The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign

7/3/24, 11:48 AM The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign
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The Real Story Behind

Apple's 'Think Different'
Campaign
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Dec 14, 2011, 12:20pm EST
Updated Dec 10, 2021, 09:41am EST
This article is more than 10 years old.
This post was written by Rob Siltanen, chairman and chief

creative officer at Siltanen & Partners.
Apple’s remarkable rise, coupled with Steve Jobs’ recent death,

has prompted quite a few people to reflect on the historical
impact of the “Think Different” ad campaign and the “To the
crazy ones” commercial that launched it. There have been a lot of
different accounts of how the work was created, who conceived it,
and how it was presented to Jobs, so I thought now was a good
time to share my own perspective and give you an inside look.
How do I know what took place? I was there—right in the thick of

it. I was the creative director and managing partner at
TBWA/Chiat/Day working on the Apple pitch alongside CEO and
Chief Creative Officer Lee Clow. Together, Lee and I headed up
and actively participated in all of the work done for the pitch. I
was also in every agency meeting with Jobs throughout the
process — pre-pitch, pitch and post-pitch.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2011/12/14/the-real-story-behind-apples-think-different-campaign/ 1/20
In writing this story, I’ve drawn from handwritten, dated creative

journals I’ve diligently chronicled throughout my agency career
as well as files I saved from the 1997 Apple time period (being a
packrat often proves useful). In these journals are countless pages
of notes and concepts I jotted down during the process of trying
to bring Apple back to prominence. I also found the original “To
the crazy ones” television script I presented to Jobs, as well as a
plethora of rough drafts.
While I’ve seen a few inaccurate articles and comments floating

around the Internet about how the legendary “Think Different”
campaign was conceived, what prompted me to share this inside
account was Walter Isaacson’s recent, best-selling biography on
Steve Jobs. In his book, Isaacson incorrectly suggests Jobs
created and wrote much of the “To the crazy ones” launch
commercial. To me, this is a case of revisionist history.
Steve was highly involved with the advertising and every facet of
Apple’s business. But he was far from the mastermind behind the
renowned launch spot. In fact, he was blatantly harsh on the
commercial that would eventually play a pivotal role in helping
Apple achieve one of the greatest corporate turnarounds in
business history. As you’ll learn later in my account, the soul of
the original “The crazy ones” script I presented to Jobs, as well as
the original beginning and ending of the celebrated script, all
ultimately stayed in place, even though Jobs initially called the
script “shit.” I’ve also read a few less than correct accounts on
how the “Think Different” campaign was originally conceived.
While several people played prominent parts in making it
happen, the famous “Think Different” line and the brilliant
concept of putting the line together with black and white
photographs of time-honored visionaries was invented by an
exceptionally creative person, and dear friend, by the name of
Craig Tanimoto, a TBWA/Chiat/Day art director at the time.
I have read many wonderful things about Steve Jobs and how
warm and loving he was to his wife, children and sister. His
Stanford commencement address is one of the most touching and
inspiring speeches I have ever heard. Steve was an amazing
visionary, and I believe the comparisons of him to some of the
world’s greatest achievers are totally deserved. But I have also
read many critical statements about Steve, and I must say I saw
and experienced his tongue lashings and ballistic temper
firsthand—directed to several others and squarely at me. It wasn’t
pretty. While I greatly respected Steve for his remarkable
accomplishments and extraordinary passion, I didn’t have much
patience for his often abrasive and condescending personality. It
is here, in my opinion, that Lee Clow deserves a great deal of
credit. Lee is more than a creative genius. In working with Jobs
he had the patience of a saint.
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People ask me what Steve Jobs was like, and I often describe him
as a mix between Michelangelo, Mies van der Rohe and Henry
Ford—with some John McEnroe and Machiavelli thrown in. Steve
was fiercely driven, and there’s no way Apple could have possibly
gone from laughingstock to “the stock you dream of owning” so
swiftly without a relentless, self-confident genius at the helm. But
Steve Jobs didn’t turn Apple around by himself. Many talented
and dedicated people played key roles, and that turnaround first
began with an advertising campaign called “Think different.”
Here’s the story.
The first meeting with Steve
It was early July 1997 when Lee Clow joyfully strolled into my
office and said we would be flying to San Jose and driving to
Cupertino to talk with Steve Jobs about Apple’s advertising
account. Steve had recently come back to Apple as their interim
CEO, and he was looking to make some changes. On the flight,
Lee told me he firmly believed Jobs would “hand us” the account,
which at the time was housed at BBDO, the same agency that won
the business from Chiat over 10 years earlier. Lee felt Chiat/Day
never deserved to lose the Apple business and this, hopefully,
would be Jobs’ way of making up for the agency getting screwed
over in the past.
At the time, our agency was on a roll. We had been named agency
of the year by the top trade magazines, and we were winning a lot
of new business, including some major accounts without pitching
at all. I was 33 years old, and I was creative director and
managing partner at the agency where I headed up the Nissan
and Infiniti accounts—the two largest accounts in the agency
network. I had recently created a famous Nissan spot called
“Toys” that had been named commercial of the year. Our Nissan
and Infiniti staff consisted of some the most talented creative
people in the ad industry. We were all stoked at the thought of
working on Apple and proving our creative capabilities beyond
the car business.
On the plane ride to Apple, Lee told me that if we were asked to

