Volumes have already seemingly been written about Steve Jobs since his passing on Wednesday (10/5). An innovator, a major influence on contemporary society, a master marketer and visionary, Jobs left an indelible mark on the world.
Underscoring his impact are the many reflections made by his colleagues upon news of his death. But also telling are such reflections made while he was still alive, including those from the ad/marketing/filmmaking community as shared in our “Then, Now and Looking Ahead” yearlong series of articles leading up to SHOOT‘s 50th Anniversary celebration last December.
When asked to ruminate over milestones, turning points and pivotal developments and contributions over the past half-century, the name of Steve Jobs came up consistently–from those who worked with him, as well as those who admired him from afar. Below is a sampling of that feedback–from Lee Clow, chief creative officer/global director of Media Arts, TBWA Worldwide, and chairman of TBWA/Media Arts Lab, who worked with Jobs on breakthrough Apple advertising; Jim Morris, general manager/exec VP of production at Pixar Animation Studios, a company run by Jobs; and Rich Silverstein, co-chairman/creative director of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, who simply was a fan of Jobs’ brilliant sense of branding.
Lee Clow
Discussing the state of the business today and then segueing to Apple, Clow noted, “Creatives have to consider what kind of conversations are going to start up around the idea they’re putting out there for a brand no matter what the medium. You don’t have control over conversations in social media, blogs, chats, on Facebook and Twitter. But you can do things as a brand, take actions that beget conversation, beget interest, that tap into the power of people wanting to spend time talking about you, your brand, what you do. We have never sought to seed or try to force conversation on the Internet. It’s the brand that does that and the conversation is spontaneous. ‘How do you like your iPhone?’ The brand has to be smart, likeable and trustworthy. Everything a brand does is advertising.
“Ultimately,” affirmed Clow, “brands are going to become media, with people choosing to seek out a certain brand and spend time with it. If the brand has done a film, people want to see it. They want to see their product, their store. The Apple Store is probably the best ad Apple has ever done. The store is an audio-video experience with passionate kids at the genius bar, an inviting design, interaction with the products, a theater in back where they teach and where other forms of film are shown that engage, inform, tell stories and sometimes entertain. Apple’s packaging tells as much of a story about that brand as a TV spot. The experience of getting an iPhone, opening the box, how reverently that packaging is designed, the words and pictures taking a dimensional form on the package. People want to touch, feel and see a brand. Our task is to help build a brand that’s strong enough as a medium so that people will want to interact with that brand’s stories.”
Asked to reflect on the highlights of his career, Clow related, “I’ve been fortunate to work for great brands. I’m probably the most lucky guy in advertising to have been around a brand like Apple that is so world changing. From day one with Apple, we shared the belief that everything the brand did had to be great. We cared about the packaging, about how the instruction manuals were written. Anything that was an expression of the brand we cared about. When Steve Jobs came back to Apple, we said, ‘Let’s get the magic and the passion back.'”
Apple and TBWAChiatDay reunited in 1997 upon Jobs’ return. “Apple was ready to go out of business back then,” recollected Clow. “But Steve re-energized the company. They developed new products, liberated the design people. ‘Think different’ was a challenge to the creative people who cared about the brand as well as a challenge to Apple itself to rethink what it made and did. Two of the proudest moments of my career were the ‘1984’ spot and then years later the ‘Think different’ campaign. I have a deep feeling for ‘Think different’ and the “Crazy Ones’ commercial. It was a pivotal moment for Apple and it speaks to any creative person, anyone who tries to break the rules, who pushes the boundaries to try to do something that hasn’t been done before. Everybody in our agency kind of looks at that commercial as being a mantra for our belief in creativity just as it was a mantra for Apple wanting to be a company dedicated to people who do creative things. It was a mantra for Apple users as well. It is a mantra that defined Apple, its customers and us as an agency.”
Jim Morris
For insights into how the industry evolved over the decades, SHOOT tapped into Jim Morris’ remarks at last year’s SIGGRAPH confab in Los Angeles. During the course of his keynote address, he touched upon Pixar’s place in history and what it has accomplished under the aegis of Jobs.
Pixar was a former Industrial Light + Magic unit which Jobs bought from George Lucas. Morris credited Pixar with bringing the digital transition to animation. Artisans like Ed Catmull and John Lasseter were bringing their creative footprint to bear initially on the short The Adventures of Andre and Wally B, which generated a buzz at SIGGRAPH in ’84, showing the character-driven storytelling prowess of an animation film done entirely in CG. This was followed by the ’85 release of Toy Story, which Morris described as “the perfect blend of form and content” and “the Casablanca of CG animation.”
Rich Silverstein
Rich Silverstein noted that in a tight economy, breakthrough ideas are needed more than ever in advertising and marketing–this led to his referencing Jobs.
“People don’t want to be part of a faceless company. People want brands that have identity, that mean something,” said Silverstein. “People want brands that reflect themselves. So as an agency, you cannot operate out of fear. We never go into a situation thinking we might lose the account if we don’t do so and so. We don’t come from that position. We come from a position of what we believe is right for the account and is it something we can be proud of. As long as we stay true to that, we are fine. Steve Jobs is true to himself and the world has come to him. The world has come to Richard Branson, and to companies with points of view who stay true to who they are. Marketing is a reflection of what a company is. Instead of making stuff up, the best work is honest work. For example, I have great respect for Lee [Clow] and how he keeps true to Apple’s values.
“Yes, marketing in the cloud of what’s going on in the world today can be difficult,” continued Silverstein. “But there’s a place for marketing that tells relevant engaging, honest stories. Jeff [Goodby] and I started our business to give something back. Yes, we’re marketers but we try to treat consumers with the deep respect and intelligence they deserve. We apply that to TV, the web, smart phones, Facebook, any delivery system. As long as there are people who value good writing and storytelling, who value educating and informing others and consistently giving back to society, there’s hope.”
See related news story on Jobs’ passing here.
