Roger Fingas
Months after the hiring was announced, Apple on Friday officially instituted Tor Myhren as the company's new VP of Marketing Communications, replacing Hiroki Asai, a now-retired 18-year veteran with the company.
Myhren will be responsible for advertising, the company's internet presence, and packaging design, according to his newly-uploaded profile. Given the importance of the position, he will be reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook.
Myhren is a well-known figure in the ad industry, having previously held several high-level positions with the multinational giant Grey Group. In the two years prior to signing with Apple, he served as the company's worldwide chief creative officer.
A number of famous ad campaigns are linked to Myhren, such as E*Trade's talking baby, Oprah Winfrey's car giveaway, and "shock" ads like a Super Bowl spot for the NFL, promoting the league's stance against domestic abuse.
Although Myhren is unlikely to make use of any shock tactics at Apple, his appointment could sway the direction of the company's marketing, which has already drifted from a focus on products to "lifestyle" branding, putting special emphasis on celebrity endorsements from people like Drake and Taylor Swift.
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27 Comments
Apple's designs having become stale recently that they now resort to celebrity advertising. I miss the days when their products was so well designed that they just simply sells itself. Hopefully they'll get past the funk they're in and get back right back to it..
It looks like Myren is still with the Grey Group. And why could the bird droppings have been cleaned up before the shoot?
A new VP of Marketing Communications? Awesome, exactly what Apple needed.
what about phil schiller? isn't he in charge of marketing? this guy will report directly to cook apparently.