SAN FRANCISCO — Just how big is Apple’s next product reveal going to be? All signs point to it being a massive blowout of an event — far bigger than the standard iPhone “s” upgrade the world is expecting.
Could we finally be getting the long-rumored iPad Pro in addition to the iPhone 6s? Or the even more unicorn-like Apple TV set? Maybe a Dr. Dre performance of his new album Compton or a stateside version of the Apple Music Festival?
One thing’s certain: Apple is once again using its PR smarts to whip up a storm of interest in whatever it’s going to show the world Sept. 9. An expert blend of secrecy and bigger-than-big thinking shows that Apple is still a master of the marketing game. Even Siri’s getting in on the action, offering up snarky hints about the upcoming event.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Going big — really big
For starters, the venue is much larger than usual for one of these iPhone upgrade events, which are traditionally held each September. Apple’s Sept. 9 event will take place inside (and possibly around) San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. The hall holds 7,000 people, which is a big upgrade from usual Apple venues like the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (which is just a few blocks away from the Bill Graham Civic) or the Flint Center for the Performing Arts down the peninsula in Cupertino.
The supersize venue for the iPhone 6s event is the first tantalizing clue that Tim Cook and crew are about to lay something big on us. Stealthily setting up shop in this venue, which has deep ties to Apple’s roots, is just as savvy as erecting a mysterious building outside the Flint Center like Apple did for last year’s Apple Watch event.
Then there’s the intermittent street closures around the Bill Graham Civic. Granted by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, they give auditorium operator Another Planet Entertainment the option to shut down parking and lanes of traffic through Sept. 13.
On Thursday, one lane of traffic on Grove Street was shut down in front of the venue. Most of the activity was happening on the back and sides of the building, with a security guard or two at every corner and a handful of San Francisco police officers thrown in for good measure.
The classic San Francisco smell of urine wafted through the air and a smattering of homeless people milled about or slept in the tree-studded Civic Center Plaza across the street from the auditorium. I’m sure Apple can get that scrubbed clean in time for the big event.
City officials are mostly playing dumb about the event, or saying they can’t say a word due to nondisclosure agreements. Security guards and tradesmen working to outfit the auditorium are also keeping mum.
“It’s some special event!” one guard told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s bigger than a goddamned concert, I can tell you that.”
Myriad people came and went Thursday afternoon, used to the bustle around the busy plaza and apparently unaware of the amazing things being prepped inside the nondescript building.
Even the landlord of the Bill Graham Civic claims he doesn’t know what’s up — and professes amazement at the size of the Apple event.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Rob Reiter, project director for the Civic Center, told the Chronicle.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Secrecy is the secret ingredient
Then there’s the expertly crafted shroud of secrecy surrounding the iPhone 6s event — it’s perhaps the most important ingredient in Apple’s intoxicating marketing stew, and crucial when it comes to working Apple fans and the media into a frenzy.
Permit applications show the venue being booked for a “trade show” between Sept. 4 and 10 by Adams and Associates, an entertainment/audio-visual company operating out of Rohnert Park, California, according to a San Francisco Planning Department official who spoke with the Chronicle.
The company told Cult of Mac they couldn’t confirm or deny that they are working the event, but their LinkedIn and Yelp listings have been mutilated in the past two days.
The updated version of Adams and Associates’ LinkedIn page lists the outfit as a “fishery,” while the cached version says the company is “a premier corporate event design and production company.”
Meanwhile, the company’s cached Yelp listing says Adams and Associates specializes in “Audio, Video, Lighting and Staging Equipment rentals,” “Event Management” and “Show Production.”
Secrecy, misdirection, sleight-of-hand — Apple’s kinder, gentler PR team is pulling off some serious big-tent magic.
Turning up the volume on Apple Music
So, what’s this all working up to? While Cult of Mac’s in-house prognosticators suspect the extra-large iPad Pro will come at a yet-to-be-revealed October event, we strongly suspect Apple Music will be the star of the show come Sept. 9.
