Apple's first HomePod ads urge customers to 'order now'

AppleInsider · January 28, 2018 1:55AM

Apple Kicked off promotional efforts for its new HomePod on Saturday with four short ads showing off the smart speaker's svelte chassis and unique LCD control panel.

Each of the videos posted to Apple's YouTube channel are 16 seconds in length, suitable for online interstitials and social media campaigns. The ads are the first to promote HomePod sales, which started on Friday.

Heavy on style and light on content, the commercials are reminiscent of media player visualizers like those made popular by iTunes. Text reading "HomePod," accomplished in Apple's San Francisco font, pulses, dissolves, warps, bends and multiplies to the beat of popular songs.

Featured in this first set of ads are "Holy Water" by Hembree, "Ain't I" by Lizzo, "All Night" by Big Boi and "DNA" by Kendrick Lamar.

Following each visualizer sequence is a series of quick moving close-ups of HomePod. The glory shots show off the device's stout design, sleek fabric mesh covering and LCD top panel, the latter of which plays double duty as a touch interface for media playback and Siri control.

Each ad concludes with a call to "Order Now."

HomePod represents Apple's first foray into the smart speaker space, an industry largely created -- and dominated -- by Amazon and its line of Alexa-equipped Echo products. Similar to Amazon and Google Home devices, HomePod features tight integration with Apple's Siri virtual assistant, which can be called upon to control media playback, command HomeKit accessories and answer basic queries.

Priced much higher than competing speakers, Apple is pushing hard to differentiate HomePod by touting its specialized audio components like a multi-microphone, multi-tweeter array that assists in beamforming and adaptive noise cancellation. Early previews of the device praise HomePod's sound quality, but question whether that and basic Siri capabilities justify a high $349 price tag.

After announcing a start to preorders earlier this week, Apple activated HomePod sales on Friday.

robertwalter · January 28, 2018 2:10AM

Not very impressive commercials.

jakeb · January 28, 2018 2:28AM

Tricky to show off good sound capabilities when people are watching the commercial on a device with lesser sound capabilities. But I think they did a good job and at least put the focus on sound, not siri

Kentfromohio · January 28, 2018 3:08AM

Great ads. Make me want to go get my ho's and my bitches and, well, nevermind.

negociarlaw · January 28, 2018 3:26AM

robertwalter said:

Not very impressive commercials.

I Agree.

I usually love Apple ads. Those were terrible.

seankill · January 28, 2018 4:06AM

Not sure what this thing does that’s worth $350 USD

seankill · January 28, 2018 4:07AM

Not sure why this thing is worth $350

Better speakers out there for much less and Siri really isn’t that useful.

macxpress · January 28, 2018 4:23AM

seankill said:

Not sure why this thing is worth $350

Better speakers out there for much less and Siri really isn’t that useful.

And you can confidently say there are better speakers out there when you've never used, nor heard HomePod? It's not just a speaker, and Siri isn't all it can do. Siri on your phone is different than Siri on your Mac, which will be different from Siri on HomePod.

brakken · January 28, 2018 4:23AM

Terrible ads.
Show us what they hell they are for!!

Soli · January 28, 2018 4:29AM

The song choices and visual effects are brilliant for these simple, 15 second spots.

macxpress · January 28, 2018 4:40AM

brakken said:

Terrible ads.
Show us what they hell they are for!!

Did you watch the entire ad? It shows what its for. Do you need glasses?

eightzero · January 28, 2018 5:04AM

I wonder if Angie will put sound rooms in Apple Stores? Because having one of these sitting out on a shelf in a crowded store isn't going to help them sell.

I remember stereo stores where all the components could be compared. Select a set of components in a separate room from a huge stack. Guess those days are gone.

Anyone know if these have like a 30-90 days money back promise? Take it home and see if it is worth the $350, and if not, get a refund?

I was initially thinking we'd eventually see bundles or Apple throwing in a free AM subscription. But Apple will never admit a failure, so this seems unlikely.

Soli · January 28, 2018 5:22AM

eightzero said:

I wonder if Angie will put sound rooms in Apple Stores? Because having one of these sitting out on a shelf in a crowded store isn't going to help them sell.

I remember stereo stores where all the components could be compared. Select a set of components in a separate room from a huge stack. Guess those days are gone.

Anyone know if these have like a 30-90 days money back promise? Take it home and see if it is worth the $350, and if not, get a refund?

I was initially thinking we'd eventually see bundles or Apple throwing in a free AM subscription. But Apple will never admit a failure, so this seems unlikely.

1) I don't think they can have a completely isolated room based on store size, traffic and logistics, but I have to assume they've looked into the physics of materials and structure to create an open sound booth that can at least idealize audio for a demo.

2) There's no need to press some red buttons on a wall to select a variety of speakers and receiver choices since it's just the one product, and I doubt they'll set up competitor devices for you to test alongside HomePod.

3) In the US you get 14-days from Apple as standard, and with no restocking fee.

4) Apple Music already has a free trial period and was given free service for a period with some Beats headphones, yet neither Beats or Apple Music is failing.

paxman · January 28, 2018 5:44AM

I am not sure why people hate these ads. I love them. It is about the music and it is visualized. Great tv ad reminiscent of the iPod ads.

racerhomie3 · January 28, 2018 5:49AM

seankill said:

Not sure what this thing does that’s worth $350 USD

Same BS line people used for the original iPod.The integration with iOS, Siri & excellent sound.

eightzero · January 28, 2018 6:23AM

racerhomie3 said:

seankill said:

Not sure what this thing does that’s worth $350 USD

Same BS line people used for the original iPod.The integration with iOS, Siri & excellent sound.

I didn't buy one of those for a long time after they came out either. And now I think about it, the first one I did buy (and it is right here in my hand - a 4GB iPod original) was a gift for my wife. I think I got an iPod mini as the first one. It wasn't $350.

Soli · January 28, 2018 6:35AM

paxman said:

I am not sure why people hate these ads. I love them. It is about the music and it is visualized. Great tv ad reminiscent of the iPod ads.

It's a 15 second ad and a teaser for a yet unreleased product, but they want it to be another keynote event as if the general public is driven by specs.

Don't trolls come here to say that Apple is only good at marketing? If that's the case, then why come here to say they also such at marketing?

harry wild · January 28, 2018 6:39AM

$350 is still pretty expensive for a small speaker system like the Homepod! It is tiny!

foggyhill · January 28, 2018 7:26AM

harry wild said:

$350 is still pretty expensive for a small speaker system like the Homepod! It is tiny!

It's not, high quality similar speakers are in this price range, it packs a hell of lot in its small frame.

canukstorm · January 28, 2018 7:45AM

seankill said:

Not sure why this thing is worth $350

Better speakers out there for much less and Siri really isn’t that useful.

This should give you a idea why;

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7t51a2/nda_is_up_what_can_i_tell_you_guys_about_the/

petri · January 28, 2018 7:53AM

DOA.

Apple's first HomePod ads urge customers to 'order now'

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