Apple, at its core, believes privacy is a fundamental human right. Every Apple product is designed from the ground up to empower people to choose what they share and with whom. Our belief put us at odds with the rest of tech. Google, Amazon, and Facebook built entire businesses off luring people to trade their privacy for access and convenience. It was more important than ever to demonstrate that there is a choice. We set out to intercept the conversation during tech’s biggest moment: CES.

Apple had never gone to CES, held each January in Las Vegas. But in 2019, many products displayed would be powered by Amazon or Google technology—two of the biggest offenders when it came to privacy. Our ambition was to do something that would disrupt the narrative and clarify Apple’s difference.

We unleashed a media surgical strike.

More than 4,400 companies were showcasing at CES. Google and Amazon had spent significant sums on big takeovers and interactive exhibits.

Instead of adding to the clutter, our media team secured a razor-sharp placement: a single billboard on the side of a hotel - which all attendees would see as they entered the Las Vegas Convention Center.

It would be a risk. With a fraction of the spend, would it be enough to get the world talking?

Our insight: Privacy is the kind of innovation people actually need

Over 182,000 people attend CES to see the latest and greatest gadgets. And millions more read about them online, on social media, and in the countless pieces of coverage from the event.

In truth, out of thousands of “innovations”, people’s privacy was mostly out of sight, out of mind.

Apple had proved time and again that great innovations don’t have to come at the expense of people’s privacy and security.

Our difference gave us the right to speak out.

Key message: Apple = Privacy by Design.

Our target audience was all 180,000+ CES attendees, and the millions following the festival from afar.

With one single billboard, Apple became one of the most talked about brands of CES 2019.

The headline brings a witty twist to the famous slogan of Las Vegas, to make a provocative statement that captures the truth of the product: “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” We ran the billboard for approximately 9 days leading up to and during CES. Apple made no announcements about the billboard and did not supplement it with additional media. It was discovered organically and then the story spread from there.

- Over 200 articles around the globe resulting in 700 million impressions;

- 21% Increase in Traffic to apple.com/Privacy;

- Privacy became one of the key topics at CES;

- 25,000+ Tweets;

- Top 5 Most Talked About Brand at CES.