How Apple's 'Ridiculously Simple' Idea Became the Enduring 'Shot on iPhone' Campaign

Billboards and other “outdoor expressions” hold a special place in a transient world, said Myhren, Apple’s vp of marketing communications, during his Wednesday keynote speech at Adweek’s Elevate: Out of Home event.

We absolutely love outdoor. It breaks all the rules of today’s fast and temporary and fractured digital culture.

—Tor Myhren, vp of marketing communications, Apple

Research has shown Gen Z consumers find outdoor ads “relaxing,” he said, noting that the brand began investing heavily in the medium to market its Mac computer in the 1990s with groundbreaking images—John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the side of a building and Rosa Parks on a city bus among them—under the “Think Different” tagline.

And far from losing its luster, the medium has become even more effective over time.

“We absolutely love outdoor,” Myhren said. “It breaks all the rules of today’s fast and temporary and fractured digital culture. It’s static, it doesn’t move, it’s singular—all the things that most of marketing nowadays is not.”

Myhren, who rarely speaks publicly on the high-profile work produced by Apple and its dedicated agency, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, gave an overview of the brand’s Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning campaign, “Shot on iPhone,” which initially launched in 2014 and shows no sign of slowing.

Envisioned from the start for outdoor placement, “Shot on iPhone” was “a ridiculously simple idea,” Myhren said, “based on behavior we were seeing with people posting their photos and hashtagging them in different ways.”

By blowing up those images—in some cases, making them 80 feet tall—Apple showcased both the smartphone’s camera features and the consumers who were experimenting with them, serving as inspiration for other creators.

There was an aesthetic goal, as well, to upgrade the physical environment of the ad placements and the surrounding cityscapes.

“Something to ask is, ‘Can you actually make the space more interesting and charming versus being obtrusive and annoying?” he said.

Keeping the same stripped-down concept, Apple has evolved “Shot on iPhone” to highlight national holidays and key moments, such as Australia’s vote to legalize same-sex marriage. For Children’s Day in Turkey, the brand chose the work of junior shutterbugs, who photographed the animals, people and toys that captivated them.

Because of its ongoing popularity, “Shot on iPhone” expanded into digital video, TV spots and social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Stories.

Notably, there was a wild animal montage for Earth Day set to a Megadeth soundtrack, and a hyper-local celebration of American communities and up-and-coming Black photographers called “Hometown.”

Other offshoots have included music videos for Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga, films from Kathryn Bigelow, Lulu Wang and Damien Chazelle and a jaw-dropping 5 1/2-hour single-take tour of the Hermitage museum in Russia.

“When you have a platform that’s this rich,” Myhren said, “it’s boundless where it can go.”

The session, moderated by Adweek international editor David Griner, included some key learnings from Myhren, with the most central being to remember the power of simplicity.

Because outdoor ads allow only a few images and words, “You have to strip away the artifice and get down to the truth,” he said. It’s important to value “platforms over ads,” he said, and try to always keep in mind that, when marketing is at its best, “media is art.”

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