Steve Jobs once said, “Creativity is just connecting things.” More specifically, he celebrated how a diverse range of experiences can fuel the creative process. Without “enough dots to connect,” Jobs estimated, your thinking becomes too linear. Too isolated.
What happens when almost all of our traditional connections are broken by a global quarantine? Is creativity stagnating?
Jobs would be happy to know that, far from withering, creativity flourished thanks to the growth of new connections, often powered by the devices and tools created by his company.
In the brand’s new advertisement, a charming and minimalist celebration of life in quarantine, Apple and the agency TBWA Media Arts Lab bring together real images of families, creators and celebrities from around the world. Everyone improves a skill, shares a gift or finds a way to bring a new idea to life.
The place is a perfect sample of our culture at its best in such unexpected circumstances. And perhaps most impressive, it was developed, compiled, approved and launched in just two weeks.
The spot clearly recalls other Apple campaigns, in particular Behind the Mac and Shot on iPhone, both of which are powered by user-created content. But this time around, Apple isn’t just looking at a much wider range of its products, it’s also laudably understating its products in favor of uplifting the creative minds around them.
While many brands are looking at messages of stoic solidarity, Apple is instead highlighting the good things that are happening in a world fragmented by COVID-19. It is a risky positioning that could generate negative reactions for a brand distributor who is not up to the challenge of finding the right balance and tone, but Apple’s experience as a brand eager to being part of nuanced cultural moments clearly pays off here.
The first cut of the ad was developed largely over a weekend from footage found in various corners of the Internet. The draft that emerged would be shockingly little changed before becoming final, thanks in large part to the positive response from the content creators when they were contacted by the brand.
About 70% of the images initially simulated during the first draft would eventually reach the final point. Most of the sequence changes along the way were due less to sequence licensing issues, although this proved a little difficult for the closure plan starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, whose estates were to approve the ‘use. Instead, adjustments were often made to include more recent images found along the way of creating the ad.
The Young Ebenezers soundtrack for the trailer, “Asleep at the Parade”, was also a first selection that endured throughout the review process.
Started in the last days of March, the spot was ready to go online on April 10. And while its deployment was somewhat silent compared to how many marketers launch new work, the announcement still had a memorable introduction.
When Steve Jobs described creativity as “just connecting things,” he was praising new ideas through the lens of his day, as a technology pioneer trying to keep his data-centric colleagues aware of worldwide value.
When his successor, Apple CEO Tim Cook, described creativity in launching the new ad, he chose more specific wording for the intensely emotional and unprecedented moment of the moment: “Creativity is the light that shows us what that is possible, the fuel that drives progress, the beauty that makes us human. “