The newest and most popular innovation in iPod technology is, for sure, the iPod video. Still, getting to this innovative device is just the result of a long research through the history of the iPod making.

The appearance of the iPod was owed to an increased marketing request: the lack of quality of the digital music players was noticeable to the interested consumers, as opposed to the growing number of digital devices, such as cameras, camcorders and organizers. Due to this fact, the Apple industries established a team of qualified engineers in order to develop the mechanism and design of the soon to be first iPod, which resulted in less than a year of technical and practical research. The launching of the new and exiting product was held on the 23rd of October 2001 and soon, the market embraced the new product. The evolution from the first iPod, which was revealed almost 5 years ago, till the iPod video reveals the intense and permanent research of the specialized engineers. The next significant step in the evolution of this device was the release of the 2 versions iPod, for both Mac and Windows users, which highly increased the sales and the number of potential customers. Actually, the iPod sold at such a high rate, that the permanent improvement of the product, in order to maintain the leading position on the market, was a necessary request (the selling rate recorded over 42 million units since the release of the product).

In 2005, the new and better iPod was revealed, when celebrating the 4th generation of these devices; the new model introduced, for the first time, the color screen. In the spring of 2006, the Samsung company announced that they were about to provide the media processor for a new iPod model, an improved version of the Apple’s device. Soon after, the 5th generation of iPods introduced the iPod video, meaning it has video playback capacities, video playing and better organization features. The launching was celebrated together with the innovative new models of iPods: the iPod nano, with color screen and the iPod shuffle, which were the best sellers of 2005.

The 5th generation of the iPod was about to reveal many new and exiting features of the small device, all under the slogan One more thing… Basically, the iPod video or the video iPod was available on the market in both 30 GB and 60 GB capacity models, had ability to play both MPEG-4 and H.264and much higher resolution, up to 480/480. Having a 16-bit color screen and being able to display all kinds of videos on a TV set, the new product was a market hit since its appearance. Regarding the design, the new iPod comes, as the previous iPod (the nano model of the 4th generation) in 2 colors, white and black, but it has a multitude of applications and improved features: World Clock, Stopwatch, and Screen Lock applications, a smaller earphone, a thin slipcase, AC adapter and FireWire cable. Regarding the dimensions, the new iPod is 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 inches for the 30 GB version and 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.55 inches for the 60 GB version (which, in the case of the new model, are marketed at the same price). The screen size was modified to 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) diagonally, 0.5 inches (12.7 mm), meaning that the video iPod screen is larger than the previous one. Even more, the product is thinner than the last model, iPod nano, and the battery life increased from 16 hours to 20 hours. Still, being a video device, watching movies reduces the life of the battery to around 2 to 3 hours.

With an exiting and evolving history, the iPod manages to be one of the most innovative products on the digital devices` market, with millions of customers all around the world and increasing sells.

The ipod presents, besides an interesting technical evolution, an original and innovative way of promoting and advertising, which differs in style and slogans from the first ads of the first generation of iPods, to the most recent iPod video advertising campaigns.

The first campaigns concentrated upon the new product promoted both the iPod and iTunes brands. These advertising campaigns were leaded by the slogan A thousand songs, in your pocket, which was launched in November 2001. The colors which were selected for the first iPod campaigns were brisk and full of live: turquoise, cyclamen, bright grass green and other joyful nuances were chosen to represent the idea of both music and video, meaning both visual and auditory sensations. The wrap advertising was used, at the same time with the other and more traditional types of BTL advertising: there were various light rail wraps in busy centers or midtowns, using the same visual message as the banners. Large banners and billboards were displayed in various busy centers, with high visibility. The promotion was intense, forward and dynamic, with only intense and optimum quality for all the elements: the colors were vivid, the actual ads were large and the represented images were dynamic. The TV ads were concentrated upon the idea of music, dancing and mobility and the text of these was just limited to the slogan of the product and of the Apple brand (Think clear).

In 2003, the new advertising campaign that Apple introduced was due to the conjunction with the launch of the iTunes music store. The campaign concentrated mostly on the interpretation of popular songs by different persons wearing iPods. This campaign was a big hit, due to the fact that it was based on famous pop, rock and hip hop songs, belonging to artists such as Eminem or Pink.

Later that year, in October 2003, iPod released a new series of ads, based on the silhouette campaign, which was the base for most of the print ads, like banners, billboards and wraps, even from the appearance of the first generation of iPods: the images basically showed black silhouettes of people dancing while wearing iPods. This new campaign was realized based on the same intense colors and dynamic images like the first campaign. Even more, the success of the campaign was owed to the popularity of the performed music, such as The Vines’ Ride, The Caesars’ Jerk it Out, Gorillaz’ Feel Good Inc., Steriogram’s Walkie-Talkie Man, Jet’s Are You Gonna Be My Girl, Propellerheads’ Take California, Ozomatli’s Saturday Night, N*E*R*D’s Rock Star (Jason Nevin’s Mix), Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out or Daft Punk’s Technologic.

With the release of the new iPod video, the image of the product and its promotion began to change. The slogan of the new product was One more thing…, meaning the new and expected video feature, which was a big plus comparing with the latest model of 2005. The ads for this new product were focused on the video playing capabilities of the device. Actually, the ad featured U2’s Original of the Species from the Vertigo: Live From Chicago DVD. Based on the same idea, there were 2 more videos which featured Eminem and Wynton Marsalis. Still, at the same time, the ad which was presenting the dancing silhouettes continued, but it was modified into something more representative for the new video device: the backgrounds were not simple vivid colors anymore, they were textured and had various patterns, symbolizing the evolution concerning the image and the video properties of the new model of iPod. The 2 variants of the videos featuring the 2 popular artists ranged from an orange urban theme of the hip hop music to a cool blue one of the jazz look.

The latest iPod ad, released in March 2006 is not based on the silhouette style anymore; instead, the producers opted for a video showing various CD covers, integrating in an iPod nano, under the same older slogan A thousand songs, in your pocket.