Apple crowds out AT&T in iPhone advertising pick

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Demonstrating the level of influence it has in the final days before the iPhone rollout, Apple will see its favorite advertising firm TBWAChiatDay take control of marketing the device, pushing aside AT&T's regular choice.



Those connected to the iPhone account have claimed that TBWA has won out in the contest for the rights to design Apple's marketing strategy for the highly anticipated handset, defeating its sister company BBDO. TBWA's Media Arts Lab will have the challenge of crafting TV ads, posters, and other creative elements.



While the precise reason for the victory remained elusive, a potentially decisive blow was said to be the firm's "Hello" ad during this year's Academy Awards, which garnered the iPhone ample attention despite a release date at least three months away.



The choice likely also has its roots in Apple's historical choices. TBWA was rehired to lead Apple's ad campaigns just as Steve Jobs returned to his company in 1997, and has been used to direct the advertising ever since -- including the Think Different campaign and the now-iconic silhouette iPod ads. Jobs is said to be a personal friend of Lee Clow, chair of TBWA and the creator of the legendary "1984" ad.



Whichever factor had played into the decision, the selection of TBWA is said to reveal the sheer extent to which Apple's opinion has swayed AT&T in the iPhone launch. Although BBDO is AT&T's preferred advertiser for its phones and services, the ad agency's connection to the cellular provider was reportedly not enough to avoid the switch to a different contractor. The company's chances may have been soured by the lackluster sales of the Motorola ROKR iTunes phone, whose ad efforts were run by BBDO.



In spite of the defeat, BBDO is still said to be vying for secondary advertising deals to fill gaps that might be left in TBWA's strategy in the wake of the iPhone's June release.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 54
    kisinkisin Posts: 14member
    First!
  • Reply 2 of 54
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Just as long as we don't have the ' I'm an iPhone and I'm a moto q phone' adds with two doofus actors. Those pc/mac adds never struck a chord with me and I'm quite tired of them.
  • Reply 3 of 54
    deapeajaydeapeajay Posts: 909member
    If Cingular is now AT&T, why does my cell phone have cingular on the screen as the network it's connected to?
  • Reply 4 of 54
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Steve Puts the A in AT&T!
  • Reply 5 of 54
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member




    This makes me happy, if given a choice between Apple's legendary Ad Agency and AT&T's favorite "Cingular is now the new AT&T" I'd take Steve's pick any day of the week. Their Ads are brilliant, inspired, well designed, and otherwise don't suck.



    I always considered Advertisers among the worlds most evil people, but these guys are the exception to that rule.



    Sebastian
  • Reply 6 of 54
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Odd 'news' item.



    What exactly is it saying? That Apple's favorite ad agency will run Apple's ads for the Apple phone? That Apple has already used them before, and are happy with them? That the manufacturer of the phone will tout it more effectively than a dealer? (See., e.g., Samsung, LG, Motorola, Nokia........)



    Am I missing something, or is this 'news' item merely stating the obvious?



  • Reply 7 of 54
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    More hype.
  • Reply 8 of 54
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay View Post


    If Cingular is now AT&T, why does my cell phone have cingular on the screen as the network it's connected to?



    I think that would mean a firmware update. It might be possible to do. Lately, the brand on my Internet router's management console changed to the new logo/name of the service provider.
  • Reply 9 of 54
    w00masterw00master Posts: 101member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slewis View Post






    This makes me happy, if given a choice between Apple's legendary Ad Agency and AT&T's favorite "Cingular is now the new AT&T" I'd take Steve's pick any day of the week. Their Ads are brilliant, inspired, well designed, and otherwise don't suck.



    I always considered Advertisers among the worlds most evil people, but these guys are the exception to that rule.



    Sebastian



    Love how you generalize. Guess you must think I'm evil. I work in Advertising.



    Bwahahahha. Evil? (Dr. Evil pose)

    w00master
  • Reply 10 of 54
    daijonesdaijones Posts: 28member
    It's an apple phone, not an AT&T phone. It's being advertised by apple's ad agency, not AT&T's. Anyone else completely and utterly underwhelmed? By all means report it, but why bother speculate that it means anything? Anything DIFFERENT to this would be news; this is common sense.



    D
  • Reply 11 of 54
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    BBDO isn't even in the same league as TBWAChiatDay. When has anyone seen an AT&T ad as good as an Apple ad?
  • Reply 12 of 54
    ... My mouth says wow, but my head says ...how?



  • Reply 13 of 54
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by w00master View Post


    Love how you generalize. Guess you must think I'm evil. I work in Advertising.



    Bwahahahha. Evil? (Dr. Evil pose)

    w00master



    Holy crap the Evil Advertising Monkey in my Closet signed up for Apple Insider!! *screams*



    My problem with ads is this, it's useful, but it's everywhere. I don't watch TV because even if I subscribe to Cable/Satellite, the majority of the channels I watch would still be filled with Ads. I don't use Webmail because it's generally filled with Ads, so with Gmail I use Mail (the Ads can't get to me there) and of course I have .Mac mail which is Ad free. When I was on a PC I loaded Firefox with every possible tool I could to remove Ads from my eyes and whenever I have the chance, I skip Video Ads. I'm very careful to avoid clicking an Advertisement on any site, and the only reason I haven't got an Ad Free Firefox loaded is because I generally find Safari far more stable and I went Extension crazy once and don't wish to repeat the experience. In other words, I'm an advertisers worst nightmare.



    I don't think the Ad industry is creative enough, especially those Head On commercials (they were so bad they did their own parody on it with some guy saying "I hate your commercials but I love your product" which turned out to be even worse than repeating "Head On Apply directly to your Forehead" 3 times. Just because I don't watch TV doesn't mean others in the same room do not -_-) and any service that has me paying and still getting Ads is quickly dropped. I love Apple's commercials, especially their Mac vs PC commercials.