formally pitch the business against other agencies, he’d
respectfully decline. For years Clow and I would have lunch
together, and he would tell me how wrong it was that agencies
had to spend their own big money in order to pitch accounts.
Now it appeared we held all the cards, and I fully agreed with
Clow we shouldn’t pitch. Not only was the agency red hot at the
time, Lee had already done the best work in advertising history
for Apple in the past. We both believed anything less than a direct
handoff would be a slap in the face.
When we arrived at Apple’s headquarters, a secretary showed us

to a large conference room and said Steve would join us shortly.
Lee hadn’t seen Steve in 10 years, and I was expecting Steve
would give Clow a warm embrace and a “welcome home” type of
greeting. That wasn’t exactly the case.
Jobs walked into the conference room wearing his trademark

black mock turtleneck, shorts and a pair of flip-flops. But while he
looked casual, he was all business.
The hellos and introductions were very short, and there was zero
time spent reminiscing about the glory days when Lee and the old
guard at Chiat helped Jobs create some of the most awe-inspiring
advertising of all time. Jobs basically said, “Good to see you.
Thanks for coming. Now let’s get down to business.” He then
went on to say that Apple was “hemorrhaging” and the company
was in worse shape than he had imagined. He said, “We have
some decent product, but we need to get things figured out. I’m
putting the advertising up for review, and I’m meeting with a
handful of agencies to see who ‘gets it.’ I’ve already been talking
with a couple of agencies that seem pretty good, and you’re
invited to pitch the account if you’re interested.” At this point I
thought to myself, well, this isn’t going as planned.
Jobs went on to say that the process would be fast and he didn’t
need to see fancy executions—just some initial concepts and
thinking. He said, “I’m thinking no TV ads, just some print ads in
the computer magazines until we get things figured out.” Clow
remained his cool, reserved self at this point, while I found Jobs
to be far more bossy and arrogant than I imagined. I got the
impression he felt we were just another company lucky to be in
his presence. I also didn’t agree at all with his gameplan. I chimed
in and told him, “Half the world thinks Apple is going to die. A
few print ads in the computer magazines aren’t going to do

anything for you. You need to show the world that Apple is as
strong as a lion. Nobody stands around the water cooler talking
about print ads. You need to do something bigger and bolder. You
need to do TV and other things that are going to give you true
momentum.” I went on to say that any agency could talk the talk.
You need to see actual creative executions to truly judge the
power of an idea.
“Fine, show me the ideas and executions that you guys think are
best,” Jobs shot back. We weren’t getting off to a good start, but I
didn’t mind playing the bad cop because I figured Lee would put
the kibosh on things very shortly. “Well, that’s up to Lee,” I said.
Lee had told me just hours earlier that we wouldn’t pitch, so I
turned to Lee, thinking he was going to tell Jobs, “Thanks, but no
thanks.” Instead, Lee calmly said, “Well, if you like some of the
other agencies you’re talking with, why don’t you just go with one
of them?” Jobs said he might. Lee then told Jobs, “We’ll think it
over and call you tomorrow.”
On the cab ride to the San Jose airport, I asked Clow what was
going on. “I thought you said we weren’t going to pitch?” Clow
said, “I’ve changed my mind. If we win this thing, we’ll have a
great story to tell. I want to get it back.”
Next: Finding the right idea
The creative process
Back at the agency I gathered the creative teams and briefed them
on the assignment. Most of the teams worked directly for me on
the Nissan business, and a few others were junior art directors
that served as Lee’s creative assistants. There was no time to wait
for a long written-out strategy or to put together a detailed
creative brief. We needed to figure out how to get Apple back on
track fast.
All of the creatives had used Apple computers for years. They
were not only well aware of the brand — they lived it and loved it
every day. They really didn’t need a formal strategy. I requested
that people start creating ideas immediately and we’d review
work in a week. Meanwhile the account team, agency planners
and our new business team began pulling as much information as
possible on Apple’s strengths and weaknesses in the marketplace.
Apple had some brand zealots in

