Are iPod ads now part of pop culture?

As I mentioned before, I'm presently in LA and will be driving back up to San Francisco this weekend before going home on Monday. (sorry family) It made me think of the 5 hour drive and how many billboards I've seen so far in California of iPod ads.

Apple's marketing for iPods has been remarkably consistent. A single figure, in silhouette against a vibrant background with those iconic white headphones easily recognizable (more so, than say the model of iPod the figure is using.) In the talks I've given around the world, I've shared Flickr and other photographs taken by fans of Apple's outdoor advertising. I'm amazed how many photographs people take of the ads used in Shanghai to London to Berlin to Boston and how they are identical.

For more than 3 years now, Apple has stuck with this campaign and has - in effect - created an emotional response in the viewer on par with say the Coke or Starbucks logo. You see those iPod ads, and if you are a customer, you take some small sense of ownership knowing you are one of those hip, energetic individuals in that billboard. That shadow is you.

Comments

[Perry Clease]

I am starting to see copycat ads using a person in silhouette. Not ads for personal music devices, but for all sorts of other stuff

Quite a successful ad campaign.

[Scotty]

One of your better posts... It's insights like this that keep me coming back. Keep up the good work Steve.

[Joel Fagin]

"That shadow is you."

The less detail on an image of a person, the more completely people will put themselves into the picture's shoes. This is normally something that comes up with simplified cartoony images (Tintin, for example, has a face not much more complex than an internet smiley) however I expect it applies to silhouettes as well. Your subconscious fills in the blanks with yourself.

[Barry Wolfert]

I agree that the iPod ads and billboards are unique and very impactful. It amazes me that Apple or Chiat for the matter has not been able to come up with a Mac campaign with the same level of impact.

The Mac vs PC commercials were good and funy - for a while. But you can only berate the opposition for so long before you alienate them.

Long before there were iPods, Mac users felt that the Mac was a part of them - a creative extension like a musician feels about their instrument. Apple has never been able to communicate this to the non-converted - in my opinion.