Beats By Dre chief marketing officer Omar Johnson will leave the company after six years at the start of November, Fast Company reported earlier this week. Johnson is remaining with the company through the end of the month in order to help with two global brand campaigns expected to launch soon.
Johnson first joined the fashion headphones brand as vice president, marketing six years ago and was promoted to the CMO role two years later. Over the course of his tenure, Johnson was instrumental in the brand’s rise to prominence, largely on the strength of its marketing efforts tied to star athletes and celebrities, as well as the instant brand recognition. Since July of 2014, he has also served as vice president, marketing for Apple, which purchased Beats by Dre for $3 billion back in 2014.
This May, Beats by Dre sent a portion of its creative work to Anomaly, following a creative review launched in March. In June, Anomaly announced it would open a Los Angeles office dedicated to the brand. (The company has worked with R/GA in the past and will continue to do so for the time being.)
Former W+K executive Jason White, who oversaw the brand’s recent creative review as vice president, marketing, will lead marketing for the brand as executive vice president, marketing as of next month.
“Omar Johnson is one of the most talented marketing executives I’ve ever met and we couldn’t have built Beats without him,” Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine told Fast Company via email.
It’s unclear at this time whether Johnson will remain with the larger Apple organization or whether his departure will affect Beats’ relationships with either of its current agency partners.