various creative industries, and we
thought maybe the best way to stop
the bleeding was to do some
testimonials with famous celebrities
we had heard were Apple backers.
We found that people such as Steven
Spielberg and Sting used Apple
computers, and so did several other
prominent creative stars.
(photo courtesy of Rob Siltanen)
Conversely, we saw a lot of articles
talking about Apple negatively — many people in the business
world were calling Apple computers “toys” that were incapable of
“real” computing. Meanwhile, the press started suggesting that
buying an Apple was a dumb purchase, and they spoke freely of
the fact that Apple had a miniscule and shrinking market share
while also having a fraction of the software applications of classic
PCs. Apple’s situation was outright ugly. But through ugly
situations come beautiful opportunities.
The next week we gathered in a large conference room at the

agency where everyone had their work tacked up on wallboards.
The room was filled with photos, pencil sketches, rough ideas and
taglines. You know that scene in the movie “A Beautiful Mind”
where the room is plastered with paper on every inch of wall
space? Well, during a new business pitch or preparation for a big
project, our conference rooms typically looked like that. This
pitch was no exception. About four different creative teams had

work represented, and virtually all of it was mediocre. Through
quantity doesn’t necessarily come quality.
But there was one campaign that jumped out at me. And it
jumped out in a big way.
It was a billboard campaign that had simple black and white

photographs of revolutionary people and events. One ad had a
photo of Einstein. Another had a photo of Thomas Edison.
Another had a photo of Gandhi. Another had the famous photo of
flowers placed in gun barrels during the protest of the Vietnam
War. At the top of each image was the rainbow-colored Apple
logo and the words “Think Different.” Nothing else.
The creator of the work was a brilliant art director named Craig
Tanimoto. Craig had worked with me for many years (mainly on
the Nissan business), and he virtually always had a unique way of
looking at things. When I started my own ad agency a few years
later, Craig was one of the first creative people I hired.
Craig’s Apple campaign seemed big and fresh in a room that was
filled with classic computer shots and stereotypical celebrity
photos. I loved it. But at the same time, the work seemed in need
of explanation.
I asked Craig what it all meant, and he said, “IBM has a campaign
out that says "Think IBM" (it was a campaign for their ThinkPad),
and I feel Apple is very different from IBM, so I felt “Think
Different” was interesting. I then thought it would be cool to
attach those words to some of the world’s most different-thinking
people.”
The rainbow-colored logo served as stark contrast to the black

and white photography, and, to me, it seemed to make the “Think
Different” statement all the more bold. It was the exact kind of
attention-getting and thought-provoking advertising Apple
desperately needed. Clow loved the idea as well, and we directed

everyone in the room to start blowing it out in TV and other
media.
At this point, the entire team started working on television

concepts, and several art directors started finding other famous
black-and-white images that would be turned into magazine ads.
Meanwhile, Clow had Jennifer Golub, one of the agency's most
talented and artistic broadcast producers, begin looking for video
footage of legendary people. Typically in a new business pitch or
when we were trying to construct a new campaign from scratch,
we would build what we called “rip-o-matics” or what are often
referred to as a “mood” or “concept” videos. These videos are
usually only intended to be seen by the client, and they serve as a
set-up for the campaign. When creating television commercials,
you need to keep within the network constraints of costly 30- or
60-second time slots, but with a mood video, time isn’t an issue,
and the primary objective is to create a feeling or tone of voice.
Clow came up with the inspired idea of using Seal’s haunting song
“Crazy,” with the key lyric, “We’re never going to survive unless
we get a little crazy” as the driving force to the video. I worked
with Clow on a title card explaining the concept that throughout
history, true visionaries have gone against the grain and thought
differently, and Apple makes tools for these types of people.
After the video played, a series of title cards appeared.
There are people who see the world

