Apple Corporation: the iPod advertisement

Apple has advertised the iPod and iTunes brands inlaunch ads. This commercial features the song Cubicle
several very successful promoting campaigns. Theby the French electro rock band Rinocerose.
first iPod advertisement, featuring the tagline "AThe Company's future work and success depends on
thousand songs, in your pocket" was launched inthe work of distributors and other resellers of the
November 2001.Apple's products. The Company has invested and will
The ad can be viewed on Apple's web site. In Aprilcontinue to invest in various programs to enhance
2003, Apple stated its new advertisement campaign toreseller sales, including staffing selected resellers'
promote the new product — a line of the iTunesstores with Company employees and contractors.
Music Store. The advertisement campaign was ratherThese programs could require a substantial investment
successful and gave some profit. The commercialsfrom the Company, while providing no assurance of
featured a wide range of music, including The Who'sreturn or incremental revenue to offset this investment.
My Generation, Sir Mix-a-lot's Baby Got Back, TheOver the past several years, an increasing proportion
Caesars' Jerk It Out, Pink's There You Go, andof the Company's net sales have been made by the
Eminem's Lose Yourself.Company directly to end-users through its online stores
In October 2003, Apple company showed its first TVaround the world and through its retail stores in the
advertisement of this silhouette campaign, which hadU.S., Canada, Japan, and the U.K. Several resellers
already been presented in periodicals. It showedperceived the expansion of the Company's direct
silhouettes dancing to music and listening to iPods.sales as conflicting with their own businesses and
These advertisements promoted pop songs such aseconomic interests as distributors and resellers of the
The Vines' Ride, The Caesars' Jerk It Out, Gorillaz' FeelCompany's products. Perception of such a conflict
Good Inc., Steriogram's Walkie-Talkie Man, Jet's Arecould discourage the Company's resellers from
You Gonna Be My Girl, Propellerheads' Take California,investing additional resources in the distribution and sale
Ozomatli's Saturday Night, Jason Nevin's Mix, Franzof the Company's products or lead them to limit or
Ferdinand's Take Me Out, Daft Punk's Technologic,cease distribution of the Company's products. The
and many more. To commemorate the launch of theCompany's business and financial results could be
U2 iPod, Apple released an ad featuring a music videoadversely affected if expansion of its direct sales to
of Vertigo, featuring the band as characteristic iPodend-users causes some or all of its resellers to cease
silhouettes. One can see these Ads in quite a fewor limit distribution of the Company's products.
places now.The Company relies on third-party digital content, which
The iPod shuffle was released alongside TVmay not be available to the Company on commercially
advertisements featuring silhouettes dancing on areasonable terms or at all. The Company contracts
green background with Apple's shuffle symbol movingwith third parties to offer their digital content to
under them, displaying their intention on using theircustomers through the Company's iTunes Music Store.
silhouette campaign with each of their products. At theThe Company pays substantial fees to obtain the
release of the iPod nano, a commercial was airedrights to offer to its customers this third-party digital
depicting pairs of hands turning over and examining thecontent. The Company's licensing arrangements with
device, emphasizing its small size, and fighting over it.these third-party content providers are short-term in
With the release of video iPod, a new commercialnature and do not guarantee the future renewal of
was aired showing the new iPod's video playingthese arrangements at commercially reasonable
capabilities. The ad featured U2's Original of theterms, if at all.
Species from the Vertigo: Live From Chicago DVD.Third-party content providers and artists require that
Two more ads were released featuring Eminem andthe Company provide certain digital rights management
Wynton Marsalis. Although the ad still featured thesolutions and other security mechanisms. If the
silhouettes, the backgrounds were more textured andrequirements from content providers or artists change,
had patterns or identifiable backgrounds as opposed tothen the Company may be required to further develop
the flat colours used previously. An orange 'urban'or license technology to address such new rights and
theme was used in the Eminem version, and a 'cool'requirements. There is no assurance that the
blue jazz look to the Wynton Marsalis variant.Company will be able to develop or license such
On March 17, 2006, Apple released another new iPodsolutions at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner,
ad. This ad departed from the traditional silhouetteif at all, which could have a materially adverse effect
style, and featured thousands of CD covers pouringon the Company's operating results and financial
into an iPod nano. The ad again uses the tagline "1,000position.
Songs in Your Pocket", in reference to the original iPod