Apple has long been a holdout against social media, refusing to have a presence on Twitter or Facebook, But it finally gave in over the weekend by creating its first Tumblr page, which hosts a series of animations advertising its colorful iPhone 5c phones.
Each of the six ads are laid out like tiles, with the characteristic dots of the back of an iPhone 5c case. If you click on one, it plays a 15 second animated ad with a theme specific to that color.
Here’s what they look like:
It’s surprising to see Tumblr as the first avenue for a social media presence, but at the same time, it makes sense that Apple would go with it. Facebook isn’t cool enough, Twitter isn’t visual enough (which has always been at the core of Apple’s product and advertising,) Pinterest is stll a bit too niche, and Google+ is…well Google+. This leaves Tumblr and Instagram, and while the latter could have potentially been a contender, Apple’s not one for static, heavily filtered pictures of its products or people, opting instead for the sleek, expertly produced animations/GIFs that work extremely well for Tumblr. The ads function as sponsored content, and it’s a big get for Tumblr which is now aggressively focusing on getting brands to use the platform in an organic way, infiltrating its many niche communities and fandoms (i.e. teenagers.)
There’s a few “coming soon” signs on the site, so stay tuned for more ads to be released.