differently.
They see things in new ways.
They invent, create, imagine.
We make tools for these kinds of people.
Because while some might see them as

the crazy ones,
we see genius.
(FADE TO APPLE LOGO AND TAGLINE)
Think different.
The video, cut by Dan Bootzin, Chiat’s gifted in-house editor, was
strong and moving. It was also about two minutes long. We
relentlessly tried to cut the video down to a 60-second spot,
thinking Jobs would want to turn it into a television commercial
if we won the pitch, but the lyrics wouldn’t work in the cut-down
format. While I believed the video was great as a mood piece, I
always felt I could write something with more teeth and staying
power. I thought if Jobs liked the direction we were heading, then
I would write a more impactful commercial later.
With the mood video finished, a great outdoor and print

campaign in place and a few storyboarded TV concepts drawn up,
we had a day to do a pitch run-through at the agency. In a
traditional pitch scenario, three or four of us would have roles
throughout the presentation, but because Clow had a past
relationship with Jobs and we had only one campaign to share, I
suggested Clow do the entire pitch presentation — from the
thinking behind the campaign all the way through to the creative
executions. Lee was always an amazing presenter, and he was so
passionate about Apple that I felt the rest of us would only
interrupt his flow. Lee and the rest of the team agreed.
Next: Steve Jobs' reaction
The pitch
A small handful of us flew to San Jose, and we were directed to a

very compact conference room at Apple where we set up the
presentation. Jobs walked in with a few other people from Apple,
and on that day he seemed like he was in very good spirits. Clow
began the pitch, and the more he started talking, the more
enthusiastic and passionate he became. He took Jobs through our
thinking and walked him through the outdoor, print and TV

spots. He closed with the mood video and finished by saying he
thought this was the right campaign and we were the right
agency.
Jobs was quiet during the pitch, but he seemed intrigued

throughout, and now it was time for him to talk. He looked
around the room filled with the “Think Different” billboards and
said, “This is great, this is really great … but I can’t do this. People
already think I’m an egotist, and putting the Apple logo up there
with all these geniuses will get me skewered by the press.” The
room was totally silent. The “Think Different” campaign was the
only campaign we had in our bag of tricks, and I thought for
certain we were toast. Steve then paused and looked around the
room and said out loud, yet almost as if to his own self, “What am
I doing? Screw it. It’s the right thing. It’s great. Let’s talk
tomorrow.” In a matter of seconds, right before our very eyes, he
had done a complete about-face.
After the win
After we had officially won the business, Steve (as predicted) said
he wanted to run the Seal video as a commercial. He had become
mesmerized with the video, and he wanted to cut it down to a :60.
We told him we had unsuccessfully tried this before the pitch, but
we would try some more. We tried again and again, but it still
wouldn’t work. There were also some issues with getting the
rights from Seal, but that basically didn’t matter. The lyrics
provided a powerful element to the video, and when they were cut
up or eliminated entirely, the piece lost its power. Lee and I flew
back to Apple to go over general business, and we told Steve the
mood piece was never intended to be a spot and it wouldn’t cut
down. He wasn’t very happy about it. I told him I would write a
manifesto that would be even better. I was always moved by the
movie "Dead Poets Society," starring Robin Williams, and
particular pieces of the movie had made a major impact on me.
The emotion and the context of the movie very much related to
what I wanted to capture for Apple. Below are some key passages
from "Dead Poets" that resonated with me and ultimately served
as inspiration for the Apple script.
“We must constantly look at things in a

different way. Just when you think you
know something, you must look at it in a
different way. Even though it may seem
silly or wrong, you must try. Dare to
strike out and find new ground.”
“Despite what anyone might tell you,

words and ideas can change the world.”
“We don’t read and write poetry because

it’s cute. We read and write poetry
because we are members of the human
race. And the human race is filled with
passion. Poetry, beauty, love, romance.
These are what we stay alive for. The
powerful play goes on and you may
contribute a verse. What will your verse
be?”
I quoted a few lines from "Dead Poets" and asked Steve if he’d
seen the movie, and he said, “Of course I have. Robin Williams is
a personal friend of mine.” I told Steve I would write something
in a similar tone of voice, and we’d come back in a week.
I went back to the agency and worked non-stop day and night. I
filled my journal with countless handwritten scripts. I wrote
everything with the mindset it would be spoken by Robin
Williams. I had two sections that I loved. The opening, which I
had written to feel like a titled poem …
“To the crazy ones. Here’s to the misfits.

