How Apple Mastered the Art of Contextual Ads

Over the last two years, Apple has been trying to figure out the right way for the brand to live in online advertising. They couldn’t seem to get comfortable with the constraints of the online world; where the Internet can be a cluttered place and ads can get lost in the chaos. Most banner ads were small spaces on pages that were easily tuned out and ignored. It made the brand question how Apple could be Apple online?

They had to challenge the conventions of online. To do so they tried an experiment. Apple worked with a few big sites and asked them to allow Apple to try a whole new way of doing ads.

Apple wanted custom sized units – really nice ‘real estate’ where they wouldn’t get ignored. They wanted the units to work together as one idea that interacted with each other. And they wanted placement on pages where editorial content was relevant to the ad topic. 100% share of voice was needed on each website which meant in some cases, even on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, redesigning the site itself, and also the way in which they placed ads. All this was precisely the kind of challenge that Media Arts Lab, Apple’s communication partner, was designed to take on.

Apple wanted to treat online with the same intention they have for TV: go big or don’t go at all. They wanted to feel present. Even while Apple knew this flies in the face of how people typically use online – where the ability to be niche to every audiences is part of its power. But the Apple brand didn’t need that. They needed that iconic, ever present feeling that the rest of Apple’s media has.

With new terms in the works, they created specific ads coming from the Mac and PC campaign: “Sign” and “Quote”.

The experiment paid off. Apple found a way to be Apple online — where the presence was noticed, the execution elegant. And the online audience seem to agree. Many people posted and many others watched the ads on YouTube which meant they achieved as much ‘earned’ media as they did paid media. “Sign” had over 700 thousand You Tube views alone. These ads are being lauded for their approach to a medium that isn’t typically very artful.

Source: MyTBWA – corporate TBWA Intranet

April 25, 2008 | Filed Under creativity, marcom 

Comments

One Response to “How Apple Mastered the Art of Contextual Ads”

  1. hjarald agnes on June 26th, 2008 %I:%M %p

    interesting! advertising on the net is indeed a different piece of cake. i like the apple attitude.
    hjarald agnes / connec2.org

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