Apple Hires Wolff Olins CEO Karl Heiselman To Join Its Marketing Team
Apple has reportedly hired Karl Heiselman, chief executive officer of branding agency Wolff Olins, to join the company in “a marketing communications role,” according to a recently published article.
The news comes from Ad Age, which explains that Heiselman confirmed his departure from Wolff Olins on Friday. The former CEO has been with Wolff Olins for a total of 14 years, and during his seven years serving as chief executive officer Heiselman has worked with clients including Microsoft, SWATCH, (RED), and – of course – Apple.
As a reminder, Apple is still looking to expand its in-house creative design team from around 300 staffers to 500 or even 600, the publication adds. Ad Age continues:
The latest hire comes as Apple is under pressure to ramp up its digital marketing and compete with Samsung, which tends to take more risks marketing on social media and experiential platforms.
Though we’re unsure when Heiselman will be joining Apple, his replacement – Ije Nwokorie – is set to take over as CEO on April 17. Ad Age notes that in previous interviews, Heiselman has been quoted as calling Apple “a little too cool for its own good.” It’ll be interesting to see how Cupertino’s marketing develops over the course of the coming year.
As a reminder, one of Apple’s recent ad endeavors is its colorful iPhone 5c Tumblr advertisements. These surfaced online last month, and appeared as part of Apple’s wider effort to encourage sales of the less expensive (and less successful) iPhone handset.
We’ll keep you updated with further information as we receive it.
In the meantime, see: Android Chief Claims Google Invented Key Features Before Apple, WSJ: Amazon To Launch Its Own 3-D Smartphone In September, and AppAdvice Daily: It’s Game Time, New And Unreleased Gaming Titles To Look Forward To.
