became one of Apple's top performing markets outside of the US.

1. Lessons in brilliant marketing
Only Apple would think of using giant flowers to advertise a watch!

2. Apple Days
A 1980’s perspective of Apple UK by Gary Potter

3. 3
After recently lecturing to a class of 16
and 17 year old students memories of
35 years ago flooded back to me.
I was talking about the ‘old’ and
‘new’ ways of designing and creating
brochures and advertising material.
One of the female students posed the
question: “which do you prefer, the
‘old’ or the ‘new’?” It made me ponder!
Casting my mind back to 1st October
1980 - I entered the upstairs offices
of Microsense Computers, Finway
Road, Hemel Hempstead - the Sole UK
Distributor for Apple Computer. The
first person I met was Gill Underwood,
Admin and Personnel Manager. I
never realised at that moment, I would
be renting a room from her for the
next 12 months!
microsense
computers limited
Sole UK Distributor for Apple Computer
garypotter@sizzleonline

4. 4
I felt like Billy Elliot, coming from a working
class, industrial town in the Black Country,
I had very little knowledge of micro
electronics and only an awareness of what
an Apple Personal Computer could do. I’d
had a fantastic job at JCB until Margaret
Thatcher wiped the smile off my face, so
seeking employment I made the brave move
to the Home Counties, joining Microsense.
A completely different culture to the life
style back in the Midlands. People seemed
to have ‘money’!! A one bedroom flat on
Woodall Farm, Hemel was £22,000 – you
could buy a mansion for that in Walsall!
Microsense was a small business, I was the
21st employee, joining Stephen Brewer and
a young lady called ‘Cherry Watret’ in their
Marketing Department.

5. 5
Two brothers, Stephen and Mike Brewer,
raised a substantial amount of capital
by remortgaging their homes to start
Microsense in 1979, having visited a
major computer fair in New York and
doing a deal with Steve Jobs. They
identified the potential of Personal
Computers and purchased 60 units
from Apple Computer Inc. Brought
the PC’s back to the UK, converted
the Power Supplies to 240 volts and
sold them through their existing dealer
network. The Brewers already owned
a computer peripherals company ‘Data
Efficiency’ and they could use their small
network of dealers to help market these
revolutionary desktop products.
After selling the initial 60 Apple II’s,
a further 60 were purchased from
California and sold again. From then on,
the consignments got bigger!
Stephen Brewer, Gary Potter,
Mike Spring and Hugh Chappell
Microsense and Apple UK
1979 - 1985

6. 6
Apple - The Brand
Jobs and Wozniak had used the name
‘Apple’ to create a brand for their
company. The word ‘Apple’ is a non
specific word used in everyday English
grammar, available for everyone to use,
unlike specific words like Nike, Sony or
Dyson, for example.
This was a wise move by Jobs and
Wozniak because the word ‘Apple’ could
be related to the iconic Beatles record
label owned by Apple Records (Apple
Corps. Ltd)*.
I would say that naming the company
‘Apple’ helped extensively in making
Apple Computer Inc. a success, because
the name was iconic, it was familiar, it
had trust, and everyone liked John, Paul,
George and Ringo.

7. BRAVE NEW WORLD
It also had retail connotations because
in 1976, 45 rpm and 33 rpm black plastic
records were purchased in the High
Street. ‘Apple’ worked, it made people take
notice, and it already had ‘trust’. A brilliant
move!
Combine this brand with the Apple
II product, which was a workhorse; it
was reliable, it had expandability, it was
versatile and adaptable. In addition,
there was a huge range of software and
hardware products available. It was the
combination of these qualities which
established it within the marketplace
during those very volatile and precarious
early days. Remember – at that time the
public were only just getting used to hand
held calculators!!
7

8. 8
Marketing
Driven
IwasbroughtintohelpCherryWatret,
MarketingManager,expandthenow50orso
dealernetworkandsupportthemwithStephen
andMike’smarketingstrategy.
CherryandIwouldtrekupanddownthe
countryinourBritishLeylandMinis,notonly
buildingexhibitionstands,butmanningthemat
theWhichComputerShow,Birmingham,orthe
LondonBusinessShow,EarlsCourt.Weheld
numerousdealerconferencesandseminarsin
venuesliketheWembleyConferenceCentre,
andexhibitionhallsinhotelsinBirmingham,
ManchesterandGlasgow.
Theexhibitionstandswerebuiltusinglowcost
MarlerHaleysystems,andwithinminutesof
theeventopeningwewouldgettrampledonby
hundredsofpeople.
Theexhibitionsweresupportedbyadvertising
andPRinmostofthecomputerpress.
During the early 80’s a plethora of microcomputer
magazines evolved and Microsense used PR and press
advertising extensively to promoted Apple products and
develop their growing dealer network.
Making it
happen!

