Real People, Real Stories: What We Can Learn From Apple
If you’re like me, when someone tells you their product can save your life, you are a bit hesitant and maybe even distrustful. It’s a bold claim, there’s no way around it. Not many companies take their marketing that far, and those that due usually fail to make it authentic and based in real human emotion. That is, until you remember Apple.
Since their 84’ Super Bowl ad directed by Ridley Scott (You’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984”), Apple has positioned itself as a company against the masses, against uniformity, a company built for creatives by creatives, in order to change things and push technology forward. This legacy has continued today, not just through their constantly evolving products, but through their consistently timely and impactful marketing – and it just might be saving lives. Together, let’s take a look at their recent campaign to see the impact it’s having and how they are able to thread a line of authenticity through the lofty claim of saving lives.
Great campaigns come in a lot of formats. Whether they appear on billboards, in mailboxes, or on screens, the best ads are based in emotion. Our emotions are universal. They bind us together, across cultures, and across time. Emotion is one of the Five Basic Human Truths (learn about the other four here). Advertisements rooted in emotion can be dramatic, pulling at the heartstrings and appealing to nostalgia or relationships. They can be funny, making us actually laugh out loud. Hardest of all they can be deeply human. Wrestling with morality, mortality, and everything in-between. At the beginning of 2022, coinciding with the release of the Apple Watch Series 7, Apple dropped this 60 seconds of sobering, authentic marketing.
There it is. I know it’s easy to skim an article (and with how busy our lives are these days I don’t blame you) but take the minute to watch this commercial, it’s worth it. No technical specs, no slo-mo product shot with perfect lighting glancing off an immaculate watch face, in fact no product at all. Some landscape shots, typography, voice-over, and three deeply human stories. That’s all they needed. Keep on reading to see a detailed assessment of the spot.
Authenticity
Consumers today are more aware than ever before. They shop for ethics and values not just for colorways and silhouettes. Because of this, it is essential that brands represent themselves, and their products, authentically. From the first seconds of this ad viewers are struck with an unavoidable sense of real human connection. The contained panic in the voices of those in danger, the careful efficiency of the 911 operators, the knowledge that what you are watching has actually happened, and a rising tension as you wait for the situations to be resolved. Lives truly hang in the balance. The true success of this campaign is in its careful construction that ultimately comes across as authentic rather than exploitative. If someone were to simply describe an outline of the video, I’m not sure I would have immediately felt comfortable using these intimate moments of fear to sell a product. Even reading back that last sentence I feel a certain confusion, a confusion that is only quelled when I re-watch the ad. The craft that went into the actual creation of the video overcomes any concerns about nuance or exploitation. It tells the stories simply, through the real voices of real people, all saved in part by their Apple watches.
Typography
Anyone even tangentially familiar with Apple advertising knows they care about their fonts. From the iconic serif on their original “Think different.” tagline, to their modern internally developed “San Francisco” font family, they have engrained recognition between their typeface and their brand. This video doesn’t begin with a logo, company, or product name, but that doesn’t mean a majority of viewers won’t instantly know who’s addressing them. In a full minute they only feature the Apple logo and product name for 3 seconds, and that’s all they need. It’s a detail present in all their campaigns, but given the minimalist style of the video assets associated with this ad it has even more heavy lifting to do, and it rises to the occasion.
Pacing
Something as seemingly simple as the pacing of font and narration in a video spot wouldn’t usually necessitate its own section in a campaign assessment, but this is an exception. It is always an important element to a commercial, but in an ad that is as minimalistic and emotionally fraught as this one, it takes center stage. Even if you haven’t had a personal experience hearing “911, what’s your emergency” on the other end of a phone clenched tightly in your hand, the words themselves have a visceral weight. Whatever sense of urgency the audio alone doesn’t immediately generate, the perfectly timed pacing of the typography on-screen makes up for it. If you don’t believe me, go back and re-watch the video on mute. I think you’ll be surprised to see how much emotion it still manages to convey. It’s urgent, anxiety-inducing, and creates an instant emotional hook that is rewarded with the eventual resolution and successful rescue of the three callers. It’s a powerful example of the connection between a brand and a type family, and what’s possible with typographic emotional appeals.
. . .
At J.Schmid we believe in the power of storytelling. The power of harnessing human emotion through marketing. Our favorite work, both internal and external, are campaigns that do just that. While we are used to Apple setting the bar high with their emotionally-driven ads, the 911 campaign is particularly effective and moving. It circumvents any concerns about content and exploitation through sheer craftsmanship and excellent production. It’s sobering, real, emotionally gripping and still provides a value proposition about a product that they don’t even need to visually feature to sell. It was a joy to critique and we are looking forward to the next iteration in this series, or the start of a new campaign from Apple.
If you have a campaign you would like to see assessed or have questions on how to improve your own creative approach to marketing, reach out to Devon at devonc@jschmid.com.
Tags: advertising, Brand Storytelling, branding, marketing strategy