The free three-month trial period is about to end for Apple’s totally acceptable music-streaming service, and Cupertino needs to kick its marketing push into overdrive. Subscription numbers have been reasonably good, and Apple denies mass defections, but Cupertino needs Apple Music numbers to be a screaming streaming success if it’s going to steal Spotify’s crown and lay claim to the future of music.
Plugs from Apple’s music rainmaker Jimmy Iovine and tasteful TV ads are one thing, but Apple needs to break out the star power to really crank up the volume on Apple Music and drown out the haters.
They’ve got Dr. Dre and Trent Reznor on the payroll — it’s time to roll them out!
Or they could bring back Apple favorite Drake — only to perform this time, not to offer a boring speech onstage. Or turn us on to something truly inspiring from the kind of up-and-coming artists that Apple Music’s ballyhooed expert curation is supposed to deliver on a daily basis.
Bringing Dre and others onstage for command performances in front of a live audience, filled with the usual fawning tech press and a few of the frothing Apple faithful, could ignite interest in Apple Music. (Perhaps not coincidentally, this Apple event will be streamed live to Windows users for the first time ever. Talk about widening the net — let’s just hope the stream doesn’t crap out.)
Following up the iPhone 6s reveal by busting out a U.S. complement to London’s free Apple Music Festival — which was shortened to 10 days this year, by the way — could generate the kind of mammoth buzz Apple needs to move the needle when it comes to subscriptions for its fledgling streaming service. Let it spill over into the streets and into Civic Center Plaza.
Done properly, it might even erase the taint of Apple’s U2 debacle from the minds of music lovers everywhere.
Additional reporting by Buster Hein and Jim Merithew.
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
11 responses to “Apple’s iPhone 6s event will blow up the Internet”
Probably cause an earthquake in San Fran. I can only wish it will be in the middle of their event.
FWIW – Drake’s performance would be just as bad as a speech. He was the absolute worst headliner I’ve ever seen at Coachella this year. Such a waste. Kanye will give you a hell of a show though if you need a hip hop show!
Well written article!
I hate this kind of media hype, because it only serves to increase expectations to irrational levels, leading to mass disappointment because because the new/upgraded widget isn’t powered by green kryptonite and isn’t priced to be attractive to bottom dwellers.
This is just another one of those “Apple needs to do this or that” to be successful articles that have no basis in fact. Its pure speculation from someone paid to write, even when there’s nothing to write about.
Further, as demonstrated by the iPod and iPhone, Apple Watch or Apple Music do not have to significantly impact their respective industries (in their launch quarters), to wind up controlling those industries within 3 – 5 years (although the unsubstantiated hype makes it seem they are headed that way already).
This article really made me excited about this event. I think Apple will come out of left field how they did with the ‘5K’ iMac, and possibly some hype around some specific products/services that need it.
Maybe such a big area due to the rumored Apple TV, and maybe its all controlled by HomeKit? Either way I’m interested to see how it all plays out. Just be more secretive than all these iPhone leaks!
This article is just pure speculation that doesn’t even make any sense.
Maybe We will all get 3 more months free of Apple Music!
They don’t need to roll out Dre, he’s been nothing but a PR nightmare for Apple. His latest PR stunt apology didn’t go to well with his ex and his other victims. They can’t play the album at an event due to the N word being used, plus streaming of it went down 85% from the first week, so it’s best for them to snub the guy. I think Apple would be better off distancing themselves with the rap industry as a whole, they don’t need that type of attention, since they are now trying to go after corporate business with IBM, they need to have a more wholesome image. The ghetto image isn’t helping, it’s hurting their image.
Will there be a “One More Thing” ?
PLEASE Apple, spare us. Do not put that dre entity on stage. We have already surpassed overkill of seeing photos of it and the old, bald sidekick trying his best to look 57 years younger than he actually is. Leave them in their secret office where they belong. Thanks for your comprehension.
They are going to have Taylor Swift performing at the event. I have it on good information.
Plus, she will get massive publicity and Apple knows she helped them earlier this year. This is a win-win.