The rebels. The troublemakers. The
people who see the world differently.”
and the closing:
“The people who are crazy enough to

believe they can change the world are
the ones who actually do.”
I felt the opening was powerful because I designed it to sync up

with the images of the geniuses and have a certain shock value. I
thought about the brilliant people throughout history and the
struggles they went through. Many lived tortured existences, and
it was becoming clear to me that they shared a common thread.
Like Apple, they all had amazing visions, but also like Apple, all of
them at one point or another were given unflattering labels.
Martin Luther King was seen as a troublemaker before he was
universally seen as a saint, the rebellious Ted Turner was laughed
out of town when he first tried to sell the concept of a 24-hour
news channel, and it's been said that before Einstein was
celebrated as the world’s greatest thinker, he was thought to be
just a guy with crazy ideas. Of course in 1997, Apple was being
called a “toy” that was only for “creative types,” and it was being
chastised for not having the same operating system as everyone
else. But I felt this copy would speak to the fans and get people
who weren’t on our side to re-evaluate their thinking and realize
that being different is a good thing. Ralph Waldo Emerson once
said, “To be great is to be misunderstood,” and I always believed
that was the general concept behind the “Think Different”
campaign.
I believed the end line of the script

was wonderfully succinct and
beautifully poetic. It was my favorite
part of the copy. I struggled a bit
with the middle and wrote endless
versions because that is where the Early writing for To The Crazy
Ones. Rob originally wanted Robin
piece needs to turn the corner and
Williams to voice the
speak about the relationship or commercial.... [+]
commonality that these geniuses

share with Apple while not being too much of a hard sell.
Eventually, I had a few versions that I felt worked nicely. I shared

my scripts with Lee, and he thought they were good. He made a
couple tweaks, and we put my voice on a 60-second rough cut.
We shared it with quite a few people around the office, and
several people said it gave them goosebumps.
continued...
Lee and I flew to Cupertino to play the spot in person to Jobs.

Only the three of us were in the room. We played the spot once,
and when it finished, Jobs said, “It sucks! I hate it! It’s
advertising agency shit! I thought you were going to write
something like 'Dead Poets Society!' This is crap!”
Clow said something like, “Well, I

take it you don’t want to see it
again.” And Steve continued to go on
a rant about how we should get the
writers from "Dead Poets Society" or
some “real writers” to write Credit: John G.
Mabanglo/AFP/Getty Images
something.
I was taken aback by his tirade. I had poured my heart and soul
into the piece, and I had played what I believed was a key role in
the entire architecture of the campaign, and he was going off on
me. I told him, “Steve, you may not like the piece, but it doesn’t
suck.” Jobs continued to say he thought it was crap, and Clow,
trying to put the fire out, said we’d go back and try some other
things.
The original script we presented to Jobs (as taken from my files)

is below. As you can see, it’s very close to the final script that
would eventually go to air.
To the crazy ones.
Here’s to the misfits. The rebels. The

troublemakers.
Here’s to the ones who see the world

differently.
They’re the ones who invent and imagine

and create.
They’re the ones who push the human

race forward.
While some may see them as the crazy

ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy

enough to believe they can change the
world are the ones who actually do.
FADE TO APPLE LOGO AND LINE “Think

different.”
When Clow and I left the building, I told Clow I had given the
script everything I had, and I thought it was best he get someone
else to deal with Jobs. I told him Apple had taken up a ton of my
time, and I needed to spend more time on my duties as creative
director on the agency’s two largest accounts, Nissan and Infiniti.
Clow agreed.
When we returned to the agency, I went back to putting my

energies into our car clients. Meanwhile, Lee put the Apple TV
assignment out to various copywriters within the agency and
brought in a few noted freelancers, too. One of the writers given
the assignment was Ken Segall. Ken was a highly gifted
writer/creative director who was hired shortly after we won the
Apple business. Ken had worked with Jobs in the past, and Clow
convinced Ken to leave his job at an agency in New York (Y&R)
and work for us in Los Angeles on the Apple business. Upon
Ken’s arrival in L.A., he was quickly given the task to work on the
TV script along with all the other writers. One day, Ken came to
my office and said, “Jobs has seen a ton of scripts, and he’s gone
full circle …we’re moving ahead with your ‘Crazy Ones’ script. I
made some tweaks. I hope you don’t mind.”
Ken had added some beautiful additions to the TV script, and he

