14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has embarked on a hiring spree to combat Samsung’s aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at steering away attention from its line of iDevices. With the rumored iWatch on the way, the Cupertino giant has reportedly nabbed yet another person with experience in just the right areas to help spur sales of the revolutionary product.
Ad Age reports that Wolff Olins Global CEO Karl Heiselman is leaving the agency to join Apple in May. He will handle marketing communications for the Cupertino, California tech giant.
Heiselman confirmed his upcoming tenure by email, saying that he accepted “an exciting new role at Apple after 14 fantastic years at Wolff Olins.” The company he leaves behind in the hands of Ije Nwokorie also confirmed the news.
“After an amazing 14 years at Wolff Olins, seven as Global CEO, Karl Heiselman is moving on to join Apple in California,” a Wolff Olins spokeswoman said.
“It's an exciting new chapter at Wolff Olins,” added Brian Boylan, chairman of Wolff Olins. “Ije is a natural choice to carry on the tremendous impact Karl has had on our business; creating a platform for us to do our best work on behalf of an incredible roster of clients, achieve healthy growth for the business and see that our people and culture continue to thrive.”
Heiselman is not at his first stint with Apple. He worked as a design contractor for the company in the early 1990s, just before Steve Jobs made his epic comeback to help put Apple back on the right track.
In a 2009 interview with the Guardian, Heiselman said, “It was a bit of a weird time, they were trying to find their way. The big lesson I learned was they were trying to be somebody they weren't and Jobs came back and said very clearly, ‘we are going to go back to who we really are’.”
He also revealed in that interview that he was concerned about Apple’s image in the long term. “I think it might be in danger of becoming too cool, maybe not too cool, but too slick,” he said, likely referring to the company’s self-imposed image of top innovator in the tech industry.
Another interesting tidbit that comes out of the Ad Age report is that, shortly after he worked at Apple in the 90, Heiselman went on to become a creative director at Swatch. Perhaps, then, it is not surprising that Cupertino wants to take back someone with experience both in watches and the Apple organization.