Apple (AAPL, Financial) wants to revamp its marketing division and has hired a high profile branding agency individual, Wolff Olins Global CEO, Karl Heiselman, to take charge of the company’s marketing efforts. This is part of the Cupertino’s effort to go for a complete overhaul of the way marketing is performed. Heiselman, who has served more than 14 years in Wolff Olins, is expected to join office sometime next month. He spent more than half his tenure in the branding agency as the CEO of the company.
News regarding Apple’s new hire flashed days after Apple and Samsung’s (SSNLF, Financial) continued patent fight wherein documents presented at the court revealed the former’s growing concern over its go-to advertisement agency TBWA/Media Arts Lab.
This is not the first time that Heiselman is being associated with the tech giant. He was previously engaged with Apple as a design contractor way back in the early 1990s. In one of his interviews in 2009, Heiselman appreciated Steve Jobs effort “to go back to who we really are” when the company was somewhat going astray.
Apple has made this move of hiring a new marketing veteran on purpose. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing isn’t quite satisfied with the way the company’s marketing efforts are taking shape. In one of the emails disclosed at the court in the ongoing patent war between Apple and Samsung, Schiller wrote to the current Apple CEO Tim Cook that he isn’t happy with what TBWA\Media Arts Lab is presenting for Apple, that once used to create the most iconic adds for the company.
Hiring Heiselman is part of the company’s strategy to introduce new ad agencies. In addition to this, Apple has joined hands with four other ad agencies Area 17, Interpublic Group’s, Kettle, and WPP’s. AdAge sources state that its decision of hiring Heiselman would not impact its pact with the other four ad agencies.
However, all this suggests that Apple is in the process of bringing about major changes in the marketing and branding arena. According to a source that requested anonymity, last year in September AdAge reported that the company had plans to increase the size of its in-house marketing team to almost twice. In addition to this, Apple also wishes to maintain a tighter check on the advertising team to see that the brand message conveyed is correct.
The company’s been facing stiff competition from archrival Samsung in the smartphones and tablet segment. It is therefore imperative for the Cupertino company to strengthen its marketing and advertisement campaigns. Apple needs to raise the bar of its marketing efforts to battle its war with Samsung that has taken away a good chunk of its market share. Such tension has been the root cause why the company took some major decision. Let’s hope this decision fits into Apple’s goals and aspirations.