created a long copy version of the script that was turned into a
magazine and newspaper ad. His additional touches were terrific,
and he truly did make the spot better than ever, but the heart and
soul of the spot from the original version stayed fully intact.
While I had always hoped Robin Williams would be the voice

over, he refused to do any form of advertising, so they ended up
going with Richard Dreyfuss. I always felt Tom Hanks or
Dreyfuss would be the next best choices. Clow always wanted
Jobs to do the read, and I’ve heard the version Jobs laid down,
but I never thought it was the right thing. It seemed too self-
serving to me. I think the selection of Dreyfuss was an excellent
one. I later used Robin Williams to voice a campaign for the
Olympics — he obliged because it was pro-bono — and he was
truly amazing. But Dreyfuss gave the “Crazy Ones” spot a slow,
gritty and unique read that made each word seem all the more
important. In my mind, Dreyfuss ended up being the perfect
choice, and he would have been next to impossible to top.
After the outdoor campaign went up and the spot aired, it wasn’t
long before Apple became the talk of the town. Some of the talk
wasn’t good. A writer for the Los Angeles Times ripped on the
campaign, saying something along the lines of, “It’s perfect that
Apple is doing a campaign with a bunch of dead guys because the
brand will be dead soon, too.” But the great thing was—good or
bad—people were talking about a brand that had fallen off their
radar. And they were talking a lot. Apple clearly had a pulse, and
while they weren’t strong as a lion, they certainly gave the
impression they were. This got the Apple faithful fired up, it got
the fence-sitters back on board, and it got an audience that once
thought of Apple as semi-cool, but semi-stupid to suddenly think
about the brand in a whole new way. Apple was off to the races
and about to make history.
Next: How "Think Different" transformed Apple

Final thoughts
While Steve Jobs didn’t create the advertising concepts, he does

deserve an incredible amount of credit. He was fully responsible
for ultimately pulling the trigger on the right ad campaign from
the right agency, and he used his significant influence to secure
talent and rally people like no one I’ve ever seen before. Without
Steve Jobs there’s not a shot in hell that a campaign as
monstrously big as this one would get even close to flying off the
ground. But while Steve accomplished more amazing things than
perhaps any business person before him, a lot of people helped
him get there. And without some very dedicated advertising
people, Apple’s incredible rise from flame to fame probably never
would have happened.
When the “Think Different” campaign launched, Apple

immediately felt the boost despite having no significant new
products. Within 12 months, Apple’s stock price tripled. A year
after the “Think Different” launch, Apple introduced their multi-
colored iMacs. The computers represented revolutionary design,
and they became some of the best-selling computers in history.
But without the “Think Different” campaign preceding and
supporting them, it’s likely the jellybean-colored and gumdrop-

shaped machines would have been viewed by the press and
general public as just more “toys” from Apple.
Even with my painful run-ins with

Steve, things ended up working out
pretty well. The “Think Different”
campaign would win many awards,
and the “Crazy Ones” would go on to
win several commercial-of-the-year
honors.
The creative credits had many of us

listed—and Clow made sure to put
Clio award (photo courtesy of Rob
Steve Jobs on the list, too. I always
Siltanen)
thought that was cool because the
campaign truly required the contribution and dedication of many.
Craig Tanimoto and I would go on to do a lot of enjoyable work
for other brands, and we remain the closest of friends. Ken Segall
would go on to create the wonderful iMac launch campaign and
do tons of outstanding work for Apple before eventually returning
to New York.
Several other brilliant creative people made sizeable

contributions as well—people such as Yvonne Smith, Margaret
Midget Keen, Jessica Shulman, Jennifer Golub and Dan Bootzin
dedicated their talent and enormous amounts of time to the
Apple cause. So did Chiat’s remarkable media director, Monica
Karro. And outstanding creative people such as Duncan Milner,
Eric Grunbaum and Susan Alinsangan have kept the flame
burning with one fantastic campaign after the next — all thanks
to the enduring talent, guidance and patience of Lee Clow.
Despite the sad death of Steve Jobs, his legacy and impact on the
world will be remembered forever. I can’t help but to think that
his life may have been cut short, but his memory will outlast us
all. Apple seems to have done pretty well, too. In 1997, they were
in deep trouble, and this year, they were ranked the most valuable
company in the world. Crazy? You better believe it.
About the Author
Rob spent ten of his 23 years in the advertising business at

