iPod — a Thousand Songs in Your Pocket

The Apple iTunes debuted in January 2001, followed by the iPod, in late 2001. The iPod was a big hit as the then MP3 players were difficult to operate and had little storage space.

Without a question, the iPod was a fantastic product. However, the product’s popularity was aided greatly by its advertising.

The first film depicted a man enjoying music from his digital library on his iBook. He transfers his music to his iPod. When he presses the play button, the volume of the song rises. He then dances around the room before slipping his iPod into his jacket pocket. He dances out of the door. The tune featured was the Propellerheads’ “Take California,” which became the theme of all future advertising.

“iPod; a thousand songs in your pocket.” was the slug.

iPod advertising’s success was due in large part to its simplicity. A brief tagline and simple, straightforward message provided all of the information needed to grasp what the iPod is about.

There were however issues. The usage of a ‘real person,’ was one. Jobs avoided employing people in his advertisements because finding an actor who appealed to everyone was tough. It was slightly amateurish, and online some began to refer to it, as the “iClod” commercial.

Silhouette style
In 2003, Chiat/Day’s Susan Alinsangan, an art director, collaborated with Lee Clow and James Vincent, a former DJ and musician, to develop the iPod silhouette films and with Rocket Studio’s Casey Leveque in Santa Monica for the print campaign.

Dark silhouetted figures stood out against brilliantly coloured backdrops. They were generally dancing and, in television commercials, were accompanied by upbeat, lively music. The silhouetted dancers wore earbuds and listened to their iPods. To contrast against the colourful background and black silhouettes, the iPods and earbuds were white.

It didn’t try to impress with any person’s coolness. Instead, it generated an iconic picture that became synonymous with Apple and the iPod almost instantly.”

When the Silhouette campaign was initially shown to Steve Jobs, he didn’t like it. He wasn’t sure the silhouettes would work because they didn’t show or explain what the iPods were for. The Chiat Day team had to work hard to convince Steve, and copywriter James Vincent proposed adding the slogan “1,000 tunes in your pocket.” Steve Jobs decided to proceed with it. He subsequently claimed that the famous commercials were his idea.

Apple benefited from this huge shift. The focus of the Silhouette campaign, unlike earlier Apple advertising switched from a product focus to urging them to “buy the emotion.” The contrast between the white of the iPod plus earbuds and the black of the silhouette and the bright backdrops served to cement the iPod’s reputation as an icon. The white earbuds became a symbol for the iPod as a whole.

FOR THE FIRST FILM & MORE visit blog — https://onlykutts.com/index.php/2021/07/30/ipod-a-thousand-songs-in-your-pocket/