Philip Houska Last week at Apple was, among other things, in the spirit of managerial changes. Jeff Williams and Johny Srouji were promoted, and Phil Schiller, head of marketing, received new competences under his wing. In addition to Apple Stores, which he will take care of, he is also affected by a new acquisition - next year he will be assisted by Tor Myhren from the position of Vice President for Marketing and Communications.
Myhren previously served as creative director for Internet advertising agency Gray Group and as managing director for Gray Group's New York office. However, something else awaits him at Apple. Indeed, he will be in charge of a wide range of products from TV commercials to product packaging and brick-and-mortar exterior design. It's clear that he can't wait for this position, and Apple also promises a lot of positive things from him.
“My eight years at Gray Group were not the best of my career, they were the best of my entire life. I cherished every minute there and enjoyed working with my friend and mentor Jim Heekin. There are no words to express how proud I am of what we have built together. Apple has had a very positive influence on my life and has inspired me in my creative work more than anything else," Myhren confided to Business Insider adding that he would be delighted to join Tim Cook's team.
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It must be added that Myhren is no newcomer to the industry. Exactly opposite. Not only was he the creative mind behind E*Trade Baby's Super Bowl ad, but he also handled the DirectTV campaign with Rob Lowe and turned Ellen DeGeneres into a so-called CoverGirl. Myhren took part in interesting projects that brought him to prominence and earned him the favor of larger and more respected companies.
For the past six years, he has been at Gray Group's New York office, where he managed to nearly triple the employee capacity to 1 people and won several awards for the company. It is worth noting that Gray Group, together with Myhren himself, won 000 prestigious Lions awards in the annual Cannes Lions festival this year.
Once Gray Group management learned that Myhren would soon be leaving their ranks, CEO Jim Heekin and North America CEO Michael Houston sent out a letter to every department in the company summarizing all of Myhren's achievements, accomplishments, ideas and motivational actions, stating that would deserve sincere thanks from everyone who had the honor of working with him.
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Myhren personally also has a lot of awards and interesting moments that surely pushed his confidence and creativity forward. He was included in Fortune's "40 under 40" list, earned a respectable spot in Fast Company's list of the most creative people, and also participated in two TED talks.
Among his kind, Myhren was highly respected. Adweek described him as "a global creative icon who helped propel Gray Group to the top". The creative director of the advertising agency Droga5 Ted Royer, the CEO of FCB Global Carter Murray and many others did not spare generous words.
His background was not purely based on creating ads and campaigns. From the beginning, he was a journalist and started sports writing in The Providence Journal. As Myhren himself said, this position gave him a clear vision and idea of how to manage his advertising career, as he had to deal with strict deadlines that had to be met.
You too he was engaged in filming and when he wasn't in the mood to create something, he got on his skis or picked up a basketball, which he got very used to and played for Occidental College in Los Angeles, where, for example, Barack Obama studied. His affection for Japan cannot be denied either – he speaks Japanese fluently and he met his future wife in Tokyo.
Tor Myhren will be one of Apple's important managers from 2016, and it is possible that over time we will see certain changes both from an advertising point of view, as well as from the point of view of communication technologies and new marketing strategies. He is undoubtedly a personality who has already achieved something in the world, and therefore he has every right to move in a company like Apple.
