Apple is close to abandoning a 30 year relationship with TBWA/Media Arts Lab and putting their future into the hands of Beats Audio co-founder Jimmy Iovine.
The Cupertino company is said to be developing their own in-house marketing solutions for print, radio, television and internet advertising. They have hired close to 1,000 media buyers and creatives to assist in this effort. Apple is hoping to also leverage Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine to bolster its marketing efforts. Beats is well-known for its aggressive marketing tactics and clever advertising campaigns that have skyrocketed its headphones to popularity.
The uber fashionable Beats brand, which Apple acquired for $3 billion, outmaneuvered official World Cup sponsor Sony with its “Game Before the Game” ad campaign. So many soccer stars sported Beats that Sony had them banished from the arenas.
Apples initial troubles with their long term advertising firm TBWA began in 2013 when Samsungs “The Next Big Thing is Already Here” campaign started to go viral. Despite continuing a relationship with TBWA, Apple has pitted its in-house team against its longtime partner and it has also invited outside agencies to offer pitches on major projects, suggesting tension between the two companies has been ongoing.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.