Apple starts work on iPhone 5 ad spots, won't finish till October - sources

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Apple on the west coast has begun production of ad spots for a national advertising campaign that will back its most high-profile iPhone launch to date, but completion of those spots isn't slated until early October, AppleInsider has learned.



More specifically, one person familiar with the matter says that filming for the television spots is taking place out in Los Angeles in conjunction with the iPhone maker's long-time ad agency TBWAChiatDay.



However, a second person with a proven track record notes that the production schedules for the first-run campaign isn't slated to wrap up until the middle of the first week of October.



While the most recent media reports have suggested that Apple will introduce the iPhone 5 alongside a cheaper 8GB iPhone 4 in late September, the timing of the associated ad spots would appear to lend support to earlier claims that device will not officially hit the market until the following month.



In particular, one report from BGR last week cited an anonymous AT&T executive as making statements to that end. The exec reportedly advised team members that things would get "really, really busy in the next 35-50 days," with the iPhone 5 slated to be introduced at a late September event and ahead of availability slated for early October.



A similar report from TiPb pinpointed October 7th as a tentative launch date, which it reported was recently bumped up from October 14th. AppleInsider now believes that both dates remain likely candidates for the official launch given what's known about the Cupertino-based company's logistics.



It's not unusual for Apple to begin filming its iPhone ad spots more than a month before it plans to begin selling the handsets. Last year, the Cupertino-based company began piecing together its first iPhone 4 commercials for the device's FaceTime feature in late May, ahead of the handset's June 24th launch.



Two years earlier, AppleInsider detailed in a series (1, 2) of reports the production of the first iPhone 3G commercial roughly five weeks before the second-generation model hit the market on July 11th, 2008.



Apple's first iPhone 3G spot was filmed 5 weeks in advance.



For that spot, Apple rented Warner Bros. Stage 26 out in Los Angeles -- famed for its use during the filming of "The Perfect Storm" -- where it constructed a full-scale replica of an Apple retail store interior.



The finalized spot portrayed two CIA-type individuals trekking through the halls of a high tech building carrying an aluminum case. After a series of mundane corridors, they arrive at an Apple Store Genius Bar where they opened the case to reveal the iPhone 3G.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    This rumor is starting to sprout legs. Maybe something will ship in October...

    So are we back to calling it "iPhone 5"???
  • Reply 2 of 24
    Did you feel that East Coast earthquake at 1:50pm? That was actually an iPhone 5 teaser.
  • Reply 3 of 24
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Go Banana View Post


    Did you feel that East Coast earthquake at 1:50pm? That was actually an iPhone 5 teaser.



    Pretty unremarkable...
  • Reply 4 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrDoppio View Post


    Pretty unremarkable...



    Maybe it was iPhone 4S.
  • Reply 5 of 24
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member
    Apple won't even need an ad campaign when the next iPhone is released. They'll be selling them faster than they can make them even without any TV presence whatsoever. So, running ads a few weeks after the next iPhone is released would make a lot of sense.
  • Reply 6 of 24
    cvaldes1831cvaldes1831 Posts: 1,832member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    This rumor is starting to sprout legs. Maybe something will ship in October...

    So are we back to calling it "iPhone 5"???



    I don't think the name was really in doubt by the most reasonable people.



    Steve is going to get up on stage and announce the iPhone 5, with the A5 chip, running iOS 5.



    It's simple and elegant. And we all know how much Steve values simplicity.



    He's not going to call it anything else. And guess who has the last say about marketing decisions at Apple?
  • Reply 7 of 24
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cvaldes1831 View Post


    I don't think the name was really in doubt by the most reasonable people.



    Steve is going to get up on stage and announce the iPhone 5, with the A5 chip, running iOS 5.



    It's simple and elegant. And we all know how much Steve values simplicity.



    He's not going to call it anything else. And guess who has the last say about marketing decisions at Apple?



