Improvisation Powers BBDO Apple Campaign By Shelly Garci

LOS ANGELES - BBDO Los Angeles executives expected to come away with three versions for the second Apple PowerBook TV campaign, an extension of the print wo

The campaign, which breaks this week, uses a combination of real people and improv actors to deliver a message combining the PowerBook’s versatility with Apple’s reputation as the kinder, gentler computer company. ‘We wanted to say that this is a product for anyone, and it really reflects who you are,’ said Chris Wall, creative director and writer on the campaign. ‘It becomes personal in a way that a clone doesn’t.’
The series, directed by Joe Pytka, includes fundraisers, salesmen, even musicians, talking about what’s on their PowerBook. But there’s usually a twist: the fundraiser has a program analyzing dreams; the salesman has his granddaughter’s voice programmed for the push of a buttom; and the sax player, though he uses his PowerBook to write music, was glad for its recordkeeping functions when the IRS came knocking.
‘This was a totally different way of working for us,’ Wall said. ‘We never did any storyboards. We did some scripting, but we did it spontaneously. We never thought we’d get 12 spots out of it.’
With the additional creative, BBDO senior vp/worldwide account director Jim Ward said the agency would be able to air the commercials on programs it could not previously take advantage of. ‘We can put a spot on Saturday Night Live, but we can also put a spot on the traditional Sunday morning news that we would normally run,’ Ward said.
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