2011 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

The campaign idea was LOVE iPOD. Our main task was to generate awareness during the run up to Valentine’s Day, to get the consumer to think of buying an iPod when they were considering buying a gift for Valentine’s Day. However cliché flowers, jewellery, candy and fluffy teddy bears are, these presents are what people expect to receive, and they are an easier and less expensive purchase than an iPod. This was what we were competing against. So, we chose to build on the emotional connection to the apple brand as we knew that a person’s connection to an iPod was deep, and happens to last much longer - in some cases, even longer than relationships! So to celebrate the day of love, we simply asked our consumers to love iPod.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

The campaign was launched almost 2 weeks before Valentine’s Day to leverage the run up to 14th February. We spread the love through Print ads with headlines taken from romantic songs which also promoted product features; radio talk shows asked people to call in or SMS why they believed a loved one deserved an iPod for Valentine’s Day; in-store cutout displays of iPod’s; in-cinema asked moviegoers whether they would ‘be our Valentine’; and red balloons with the campaign logo were distributed throughout stores. Additional support came from Bluetooth machines, SMS messages, email shots, web banners and other online presence, including a Facebook fanpage, and virtual iPods that users could gift and place on their friends’ profile pages. Stores were themed with danglers, tent cards, lamas and posters. An interactive wall was built, and customers were invited in to write a Valentine’s message. Decorative gift-wrapping paper, love iPod stickers, product bands were all added to prolong the experience.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

In most stores, iPod sales increased by 80% and in some stores sales of iPods doubled. 500+ fans joined and interacted on the fanpage in less than 48 hours, and it became the first brand within the entire region to use gift engagement on Facebook.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The campaign was presented from Arab Business Machine as a case study of best-practice to Apple in Europe, and it was all accomplished within a short, two week promotional campaign.