Apple | Events Marketing

Event marketing took shape as a distinct marketing discipline in the early 1980s, as companies increasingly used live events to promote their brands, products, and services.

The practice expanded beyond sponsorship to include the creation of fully produced cultural experiences, designed to build connections with audiences and generate a positive halo effect for the brands behind them.

Apple turned that model on its head with the Macintosh launch in 1984: the product itself became the cultural event.

Apple has refined that playbook ever since, and other technology companies have followed—transforming sales meetings, conferences, and product launches into media events that generate attention far beyond the room, extending their reach beyond paid advertising.

The same focus and passion that shaped Apple’s public events also went into its internal gatherings—from sales meetings to celebrations of product shipments and company milestones.

Because these events were largely internal, the design work behind them was rarely seen by the outside world. Other organizations undoubtedly invested in their own events, but I doubt many took them to the extremes Apple did in the early ’80s.

I fell into event marketing in early 1984, when I was assigned to work with Apple’s internal trade show team on graphics and signage for the Macintosh launch. We were still riding high on the hoopla surrounding the “1984” Super Bowl commercial when one thing led to another, and I found myself designing graphics for the launch of the Apple //c.

No big deal. Right?

We had 54 days to provide design direction for an event at Moscone Center. That meant the stage, the exhibition area with 100 booths, themed signage, a company store, and an Apple Museum—all for a one-day event. Most specifications and design decisions had to be finalized within weeks of my assignment so materials could be ordered and fabrication could begin.

Wait. What’s this about an Apple Museum?

Since the Apple //c was the newest member of the Apple // product line, the launch team thought it would be great for attendees to see how the product line had evolved and get a glimpse of the Apple //c’s development process.

It should be easy, they said. We have all the material stored in a warehouse and an empty building where we can move it all so you can figure out how best to stage the space. The “museum” will sit between the conference hall and the exhibitors’ area. Here’s a handful of people who can tell you about the pieces—they’ve been around Apple for a while, so just ask.

Hmmm. Glad I asked.

What happened during those 54 days is something of a blur. We pulled a rabbit out of the hat again.

In hindsight, the “museum” was little more than a hallway arranged chronologically, filled with posters, photos, computer prototypes, sketches, shipped products, project T-shirts, tchotchkes, and television commercials playing on monitors. It was the best I could manage in the time we had. There was nothing special about the design—I simply applied the principles I’d learned in exhibit design classes. No thoughtful crafting of ideas. It was little more than a show-and-tell of related things grouped together with minimal context. Visitors were left to draw their own conclusions.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—the museum was such a success with attendees and Apple employees that I was asked to create another one near the visitor area at Apple headquarters. And that’s how I became Apple’s accidental museum curator. I reprised the role a couple more times, staging mobile versions for AppleWorld 1987 and Apple’s 10th anniversary celebration.

My work on product launches and events at Apple led to additional gigs after I left the company—including four Apple Worldwide Developers Conferences and work for Go Computer. Many of these engagements involved branding enormous spaces for events that lasted anywhere from a couple of hours to a full week.