IPod advertising

Apple has used a variety of advertising campaigns to promote its iPod portable digital media player. The campaigns include television commercials, print ads, posters in public places, and wrap advertising campaigns. These advertising techniques are unified by a distinctive, consistent style that differs from Apple's other ads.

The very first advert for the first iPod (only compatible with Macs) featured a man in his room grooving to his digital music collection on his Apple iBook. He drags his music to his iPod, closes his laptop, and plugs in the ear phones. He hits play and the music increases its volume. He then dances and hops around the room, then puts on his jacket, sliding the iPod into the pocket. He dances to the door and leaves the room. The song used was "Take California" by the Propellerheads, which became the hallmark of all subsequent advertisements.

One of the problems, noted Apple ad agency creative director Ken Segall, was the use of what he termed a 'real person.' Steve Jobs, he stated, avoided using people in his ads because it was difficult to find an actor who appealed to everyone. Another problem was that, "It was somewhat uncomfortable to watch, and on the web some started to refer to it as the iCloud commercial...it was a young guy trying to act cool, and doing so in a fairly pitiful way".

Susan Alinsangan, a Chiat/Day art director, came up with the design of the iPod silhouette commercials in 2003, along with the help of Chiat/Day's director Lee Clow, and James Vincent, a former DJ and musician. She worked on the print campaign with artist Casey Leveque of Santa Monica's Rocket Studio

The silhouette advertising campaign featured dark silhouetted characters against brightly colored backgrounds. They were usually dancing and, in television commercials, backed by up-beat, energetic music. The silhouetted dancers held iPods while listening to them with Apple's supplied earphones. The iPods and earphones appeared in white to stand out against the colored background and black silhouettes. Apple changed the style of these commercials often depending on the song's theme or genre. "It had a hook that was really was captivating and didn't try to impress us with the coolness of any particular person. Instead, it did what Apple does best: it created an iconic image, which immediately came to communicate Apple and iPod."

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