How Taylor Swift Took a Tumble for Apple Music

Unless you've been living under a rock (or a treadmill) for the past week, you can't fail to have seen pop's golden girl, Taylor Swift, literally falling for Apple Music in the subscription service's latest campaign.

Initially released on Swift's Instagram account to tie in with the platform's newly launched 60-second video format, Taylor vs Treadmill quickly racked up 1.4 million likes and has since reached over 70 million eyeballs - while iTunes sales of Drake's 'Jumpman', the track featured in the ad, have shot up by 431 per cent.

The first of three spots starring Swift, Treadmill was created in-house by Apple Music's head of content, Larry Jackson, produced by Black Hand Cinema and shot by Believe Media's Anthony Mandler, who directed a previous ad for the brand featuring country star Kenny Chesney.

Below, Mandler tells shots about working without an agency, Swift's comic timing and what to expect from the rest of the campaign.     

When did you first get involved with the campaign?

Right around the end of December, Larry Jackson [head of content, Apple Music] approached me with the framework of the idea that he and Taylor had outlined. She was passionate about crafting spots that got to the heart of music's presence in our lives. How it's there for every moment, every emotion. It's quite a universal concept. 

The Apple Music service plays the role of your ultimate partner, serving as the gateway to discovery. From there the three of us got together a couple of times to fully flesh out the campaign.

Why was no agency involved in this case and what were the advantages of working outside of the traditional agency-client-director structure?

The choice to do this without an agency was really just a reaction that the initial spark of the creative came from Taylor herself. From there Larry and I worked with her to develop the ideas into a campaign. Similar to the music world that we come from, we felt that a small, tight creative team that had ultimate decision-making power within us was the best approach.  Our thought wasn't: 'We don't want an agency', rather that the creative flow was such that it wasn't exactly necessary. 

How did you come up with the idea for the spot? Tell us a bit about the creative process…

Well, it's all based on a true story. I think Taylor wanted to capture the importance that music plays in her everyday life. For us we helped to contextualise that and create the visual experience. Really, it was very seamless and organic. Everything in the spots has a personal meaning to her. Fitting the operating system and her interaction with it was really about going a layer deeper into her personal journey. Hence the interior voice rather than on-camera lines. 

Why was Drake’s 'Jumpman' the perfect track for the ad? Did you consider any others?

It's commonly known that Taylor loves hip-hop music. So the track was her pick. 'Jumpman' inspires a certain type of energy and attitude; it felt like the perfect track for the moment - with just enough bravado to suggest that something treacherous could happen.

Were you surprised by Taylor's comic ability?

She is incredibly funny and has impeccable timing. That should be clear from Taylor vs Treadmill and certainly in the forthcoming two spots in the campaign.

What was behind the decision to launch the spot on Instagram?

With creative like this, we wanted a high impact launch. Taylor's Instagram audience is over 70m so we had an outlet at our fingertips that would give the global audience the opportunity to have ownership over the project by downloading it and moving it around through the social media channels. Naturally, it's the type of spot that you want to share with others so its potential to spread across the globe was important. I think the hashtag she crafted (#TAYLORvsTREADMILL) was brilliant and helped to further the global conversation.   

This was always going to be supported with a traditional media buy, but unlike tradition the choice was to use the power of the internet first. 

Have you been surprised by the huge public response to the ad?

I'm not surprised at all by the success of the spot. It's honest and funny, and it's all Taylor.   Whether you're a fan or not you can't help but love her for this. 

There are two further spots set for release – what can you tell us about them?

The only thing I can say about the next two spots is that they're continuations of the same theme. Music is there for every moment of your life. No matter what mood you're feeling, it's got a song for you - and Apple Music is really the ultimate service to discover that music.