Apple has hired away yet another Nike exec, Musa Tariq, as noticed by 9to5Mac. Although he needs to update his LinkedIn profile, Tariq confirmed the hire on his Twitter account, saying that his new position at Apple Retail will be Digital Marketing Director.
Tariq’s talent in using social media for building a brand and spreading the word has attracted Apple’s attention. Also, it is worth noting that before joining Nike, he worked for Burberry, reporting directly to Angela Ahrendts, now Apple’s head of retail.
Tariq’s most notable social media campaigns were “Tweetwalk” for Burberry — sharing images of outfits yet to be presented at the London Fashion Show runway in their backstage form — and a YouTube video campaign called “Acoustic,” which used the popular channel to show off musicians singing acoustic versions of popular songs.
As a result of Apple hiring Tariq, 9to5Mac speculates that we will see a significant boost in Apple’s social media marketing. The company hasn’t put too much effort into its presence on social media channels thus far: It currently runs Facebook Pages accounts for iTunes and the App Store, and it has Twitter accounts for several services related to iTunes, but that’s about it.
This is expected to change with this recent hire.
