Launch the new member of Apple’s digital music family to a broader, younger and potentially less affluent audience than previously targeted by iPod. The launch had to showcase the individuality of iPod Shuffle and cut through the existing omnipresent awareness enjoyed by its older more established relative.

Excitement and interest engendered by the launch of the iPod Shuffle campaign - including extensive press coverage of the domination - has had a knock-on effect on retail stock: pre-orders outstrip current European availability 3:1, making iPod Shuffle the most sought-after new gadget of 2005.

We married the architecture of the tube station to the design of the creative with mesmerising impact. The stark simple 2-tone images covering large areas of previously uncharted media territory created the desired contrast between the aspirational iPod Shuffle and the grimy monotony of the tube. Many station ‘media-firsts’ were also instigated - ticket hall pillar-wraps, escalator friezes continuing seamlessly into arches and ceiling postings, with corridor wraps extending the presence to platform level.

From platform level to exit we surrounded our audience at this bottleneck of media touch points. As people filtered far and wide from other points of interaction with our advertising (TV, cinema, postcard racks, underground posters), we immersed them with our station domination before they poured out into the prime retail mecca of London’s West End. At this vibrant social and entertainment epicentre, our advertising provided word of mouth buzz and invaluable social currency for our audience.

Execute a targeted attention-grabbing media solution to dominate a key urban ‘contact point’ with our audience in the heart of London. The importance of retail outlet proximity, and the knowledge that our core consumer audience are heavy users of public transport, led us to identify Leicester Square tube station as the key location for our activity. Impact, relevance and innovation were the overwhelming factors that guided our media selection – our presence had to be unmissable and positively surprising.