9. 9
Throughnationaladvertising,usinghighprofile
peoplelikeFreddieLakerandPatrickLichfield
ascasestudiesintheTimesandTelegraph
newspapers,wegeneratedthousandsof
couponsalesresponsesandinreturnwewould
sendoutliteraturepacksandinformation
aboutAppleproductswithdetailsofthe
customer’snearestAppledealer.
Thiswholestrategywasaveryclevermoveby
StephenBrewer,byusingthesehighprofile
people,itbuiltfurthertrustintheproduct.
TheAppleDealerNetworkgrewtoover700,
andwithin2years,Microsensehadexpanded
fromatinyseedtoaflourishingTimesTop
1000company.In1982AppleComputerInc.
purchasedMicrosenseandcalleditApple
Computer(UK)Limitedturningoverinexcess
of£20million.Usingtoday’spropertyvalues
asabenchmark,thiswouldbeequivalentto
around£150million,withAppleUKprovingto
beamajorplayerinApple’sgrowth.

10. 10
During these early days, it was the shear
passion and spirit of the employees,
combined with their imagination, creativity,
hard work, determination and camaraderie
that helped the Apple UK operation expand
and fight off major competition from
IBM, Apricot, Hewlett Packard, Compaq,
Amstrad and the BBC Micro.
The excellent working relationships
between directors and employees was
remarkable, continuously working together
on exhibition stands and at dealer shows.
Outside of the US, compared to countries
like Germany and France, Apple UK was the
highest performer in terms of Apple II sales
and software development. By 1982 we had
helped Apple Computer Inc. achieve over
$1 Billion in sales.
competition!

11. 11
The first Apps!?
While the ‘Freddie Laker and Patrick
Lichfield’ campaigns were attracting
general interest, working alongside this,
one of our most successful marketing
strategies was ‘Vertical Marketing’.
This is based on taking a product which
the average consumer doesn’t normally
relate to, in our case Personal Computers
which were not fully understood in 1981,
and make it appeal to consumers in a very
specific business sector, which in turn
creates strong interest and sales.
Apple dealers supported this and they
developed software for applications such
as small business accounting, building
& construction, dentistry, industrial
applications, the medical profession,
farming and agriculture.

12. 12
Apple Software
Catalogue
One of my main responsibilities involved
the creation of the Apple Software
Catalogue, liaising with the Dealer
Network and software developers to
keep it up-to-date, creating the design
and artwork, organising the printing and
distribution to the dealer network.
The Catalogue helped drive the Vertical
Marketing campaign, gave us an
edge over competitors and was used
extensively at all major events such as
seminars, exhibitions and dealer shows.
Companies like Jarman Systems,
Lakeland Computer Systems, Computech
Systems and Dewco Information Systems
flourished as a result.
Software -
the life and
soul of the
computer,
enables the
hardware
to become
a fully
functional,
practical
working
tool.

13. 13
Apple in Education
The biggest vertical market sector
was ‘Education’, so in 1980 a specialist
UK Education Department was set
up, headed by Dave King (Microsense
and Apple UK) and supported by Jon
Covington, Apple Computer Inc.
Barry Holmes, former Head Teacher
at St. Helens County Primary School in
Cambridgeshire sums it up, “In the late
seventies, when personal computers
were really establishing themselves in the
business world, I became interested in
their value to education. I sat down with
my Deputy and examined the idea of how
one could help us. We then examined the
various products on the market, compared
each one’s merits, and finally made the
decision to buy Apple, which not only fitted
our criteria but was also being offered
at a very reasonable price by Personal
Computers of London”.
Dave King, Apple UK and
Jon Covington Apple Inc.

14. 14
Steve Jobs
Apple UK moved to Eastman Way,
Hemel Hempstead, where Steve Jobs,
Mike Spindler (Apple Inc.) and Richard
Haas (Apple Europe) would come over
to the UK, gather us in the staff canteen,
and talk to us!! Although ‘ultimately’ the
company portrayed a ‘Jeans Culture’
Steve dressed in sharp, double breasted
suits and wore a bow tie and colourful
braces. At 27 years old, he had a mature
persona, it was fascinating listening to
him convey his stories, advice and ideas
on what we were going to do next!!
By the summer of 1983, rumours of the
Apple Macintosh were now turning into
reality, shipments of early models, empty
cases for photographic purposes plus
hardware components and software
were sent to us for UK development.
Mike Spindler

