Could Beats' Jimmy Iovine be Apple's next ad man?

July 15, 2014

Apple is rumored to be shaking up its advertising effort and speculation has it that longtime creative agency partner TBWA Media Labs may be out in favor of Beats' Jimmy Iovine. Apple had acquired Beats for a cool $3 billion, and it looks like that money will net Iovine a posh office heading up Apple's "Madison Avenue" efforts as the iPhone-maker is looking to reignite its marketing campaigns.

Though we don't have any confirmation on the outing of TBWA for an Iovine-headed campaign for Apple, the move would make sense as Beats has generated quite a buzz for the brand and Apple may try to leverage that.

This isn't the first time we've heard of a rumor that Apple may be turning away from its 30-year relationship with TBWA. In the past, we've heard that Apple may be hiring as many as 1,000 people to head up an in-house agency to offer competing pitches to those created by TBWA.

Right now, Apple seems to be trying to re-create its luxury luster hiring Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts for retail as well as watchmaker Tag Heuer's sales director. Whether the next wave of Apple ads will focus on that luxury cachet is unknown.

Apple has been under attack recently by rival Samsung, which created a catchy ad saying that iPhone users are wall-huggers, poking phone of the iPhone's poor battery life and the need to be tethered to a wall outlet.

Apple, in typical Apple fashion, has not commented on the rumors.

What do you think Apple will need to do in its marketing to compete with "the next big thing?" Do you think Iovine is the man for the job?

Source: NY Post