TBWA/Chiat/Day in Los Angeles. In 1990, at the age of 26, he
was made the youngest creative director in the history of the
agency and headed Chiat/Day’s largest account for nine years.
Before his departure in his role as creative director/managing
partner Rob oversaw five accounts with total media billings of
over $700 million. His accomplishments include: Time
magazine commercial of the year, Rolling Stone magazine
commercial of the year, USA Today commercial of the year,
Adweek commercial of the year, the Emmy award for
commercial of the year, five commercials in the permanent
collection at the New York Museum of Modern Art, the most
successful new-model launch in automotive history and the
winning of virtually every top advertising-industry honor, from
Gold One Show to Gold Clio to Grand Effie.
Rob and his imaginative work have been featured in articles by

The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and The
Wall Street Journal. He has also discussed his work on a variety
of television programs including Good Morning America and
The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Since forming Siltanen & Partners in November 1999, Rob’s

work has continued to receive the highest acclaim. His ad
campaign for Freeinternet.com, featuring a character called
“Baby Bob,” was turned into a sitcom for CBS. The Baby Bob
Show was the first prime-time sitcom inspired by an advertising
character, and was the 26th-highest-rated television show in
America.
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The Real Story Behind Apple&#39;s &#39;Think Different&#39; Campaign

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The Real Story Behind Apple&#39;s &#39;Think Different&#39; Campaign

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7/3/24, 11:48 AM The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign

FORBES LEADERSHIP CMO NETWORK

The Real Story Behind

Dec 14, 2011, 12:20pm EST

Updated Dec 10, 2021, 09:41am EST

This article is more than 10 years old.

This post was written by Rob Siltanen, chairman and chief

Apple’s remarkable rise, coupled with Steve Jobs’ recent death,

How do I know what took place? I was there—right in the thick of

In writing this story, I’ve drawn from handwritten, dated creative

While I’ve seen a few inaccurate articles and comments floating

Email address Sign Up

Here’s the story.

The first meeting with Steve

On the plane ride to Apple, Lee told me that if we were asked to

When we arrived at Apple’s headquarters, a secretary showed us

Jobs walked into the conference room wearing his trademark

few print ads in the computer magazines aren’t going to do

Next: Finding the right idea

The creative process

Apple had some brand zealots in

The next week we gathered in a large conference room at the

pitch was no exception. About four different creative teams had

It was a billboard campaign that had simple black and white

The rainbow-colored logo served as stark contrast to the black

desperately needed. Clow loved the idea as well, and we directed

At this point, the entire team started working on television

After the video played, a series of title cards appeared.

There are people who see the world

They see things in new ways.

They invent, create, imagine.

We make tools for these kinds of people.

Because while some might see them as

(FADE TO APPLE LOGO AND TAGLINE)

With the mood video finished, a great outdoor and print

Next: Steve Jobs' reaction

A small handful of us flew to San Jose, and we were directed to a

thinking and walked him through the outdoor, print and TV

Jobs was quiet during the pitch, but he seemed intrigued

After the win

“We must constantly look at things in a

“Despite what anyone might tell you,

“We don’t read and write poetry because

“To the crazy ones. Here’s to the misfits.

and the closing:

“The people who are crazy enough to

I felt the opening was powerful because I designed it to sync up

I believed the end line of the script

commonality that these geniuses

Eventually, I had a few versions that I felt worked nicely. I shared

Lee and I flew to Cupertino to play the spot in person to Jobs.

Clow said something like, “Well, I

The original script we presented to Jobs (as taken from my files)

To the crazy ones.

Here’s to the misfits. The rebels. The

Here’s to the ones who see the world

They’re the ones who invent and imagine

They’re the ones who push the human

While some may see them as the crazy

Because the people who are crazy

FADE TO APPLE LOGO AND LINE “Think

When we returned to the agency, I went back to putting my

Ken had added some beautiful additions to the TV script, and he

While I had always hoped Robin Williams would be the voice

The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign

The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign