Competition: Global Effie Awards
Ran in: United States China France Singapore
Category: Electronics
Brand/Client: Apple Apple Inc.
Lead Agency: TBWA\Media Arts Lab OMD (Los Angeles)
Product/Service: Mobile Phone
Classification: Multi-national
Dates Effort Ran: Mar. 2, 2015 – Oct. 31, 2015 September 2014 Apple launched iPhone 6, a new form factor, with a stunning success. Post launch we wanted something iPhone could own to continue its momentum. iPhone 6's camera had become its most loved feature, but the category convention was to talk about cameras in megapixels. We disrupted the category by focusing on the result; the incredible photos and videos being captured with
the device. By doing so "World Gallery", the world's largest mobile photography gallery, celebrated iPhoneographers around the globe, while raising the bar and changing the category conversation.
Version: Original
Executive Summary Processor speeds, screen resolution, battery life, expandable storage, camera pixels. These are the practical and quantifiable features smartphone manufacturers around the world use to sell their devices to consumers. They highlight these features in isolation of the people using them, hoping impressive numbers and very specific functions will convince people to buy. After the success of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch, we wanted something iPhone could own to continue its momentum. When we looked to understand what people loved about iPhone and how they were using it, we found that users weren't talking about the technology that makes up iPhone 6; instead, they were flooding social media and websites with the photos and videos they were capturing. The best testment to the quality of the camera is sharing the output and we discovered an opportunity to focus on the most important component of Apple's technology: the users. 'World Gallery' is a celebration of the world's most popular camera that inspired iPhone owners to take more photos and challenged the non- iPhone owners to think about the capabilities of their smartphone camera. As a result, the campaign kept iPhone 6 top of mind six months after the launch, inspired iPhone users to not just take more pictures, but to share more pictures, and kept stimulating its sales despite being more expensive than the previous models.
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State of the Marketplace & Brand’s Business
It’s January 2015, following the global launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The sales numbers have stunned the media, Wall Street and consumers alike, making the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Apple’s most successful product launch ever. But the smartphone category moves fast. Therein lies the question: beyond launch how can we keep it exciting? To better understand the challenge, these were the conventions defining the category globally: Chasing after the next “new”. New product launches now happen throughout the year - each heavily pushing its own campaign window by touting the latest and greatest. It is upgrade culture at its most extreme. An unending war on techs and specs. Processor speed, screen resolution, battery life, expandable storage, camera pixels. This is the language of the category. Brands have trained people to compare products based on what they can see on the spec sheet – not the experience. “All smartphones are good enough, so why pay more?” Competition is rife. The perceived difference between smartphones on a spec- by-spec basis is shrinking. How can iPhone command its premium and stand out as it should? Apple’s playbook is everyone’s playbook. Technology brands have started to try to look and talk like Apple; with keynote, product intro video, and advertising. iPhone's market share in each of our 4 mentioned countries varied depending on the length in market, pricing, retail presence ...etc. However, the category conventions we were facing were similar since in terms of consumers' share of mind it was 'iPhone vs everyone else'. Rather than being swayed on the small differences by market, we focused on the similarities. Because having one unified and compelling message around the world is what makes Apple Apple.
Strategic Communications Challenge Historically, every September, a new iPhone is announced. Around this moment, the world is inherently interested. Tech rumors, mainstream media and consumer excitement all go into overdrive, earning iPhone a disproportionate share of culture. But after the holidays, competitors start to launch newer products in market and people may hold out for a later, newer iPhone in September. We were looking for a way to maintain the excitement around the iPhone 6. Shifting from proof points to passion points We needed to find something that iPhone could own and grow throughout the whole year, outside of product news. Something people care about, could rally around and be part of. To win the smartphone game, you need a winning camera The camera has become iPhone 6’s most talked-about and loved feature [#1 feature mentioned in Q4 2014. source: Netbase English only]. But it is also becoming the new battleground in the smartphone buying process [top 3 smartphone purchase driver. source: Kantar, Q1 2015 US]. But cameras are measured in megapixels People have been erroneously trained by the category to look to megapixels as the main indicator of camera quality, but to Apple this is just one of the many factors that ultimately contribute to the final image a camera is able to produce. We had to change the way people viewed and talked about the value of a smartphone camera.
Audience Digging into behaviors around the camera, we unearthed a photography community unlike any other. We found all kinds of people – from casual Instagrammers to professional photographers – sharing their iPhone shots in many international and local photo-sharing platforms - from Instagram, Flickr to Weibo. Audience 1: iPhone 6 photographers. In them, we’d found a fire already burning – our goal was to inspire them to push the limits of this popular camera even more. Audience 2: iPhone upgraders and non-iPhone owners. We wanted them to reconsider the output of whatever device they had in their pockets and be inspired by the photos and videos they encountered around the world through this campaign.
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Objectives & KPI’s We identified three ways to invigorate iPhone in Q2 across all countries: buzz, behavior and sales. Buzz - keep iPhone in culture and top-of-mind Our benchmark was Q4 2014 when iPhone 6 launched. Sustain or surpass the level of buzz in each market vs the ‘Bigger than Bigger’ campaign with Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon in the US and local equivalent celebrities in other markets [measured by Netbase/ PR Newswire]
Behavior - get people to rethink what they’re capable of, take more pictures and inspire others Setting the benchmark to the pre-campaign period for each market, we wanted to challenge ideas about where great photography can come from and inspire people, not to just take more pictures, but to share more pictures – inspiring others to do the same: Spark conversation around 'iPhone' and 'photography' which will Inspire more iPhone users to take and share pictures during the campaign [measured by Netbase/ PR Newswire] Grow engagement of the "ShotoniPhone" behavior on Instagram during the campaign [measured by Instagram]
Sales – stimulate people to buy the iPhone 6 during the campaign First benchmark was iPhone 5 in Q2 2013 - the last big launch with a new form factor and bigger screen. This would be especially difficult given that the average sale price of a new iPhone had jumped from $696 in Q2 2013 to $744 in Q2 2015 on a global average [source IDC]. The second benchmark was the total smartphone market growth in each market during Q2 2015, the key phase of the campaign. Grow flagship [latest] iPhone volume in Q2 [measured by IDC] Grow iPhone portfolio volume in Q2 [measured by IDC]
Insight Megapixels don’t make amazing pictures, people do. Apple is different than other technology brands. They’ve always held up the human side of technology – in their products, experiences and communication. We’d often seen that Apple’s users largely reflect those values – that they care more about life than technology. We wanted to dig into this hypothesis in the context of the camera. We spent time observing online behaviors – looking for greater insight into iPhone photographers, what set them apart and why they were so prolific. What we found was quite startling. We discovered that when talking about cameras, iPhone users preferred showing the output of their device instead of talking about the technology of its camera. They were proud to share a time-lapse video they captured of a sunset or a still shot of their friend skateboarding, but didn’t even feel the need to talk about aperture, megapixels or frames rates. They also had an entirely different vocabulary to Android owners. While Android owners favored tech talk like “megapixels”, iPhone owners instead preferred to marvel at the output of the camera – using superlatives like “amazing” and “great” [source: Netbase/ English only].
The Big Idea Prove the superior quality of iPhone 6 camera by showing the amazing photos people take with it and turn the world into a gallery.
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Evolution of the Big Idea To maintain the continuity and integrity of our global campaign, each photo was carefully vetted and selected for its specific markets. As detailed in the next section, the surrounding environment of the sites was carefully considered along with the seasonality, in order to deliver highly contextual local relevancy and maximum impact. Also, we ensured featured local photographers were prioritized for their respective markets. For print, we matched key images with the genre of the titles, which varied market by market. For Singapore where August 9th, 2015, was Singapore’s 50th anniversary, we celebrated this special occasion by featuring a photo taken on an iPhone 6 by a Singaporean of its famous landmark.
Bringing the Idea to Life Creating a real life ‘World Gallery’ Most of the amazing photos and videos we saw were viewed in in small screens on laptops, tablets or smartphones; however, based on the power of the iPhone, and the quality and the creativity of the iPhone users, these deserved to be broken free from the constrains of the small screens and shown to the world at large. We combed through tens of thousands of images on social sites and selected photos and videos from nearly 200 photographers to curate the world’s largest mobile photography art gallery in history. Think, look, talk and act like a real gallery [not an ad campaign] In the spirit of the idea, we borrowed all the behavior and vernacular of a real gallery. This was about getting out of the way - letting the photos shine and not the product. Everything featured in the gallery was non-commissioned and user-created – curated from the web and exhibited around the world. Born social, not made social We did not force any social mechanics like hashtags, handles and promos into the work. We let the photographers be the engine of the social conversations.
Media curation, not media buying. It was important for us to carefully match the handpicked photos and video with the right media environments to enhance their environments. Communication touchpoints: OOH – Beautify the world. We found the most iconic media placements and the ones that would allow the work to feel like a gallery. Images were “hung” strategically to add something to the physical environment and quite literally change the way people saw the world around them. TV – Disrupt the ad break. In keeping with the purity of the idea, we showcased users’ videos through simple 15 second spots. They were disruptive in both execution and media buy. Cinema – Steal the pre-show. The ultimate demonstration of the power of iPhone video played in the big screen. Print – Add value to the publication. Images were placed on back covers – contextually matched to publication themes to give the sense of thoughtful curation. Apple.com – Show the scale of the gallery and how they did it. Apple.com added value to the idea through simple showing all the amazing photos and what apps they used if any.
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Communication Touch Points Paid Media Expenditures
Apple’s target audience is passionate about a variety of interests. World Gallery aims September 2012 – October 2015 to reach this audience in the places they pursue those interests with their own user- United States $80 million and over created content. To emulate an actual photography gallery, we used media that is China $80 million and over tangible and lives in the real world. In both print and OOH we hand-selected and France $20 - 40 million paired each individual image with a contextual environment to bring the World Singapore $1 - 2 million Gallery to life. Every pairing contextually speaks to our target’s passion points and interests. A simultaneous launch around the globe on March 2, 2015 showed the world Average Annual Budget over Last Three Years the gallery was open. United States $80 million and over China $80 million and over France $20 - 40 million Singapore $1 - 2 million United States France Budget TV TV About the same as other competitors. Spots Spots About the same as prior year’s budget. Interactive TV/Video on Demand Interactive TV/Video on Demand Print Print Magazine – Print Magazine – Print Magazine – Digital Magazine – Digital Owned Media & Sponsorship Cinema Cinema Interactive/Online Interactive/Online Apple's corporate websites globally. Dedicated Digital Video Digital Video World Gallery page featuring full global photo & film OOH OOH set, photographer names, tips and photo editing apps.
Airport Transit Also posted the videos on the local video channels Transit Billboard Apple owned; YouTube and youku. Billboard
China Singapore TV TV Spots Spots Print Print Magazine – Print Newspaper – Print Cinema Interactive/Online Interactive/Online Digital Video Digital Video OOH OOH Airport Airport Transit Transit Billboard Billboard
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Results
Buzz - 'World Gallery' kept iPhone in culture and top of mind With no new news and/or celebrities, buzz for 'World Gallery' exceeded iPhone 6 launch campaign 'Bigger than Bigger' which was one of the most successful campaign for iPhone. [Graph 1, source : Netbase for US, France, Singapore. PR Newswire for China]
Behavior - we got people to rethink what they're capable of their smartphones and create more Compared with pre campaign, all countries saw a huge increase in people talking about 'iPhone' and 'photography' together online [Graph 2, source: Netbase for US, France, Singapore. PR Newswire for China] Engagement on Instagram for #ShotoniPhone spiked by +7,043% and #ShotoniPhone6 by +51,200% globally from to Feb to Sept of 2015. [Source: Instagram]
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Sales - stunning growth in both flagship iPhone and portfolio, against total market trend in each market iPhone flagship: stimulated by the campaign, the flagship iPhone 6 increased in all markets in Q2 '15, vs its predecessor iPhone 5 in Q2 '13. [Graph 3, source IDC] iPhone portfolio: the campaign also lifted the sales of the entire iPhone family, going up against the total market trend [Graph 4, source IDC]
Other Contributing Factors There was no promotion or price discount for the iPhone 6 happening at this time. Apple doesn’t drop prices of their flagship product during its sale cycle. Also the average sale price of the new iPhone had increased by average of $50 versus the last form factor change for iPhone 5, when the category average sale price was declining by $45 (Source : IDC, global average).
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