“School teacher George Masters has the marketing world abuzz with a homemade ad for Apple Computer’s iPod that is rapidly ‘going viral.’ To some experts, Masters’ ad heralds the future of advertising. Homemade ads will play a big part in marketing, just like blogging is shaking up the news,” Leander Kahney writes for Wired News.
“Masters’ 60-second animated ad features flying iPods, pulsing hearts and swirling ’70s psychedelia. It’s set to the beat of ‘Tiny Machine’ by ’80s pop band the Darling Buds. Masters quietly posted the spot to his site a few weeks ago. It received moderate traffic until it was picked up by several blogs last week. In a matter of days, the ad has been watched more than 37,000 times, and is making the rounds on blogs and e-mail,” Kahney writes.
Kahney writes, “The ad has caught the attention of marketers, who praise its professional production values and say it’s one of the first “pure” advertisements seen on the internet. Though homemade ads are nothing new, most are parodies, protests or political commentaries,” Kahney writes. “Bruce Rubel, a vice president at New York PR agency CooperKatz and author of the Micro Persuasion web log, said evangelistic customers like Masters will increasingly play a role in marketing. ‘It’s a sign that consumers want to have a role in promoting a product they love,’ he said. ‘There’s a real trend toward consumer-generated media. People are creating news, they’re blogging. People will create marketing as well. This guy is a great example.'”
“‘It’s customer evangelism,’ he added. ‘It’s not going to happen for every company, only those with a passion. The Mac platform, and the iPod, have created a core following, a customer passion. People want to spread the love.’ He added, ‘The question is, what will the marketers do? Some will embrace it but some will shun it…. I hope (Masters) gets a job in Apple’s marketing department. He certainly deserves it. But I’m surprised Apple hasn’t shut it down. They can be very persnickety about their brand and trademarks,'” Kahney writes.
Full article here.
Links to the ad (QuickTime required) here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple should hold ‘The $1,000,000 Apple Macintosh Ad Contest’ – July 24, 2003
Nice job. I don’t think I’d go as far as saying it was award winning, but it was pretty cool.
I’ve said before, I think Apple should have a contest where the task is for amateurs to build a Mac OS X commercial on their Macs using Apple software. The winner gets a boatload of Apple products and Apple gets a cheap ad, but also it would show what you can do with your Mac.
amazing. good song, too. what is it?
Critique,
A bit harsh aren’t you. This work is pretty damn good as a first pass comp. Hell… it could even be a 3rd rev. What you have to realize is that the ads that Apple come up with go through 50 or more revision changes and are criticized by a group of Creative and Art Directors. they also cost $$$. Give this piece a few more iterations and it would look pretty damn professional. I give it a B+.
Chill.
I believe Apple could put this add on TV with a subscript at the end, “made by a Mac fan on his Macintosh computer in his spare time for fun.”
Coolkamio,
If you go to his web site, http://www.georgemasters.com, it lists the information of what hardware and software he used to make it.
The following link will work
http://www.georgemasters.com
gRen:
A bit harsh, no. After all it’s a critique. It’s a good amateur ad. It should be viewed as what it is. An intriguing attempt at showing a consumer’s exuberance for a product. But to say it’s great, this guy deserves a job in Apple’s Marketing department and Apple should run it is just wrong. This spot wouldn’t make it thru Apple’s focus groups. It’s not creative (the 60’s theme), lacks a focus and more importantly violates too much of Apple’s branding strategy. Granted with some professional marketing insight and animation direction, his “comp” could be improved upon but it certainly wouldn’t be anywhere near “Cleo” material which is the level of Apple’s advertising.
For even more of critiques thoughts on art, check him out at http://maddox.xmission.com/irule.html
While I really like the ad, i think he did a wonderful job, I don’t think it’s up to apple standards. I think it’s really great for anything other than apple, but what apple sells isn’t the ipod, it’s the lifestyle, and that is reflected in all of apple’s marketing.
If you look at the current ads now, they don’t even show the ipod. The show anonymous people enjoying using their ipod. Plus they leave it a blank canvass so you can imagine yourself freed the way these dancers are.
I think it’s a really great ad, and it should be commended. But i think that it’s a bit bullish to say that apple should use and promote this ad. It’s not selling the same thing that apple. Products are just products, but lifestyles last forever.
Apple does not sell product, but experience with it and lifestyle.
Great ad!
Apple doesn’t need to pick up on this – its all being done for them.. we’re all watching it aren’t we? And we’ll tell others. And it’ll get more viewers than they could ever get putting it on television.
I think they owe this guy one though..
rogozhin
For even more of critiques thoughts on art, check him out at http://maddox.xmission.com/irule.html
Excellent! Thanks for a good laugh!
fandango
Hey TM,
That ‘Ogg and the cave men’ comment (for inventing ‘fire’ and ‘the wheel’)…
That *still* cracks me up. Thanx, again.
Sure thing.
It’s really sad that it takes a home video to make the perfect iPod mini commerical. Apple commericals are nothing but “inside jokes” that only Mac and iPod users understand. That ad was a beautiful piece of work.