Behind the Scenes of Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign

Submitted by Dan; December 16, 2011


This is rather fascinating, Forbes published a rather long guest post from advertising executive, Rob Siltanen, one of the primary contributors to the development of Apple's famous "Think Different" ad campaign that helped turn the company around. Siltanen details the process of pitching the campaign to Jobs and his work on the "Here's to the Crazy Ones" script. Siltanen writes that Steve Jobs was highly involved with the advertising and every facet of Apples business. But he was far from the mastermind behind the renowned launch spot. In fact, he was blatantly harsh on the commercial that would eventually play a pivotal role in helping Apple achieve one of the greatest corporate turnarounds in business history. Siltanen goes on to describe how he and other representatives of the high profile TBWA/Chiat/Day advertising firm were surprised that Jobs required them to pitch to win the contract with the then-struggling Apple Computer company. Dreaming up concepts to pitch to Jobs, the one that stood out was the "Think Different" tagline paired with photos and videos of famous creative thinkers. Steve Jobs, obviously, liked the campaign but, initially, worried that it would appear too egotistical. However, within seconds, Jobs changed course and brought the firm on-board to carry out the idea.


Tags: Apple, Rob Siltanen, steve jobs, Think Different