An unexpected masterclass in vision-based storytelling, from my old stack of Q magazines.
A few weeks ago, I found a stack of old Q magazines at the back of my wardrobe. Those of a certain age may remember this bastion of music, movies and lifestyle, established in 1986 but finally defunct in 2024.
My editions dated from 1988 to 2008.
I thought it would be fun, or at least interesting, to take a look at the ads for some harmless reminiscing. Wow. It was an eye opener.
Not least because one of the first adverts I came across was an Apple classic: ‘The new iPod: Every song you ever owned. In your pocket.’
I remember this ad causing quite a stir at the time, and not necessarily for the technology on show. After all, there had been many MP3 players available long before the launch of Apple’s iconic device. Instead, it was the emotion Apple managed to evoke in the hearts and minds of music lovers, ecstatic at the dream of carrying their carefully curated collections wherever they went.
Never again would the music aficionado, or indeed the casual listener, be caught short without their favourite tunes. It was a vision designed to provoke a powerful emotional response.
A few minutes of further thumbing and I stumbled across a contrasting ad for Creative’s ZEN Micro MP3 device.
This one hit hard for me, as I actually owned one of these colourful, capable devices at the time, shortly before replacing it with an iPod.
Seeing both ads side by side got me thinking. How was Apple, a relatively late entrant to the MP3 player market, able to dominate the sector so thoroughly, sending competitor products such as Creative’s ZEN to an early grave?
The answer lies firmly in how Apple talked about its new product. While Creative focused purely on the ‘what’ - storage specifications, colour range and battery life - Apple focused relentlessly on ‘why’ the technology mattered.
People don’t fall in love with storage capacity.
They fall in love with what that capacity enables.
The iPod was not positioned as a better MP3 player. It was positioned as an opportunity to have a new relationship with music.
As we often say at The Visioneers®:
Facts inform.
Features explain.
But vision inspires.
Who would ever have expected to stumble upon such a clear and compelling demonstration of our principles at the back of a wardrobe?!
