Apple: Shot on iPhone

Brand

Apple

Market

Global

Year

2015

Category

Billboards & OOH

Agency or team

TBWA\Media Arts Lab

Channels

Billboards, print, digital, social

The context

Camera quality was becoming the deciding feature in smartphones, but specs were hard to believe and hard to compare.

The move

TBWA\Media Arts Lab selected photos taken by ordinary iPhone 6 users and ran them on billboards, transit and print around the world, credited with the photographer’s name and a simple line: “Shot on iPhone 6”.

How it was executed

1. Selected photos taken by ordinary iPhone users and credited each photographer by name.
2. Ran them at giant scale on billboards, transit and print in many countries.
3. Turned it into a recurring platform with open photo challenges.

Apple turned customers’ photos into the largest outdoor gallery in the world, and proved the camera without a single spec on the poster.

What happened Reported facts

The campaign won the Outdoor Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2015 and became a recurring platform, with regular open challenges inviting users to submit photos.

Why it worked Maer’s analysis

The output was the proof. Seeing ordinary people’s photos at billboard scale was more convincing than any spec sheet, and it encouraged more people to shoot and share.

What to take from it Maer’s analysis

1. 01Let the product’s output be the proof.
2. 02User work, credited properly, is more credible than studio work.
3. 03A platform that can run for years beats a one-off campaign.

Where Maer applies this

The same thinking runs through these brand templates:

Sources: Cannes Lions 2015 winners; Apple Newsroom. Figures are as publicly reported; Maer Media was not involved in this work and is not affiliated with Apple.