Thanks to advertisements portraying iPods as parties for one, the MP3 players have become lucrative gadgets that embody the individualism of society. On this campus and nationwide, iPods have become as American as apple pie. Even our president, always enjoying the simple (minded) things in life, listens to his favorite tunes on an iPod and recently released his playlist to the media. As former Microsoft loyalists succumb to Apple's forbidden fruit, Microsoft chair Bill Gates must seriously evaluate the power of podvertising or risk surrendering the market for MP3 players entirely.
The dancing silhouettes featured in iPod commercials have one unifying factor-white headphones. Besides this distinctive accouterment, the dancers have no clear demographic characteristics such as race, creed or age. Gates could hypothetically sport white headphones and groove his white, over-the-hill, atheist booty on an iPod commercial without anyone knowing about his infidelity to Microsoft. I certainly realize that Gates would never betray his company (much less dance), but this hypothetical situation illustrates the power of advertising anonymous individuals. By abstaining from targeting one specific demographic and instead featuring dancing shadows, Apple reaches all possible consumers.
Despite the matching white earbuds, each silhouette dancer displays individualism in dance moves and neon backdrops. The saying \an apple a day keeps the doctor away"" has long counseled people to maintain healthy diets, but these commercials send a different message: an Apple iPod a day keeps everyone away. Or rather, iPods allow individuals to consume Apple entertainment in a completely hand-tailored, private environment. As consumers flock to the fruit, Gates needs to iTune into Apple's new style of advertising or his doctor might iTune him out.
iPod advertisements represent an ideal synthesis of the economic principle of product differentiation with the American principle of independence. Emphasis on individualism resonates deeply with free-spirited Americans who, according to media critic Robert Putnam, have increasingly turned toward privatized entertainment throughout the past century.
Advertisements for iPods capture one major contention of Putnam's ""Bowling Alone"" theory: Technological advancements have transformed entertainment into an individualized, much less privatized, affair. Accordingly, white earbuds have proliferated and bloomed on this campus and nationwide as iPods now embody a wave of new technology that fragments American society. Although Gates' MP3 player provides the same technology as the iPod, Apple advertisements seed the minds of consumers with the allure of personal entertainment and thereby win market loyalty.
Just as the silhouettes groove to individual theme songs without recognizing one another's presence, Gates ignores the encroachment of Apple on his market territory. In the market for portable digital music players, Apple claims a lofty 87 percent of the market. Does this spell doom for Gates? Well, no, he is still the richest man in the world and has plans to usurp control from Apple by wooing Sony and MTV.
In the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Gates stated, ""I don't think the success of the iPod can continue in the long term, however good Apple may be."" Gates may have a deft understanding of technology, but he must consider the vast impact of Apple's advertising and develop a comparable campaign for his Microsoft MP3 players. Otherwise, consumers will view the products as Apples to oranges, and the oranges will likely be market lemons.
Sure, Gates is a savvy businessman, but if he wants a slice of the MP3 market pie, he must taste some apple. Apple has successfully rooted the principle of independence, embodied by the iPod, in the consciousness of consumers through its outstanding advertising campaign. In the process, Apple has gained the loyalty of many former Microsoft partisans. If Gates fails to create an equally effective advertising campaign, the chairman of Apple may rightly assert, ""iCame, iPodvertised, iConquered.""
Jill Klosterman is a sophomore majoring in journalism. Her column will run every Monday this fall in The Daily Cardinal.