    You're not considering the longterm marketing. Just like the 2nd iPhone running an ARMv6 ARM11 chip and iPhone OS 2.0 was called the iPhone 3G, it's also possible they want the simplicity to fall on the core marketing nomenclature on trying to tie every numerical value into the same product. If the next iPhone has HSPA+ and/or LTE they may call it iPhone 4G to compete with the '4G' marketing from other carriers and vendors. That's simple, too. If they are going for a world mode device this year and '4G' next year they might call this one iPhone 4W and the next one iPhone 4G. That's also simple. It all depends on what focus on simplicity you wish to employ at any one time to maximize profits. IOW, it's not that simple.
  • Reply 8 of 24
    joelsaltjoelsalt Posts: 827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    You're not considering the longterm marketing. Just like the 2nd iPhone running an ARMv6 ARM11 chip and iPhone OS 2.0 was called the iPhone 3G, it's also possible they want the simplicity to fall on the core marketing nomenclature on trying to tie every numerical value into the same product. If the next iPhone has HSPA+ and/or LTE they may call it iPhone 4G to compete with the '4G' marketing from other carriers and vendors. That's simple, too. If they are going for a world mode device this year and '4G' next year they might call this one iPhone 4W and the next one iPhone 4G. That's also simple. It all depends on what focus on simplicity you wish to employ at any one time to maximize profits. IOW, it's not that simple.



    And if its not 4G, and they call it 5, and the next [6] IS 4G, you can't go back to iPhone 4G from 5, but you COULD go from 4S to 4G, although that, too, seems clumbsy.
  • Reply 9 of 24
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joelsalt View Post


    And if its not 4G, and they call it 5, and the next [6] IS 4G, you can't go back to iPhone 4G from 5, but you COULD go from 4S to 4G, although that, too, seems clumbsy.



    I should have explained that marketing point better. Thanks.
  • Reply 10 of 24
    omoomo Posts: 31member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joelsalt View Post


    And if its not 4G, and they call it 5, and the next [6] IS 4G, you can't go back to iPhone 4G from 5, but you COULD go from 4S to 4G, although that, too, seems clumbsy.





    For marketing, count me firmly in the iPhone 5 camp. Perhaps 4S for the modified 4 (a la 3GS, especially if it gets the A5 as well).



    Regarding comments about calling it 4G if it's LTE capable, to me that seems too much of 'specsmanship'. Current "4G" networks aren't true LTE anyways. And aren't globally commonplace. And this will be the most global iphone launch thus far, particularly if it launches in China.



    And I suspect that Apple views network specs much as they do hardware specs. If it's not something entirely unique to them (e.g., retina display), they'd rather not play the specs game. What's important is the end user experience (including cloud and ecosystem).



    So I agree with the iPhone 5, with A5, and iOS5 (even if it is 4G capable, which I doubt it will be). I wouldn't be surprised if the new 4 was rebranded as 4s, though.



    I guess we'll all know in a few weeks!
  • Reply 11 of 24
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joelsalt View Post


    And if its not 4G, and they call it 5, and the next [6] IS 4G, you can't go back to iPhone 4G from 5, but you COULD go from 4S to 4G, although that, too, seems clumbsy.



    You're thinking like the other companies, not Apple. Apple isn't chasing specs, so I doubt we'll see an iPhone 4G or an iPhone LTE. The other companies will market garbage like "The 16 GB 1 GHZ Android Maxium 4G LTE With Google And Flash. Apple will sell an iPhone 5.



    Dead simple.



    Geeks like you and me know about CDMA, LTE, blah blah blah. Marketing to us is a waste of time since we know the specs inside and out before seeing the first ad, and we know whether or not we're going to buy one before we even touch one.
  • Reply 12 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 2oh1 View Post


    Apple won't even need an ad campaign when the next iPhone is released. They'll be selling them faster than they can make them even without any TV presence whatsoever. So, running ads a few weeks after the next iPhone is released would make a lot of sense.



    I completely agree with you, but then again if Apple were to take this route, you would make all those precious advertisers lose lots of business
  • Reply 13 of 24
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joelsalt View Post


    And if its not 4G, and they call it 5, and the next [6] IS 4G, you can't go back to iPhone 4G from 5, but you COULD go from 4S to 4G, although that, too, seems clumbsy.