15. 15
Autumn 1983
IliaisedwithJoannaHoffman,SteveJob’s
AppleMacintoshMarketingManager,inApple
Cupertino,writinganddevelopingtheUK
Macintoshbrochureandadvertisingmaterial.
FromEngland,Iwouldwaittill5.00pmUKtime,
phoneJoannaasitwouldbeabout9.00am
UStime,andask hertosendovervarious
marketingmaterials.UsingthePostOffice
airmailsystemandTelex,shewouldsendme
heapsoftransparenciesandsuggestedtext
–thesedayswewouldn’tthinktwiceabout
emailingthemwithinseconds.
IntheUK,wefeltthattheAmericanbrochure
didn’tconveytheMacmessagedirectlyenough
toappealtoaBritishaudience.TheUSfront
coverdisplayedaMacbeingliftedfromacase,
withthemessage‘Ofthe235millionpeoplein
America,onlyafractioncanuseacomputer’.
ThiswouldnothaveworkedintheUK.
JoannaHoffman

16. 16
Christmas 1983
We preferred a more ‘simple and
direct’ approach: ‘If you can point, you
can use a Macintosh’. This instantly
conveyed how ‘user friendly’ the Mac
is and available for everyone. With this
title in mind I wrote and designed the
first Apple UK Macintosh brochure,
using on the front cover, a combination
of photographs to reflect the message,
superimposing 3 photographs on top
of one another. Adobe Photoshop
didn’t exist then!
The inside pages directly compared IBM
with Apple Mac technology, showing
how pointing and clicking on ‘icons’ was
far more user friendly than keying in
complex command codes.

17. 17
January 1984
At a London theatre the
Apple Macintosh was
launched in late January
1984 portraying the iconic
1984 advert directed by
Ridley Scott which we, as
a marketing department,
assisted in its production.
1984

18. 18
Vertical Marketing
remains as
a powerful
marketing tool
Following the launch of the Apple
Macintosh, it became apparent that
‘Vertical Marketing’ was fundamental in
developing sales.
The Apple Macintosh, with its ability
to produce clear fonts on screen using
black on white graphics, was ideal for
the design, advertising, printing and
publishing industry. During the mid
80’s, programs like Aldus Pagemaker
and Adobe Illustrator were being
rapidly developed to work with the
Apple Desktop Laser Printer - and the
term, ‘What you see is what you get’
was coined.
What you see is
what you get!

19. 19
Software
Development
As the Apple Macintosh product
developed so did the software,
establishing the Mac in the marketplace
and revolutionising the newspaper, book,
publishing, graphic design, advertising
and photographic industries. Gone
were the traditional skills required to
create artwork, film and plates, the
Mac automated artwork production,
connecting directly to imagesetters,
eradicating the use of rubilith masking
film, or the need for manually stripping-
in four colour scan sets to create
photographic images.
No other PC manufacturer compared to
this during the mid 80’s.

20. 20
Apple Macintosh
Today!
Today, although the original principle
is the same, pointing and clicking icons,
the present Apple Macs have moved on
considerably, the screen becoming much
larger, with a flatter metal body, and the
electronics much more powerful.
Software has become highly
sophisticated with Quark Xpress, the
Adobe Creative Suite and most recently
‘Online Artwork Creation’ software,
helping customers save time and money
on artwork production and giving them
greater control.

21. 21
Conclusion
From 1976 to present day, I have to thank Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula,
Mike and Stephen Brewer. They were the pioneers and risk takers. We also need to
reconise Apple’s employees who’ve come and gone, plus the huge dealer network that
evolved in the US and Europe, they have contributed to history, helping to create one of
the world’s most iconic brands and a digital age as we know it today.
Apple’s success has been due to its ‘revolutionary’ approach towards technology. It could
be described as being: daring, risky, pioneering, even crazy and sometimes painful, but
it got there, becoming bigger than IBM, a company which had a turnover larger than the
Gross National Product of Australia in 1982.
Let’s hope the present management team can and will continue to apply this revolutionary
spirit, because they certainly now have the resource.
All it needs is vision, imagination, determination and a yearning to be different!

22. 22
Gary Potter
Maximising sales by marketing
Gary Potter graduated from De Montford University in 1977, with a 2.1 BA Hons Degree
in Industrial Design (Engineering).
He worked for JCB Sales, in their Marketing Department, and then for Apple Computer
(UK) Limited, helping to establish Apple PC’s in the UK and later launching the Apple
Macintosh in 1984. After Steve Jobs left the company, Gary moved over to Pirelli UK as
Marketing Manager for their retail garage servicing, and fleet tyre divisions.
In 1995, Gary formed his own design, artwork and marketing company which is still
flourishing today.
Gary believes in keeping technology at the forefront of his business helping to maximise
quality in design and print, combined with optimum efficiency, while keeping costs down.
Gary helps charity organisations around the West Midlands, and is a Trustee of Central
Youth Theatre. He also edits and designs his local Church magazine.
If you wish to contact him: Tel: +44 (0)121 569 7785
www.clik.uk.com
gary potter@sizzleonline
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/gary-potter-86887032