Apple Rumoured to Double Its In-House Creative Talent

In an effort to keep intellectual property within its walls and retain more ownership over its creative work, Apple is said to have doubled its creative team.

First, Apple was hunting ad executives with creative experience to create better ads for iAd. Now the hiring process has extended to talent who will work on the brand itself. And Apple’s doesn’t aim low, you may already guessed: it is after hiring high-level directors and heads of innovation.

Citing an executive familiar with the Cupertino-based company’s plans, AdAge reports that Apple is set to grow its internal creative talent group from 300 up to 500-600 staffers. During the Steve Jobs era, Apple’s creative talent group was somewhat strict about the headcount, according to an executive. This was mainly due to Jobs’ effort to show Apple as a “products company, not a marketing company,” the exec said.

Longtime observers say after years of capping the size and type of internal creative talent, the tech giant is significantly expanding its in-house design group. One executive familiar with the company said the group could grow to 500 or 600 staffers from about 300.

This doesn’t mean Apple will stop outsourcing to agencies such as TBWA/Media Arts Lab, Mono, Eleven, or others. Yet, considering that Apple’s ad operation has experienced a hiccup lately, this could be a great move.

The company’s Genius campaign that launched during the Olympics wasn’t the most successful. However, the most recent Mac Pro ad certainly shows that Apple has fallen back to Steve Jobs’ legacy.