    My vote is for "iPhone 4'ish"
  • Reply 14 of 24
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    iPhone

    iPhone 3G (telephony)

    iPhone 3GS (highlighting increased processor speed)

    iPhone 4 (4th model)

    iPhone 5 (5th model)

    iPhone 6 ("Our fastest iPhone ever; now with LTE")



    I'm liking this idea.
  • Reply 15 of 24
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,153member
    Off-topic, but a quick question. Is anyone else seeing a malware warning (from Google) when trying to view page 4 of this thread? Supposedly showing content originating from YangMobiles.com, a know malware distributor



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=130771
  • Reply 16 of 24
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by accessoriesguy View Post


    I completely agree with you, but then again if Apple were to take this route, you would make all those precious advertisers lose lots of business



    You might have misunderstood my point. I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone 5 goes on sale before iPhone 5 ads are ready to air. Admittedly, that might be a bit of wishful thinking on my part.



    I wonder what sort of offer AT&T will have for iPhone 4 owners who want to upgrade. I bought my iPhone 4 the morning they went on sale. I waited in those crazy long lines and didn't regret it... but I DID learn that, next time, I'll probably just buy it online and have it shipped. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll probably be an idiot and wait in line again. Ah well. At least I can be honest about it.
  • Reply 17 of 24
    dunksdunks Posts: 1,254member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    iPhone

    iPhone 3G (telephony)

    iPhone 3GS (highlighting increased processor speed)

    iPhone 4 (4th model)

    iPhone 5 (5th model)

    iPhone 6 ("Our fastest iPhone ever; now with LTE")



    I'm liking this idea.



    I'm backing this approach.
  • Reply 18 of 24
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member
    Although TV ads and music videos are laborious projects,does it really take 1.5 months to shoot a single ad? If it is indeed true that shooting will not be completed till October, would it not be for multiple ads, not just one?



    If you look at typical iDevice ads, they are never based on a single location, but are rather a montage of scenes with the device in use. Perhaps they are simply shooting a catalogue of such scenes and then choosing which ones to splice together for each ad? If memory serves, the ads start running after the day of release, rather than after the show-n-tell. So timing sounds about right in more ways than one?
  • Reply 19 of 24
    omoomo Posts: 31member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 2oh1 View Post


    You might have misunderstood my point. I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone 5 goes on sale before iPhone 5 ads are ready to air. Admittedly, that might be a bit of wishful thinking on my part.



    I wonder what sort of offer AT&T will have for iPhone 4 owners who want to upgrade. I bought my iPhone 4 the morning they went on sale. I waited in those crazy long lines and didn't regret it... but I DID learn that, next time, I'll probably just buy it online and have it shipped. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll probably be an idiot and wait in line again. Ah well. At least I can be honest about it.





    I agree. Apple will get a lot of free press following their big announcement (which could come a couple of weeks before the new product is shipping). They don't really need to start TV ads on Day 1 because it will already be all over "news" programs, etc. And then again when product hits the shelves and there are long lines...



    So potentially, we could see the announcement in late Sept, with product shipping in early Oct and TV ads starting mid Oct.
  • Reply 20 of 24
    cgjcgj Posts: 276member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stelligent View Post


    Although TV ads and music videos are laborious projects,does it really take 1.5 months to shoot a single ad? If it is indeed true that shooting will not be completed till October, would it not be for multiple ads, not just one?



    If you look at typical iDevice ads, they are never based on a single location, but are rather a montage of scenes with the device in use. Perhaps they are simply shooting a catalogue of such scenes and then choosing which ones to splice together for each ad? If memory serves, the ads start running after the day of release, rather than after the show-n-tell. So timing sounds about right in more ways than one?



    The chances are that they are filming a series of separate iPhone ads, and possibly even the white-screen introductory video. Like with the iPad adverts, the chances are that they were all filmed within days of each other, and just released at other times.
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