    Instead of doing a simple Inanimate Object Ad with Human voices expressing frustration through a mouth-less voice, they did almost the exact opposite. They have human beings representing inanimate objects and you can see what they are thinking and feeling (in the context of the commercial) using very funny scripts that shows the frustrating world that a PC user lives in and an alternative to that world. It's no coincidence that people generally like the PC guy more, it's made like that. The Mac is generally off to the side while the commercial focuses on the PC showing PC users what they have to continue to deal with if they don't switch, usually followed up by what the Mac has to offer as an alternative (although some recent commercials don't focus enough on the Mac, like the Wheel of Vista).



    The iPod ads that were presented at Macworld this year were absolutely brilliant. They reworked the silhouettes so they appeared more realistic with generally a better theme showing an abstract world made up of translucent colors and music, and it's not just advertising the iPod and iTunes, it's advertising the actual music as well and providing enough photos to fill up half of San Francisco's Bus Stops (and not just San Francisco) driving that image of this abstract world made up of Music into the minds of the entire city.



    These are the types of Ads that make me rethink what advertising is, and every time I hear that annoying TV Commercial voice saying something along the lines of "Call Now and Save" I want to shove my foot through the TV. Every time I run into an Ad on the internet written in Flash that blinks, makes noises, or annoys me in some other way I want to throw my Macbook across the room. I even hate Google's non obtrusive Text based Ads because all they are is extra text that gets in my way anyways. The greatest invention after the Internet came along has been the Pop Up blocker. The single most indispensable tool after the browser when it comes to actually using the Internet. Now I just need a way to disable those twice underlined links that create a small JavaScript Pop Up in Safari. There is nothing more annoying than reading an article, moving my cursor without thinking and seeing an Ad for Windows Live.



    This is the story of my hatred for ads.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by daijones View Post


    It's an apple phone, not an AT&T phone. It's being advertised by apple's ad agency, not AT&T's. Anyone else completely and utterly underwhelmed? By all means report it, but why bother speculate that it means anything? Anything DIFFERENT to this would be news; this is common sense.



    D



    Carriers generally advertise the phone themselves.



    Sebastian
  • Reply 14 of 54
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    Given how much they're banking on iPhone to be their next billion dollar baby, they pick the ad agency one month from product launch?
  • Reply 15 of 54
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post


    BBDO isn't even in the same league as TBWAChiatDay. When has anyone seen an AT&T ad as good as an Apple ad?



    I have on the following days:



    January, 32nd 2005

    February, 30th Y2K

    March 8th, 1992 11:38 PM (1 minute before I was born)

    April 0th, 1984

    May 1st in the Nevada Desert in the 51st Year of AT&T

    6/6/6 AD

    7/7/7 AD

    August 7th, 1983

    11th Day of the 9th Month 1 year after 1000

    October 31st, 1971

    November 2600th, 1988

    December 31st, 1874



    Sebastian
  • Reply 16 of 54
    jawzzyjawzzy Posts: 4member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slewis View Post


    Now I just need a way to disable those twice underlined links that create a small JavaScript Pop Up in Safari. There is nothing more annoying than reading an article, moving my cursor without thinking and seeing an Ad for Windows Live.




    Yes! I absolutely, utterly, completely, hate and despise those little bubbles!



    (And also the bigger, "normal" flash ads along the top and sides that expand into the webpage when you roll over them and block what you were TRYING to read!)
  • Reply 17 of 54
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Odd 'news' item.



    What exactly is it saying? That Apple's favorite ad agency will run Apple's ads for the Apple phone? That Apple has already used them before, and are happy with them? That the manufacturer of the phone will tout it more effectively than a dealer? (See., e.g., Samsung, LG, Motorola, Nokia........)



    Am I missing something, or is this 'news' item merely stating the obvious?







    The advertising is usually given over to the phone company for its own ads for the product, and their service for it. This is apparently not going to happen here.



    Instead of Apple's agency just covering some iPhone ads for Apple, they will be covering the entire project. Most unusual.



    I don't ever remembering such a thing happening in my years in advertising, though that was in the '70's.
  • Reply 18 of 54
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Odd 'news' item.



    What exactly is it saying? That Apple's favorite ad agency will run Apple's ads for the Apple phone? That Apple has already used them before, and are happy with them? That the manufacturer of the phone will tout it more effectively than a dealer? (See., e.g., Samsung, LG, Motorola, Nokia........)



    Am I missing something, or is this 'news' item merely stating the obvious?







    The point is that Apple is calling the shots on this iPhone stuff not AT&T, despite how absolutely critical AT&T as a USA exclusive partner is. Not suprising, but not trivial either.
  • Reply 19 of 54
    macslutmacslut Posts: 514member
    Interesting that Jobs left Apple in 1985. In 1986 Apple axes TBWAChiatDay and contracts BBDO. Jobs returns in 1997 and BBDO is let go and TBWAChiatDay is contracted again.



    And now this?



    Wow.
  • Reply 20 of 54
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macslut View Post


    Interesting that Jobs left Apple in 1985. In 1986 Apple axes TBWAChiatDay and contracts BBDO. Jobs returns in 1997 and BBDO is let go and TBWAChiatDay is contracted again.



    And now this?



    Wow.



    This is the "not surprising" part of the article. Depending on how you look at it, Apple was probably planning to do the advertising all along which means they would give the contract to their favorite agency. I wouldn't be surprised if AT&T advertises it themselves with BBDO along with Apple, but this is Apple's show and on the stage filled with RDF Amplifiers, BBDO isn't allowed.



    Sebastian
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