For more than 30 years, TBWA/Media Arts Lab has enjoyed one of the most prized advertising accounts on the planet. After reports from the New York Post et al. and that entity called “Madison Avenue”, agencies are salivating for a bite of the Apple.
The dirty laundry aired in the form of internal emails during the Samsung trial in April and the subsequent reports that Apple would create more of its own ads in-house may have had something to do with this latest development.
Moreover, word is that whichever outside firm may eventually work on the account will also answer to Jimmy Iovine, president and grand poobah of Beats headphones, BeatsMusic and all other things By Dre that were recently acquired by Apple.
While nothing is official regarding a formal review and Apple wisely refused to say anything to the Post, there does appear to be “writing” on a “wall” somewhere–much to the delight of critics.
Apparently Iovine is also chomping at the rhetorical bit to play a large role in Apple’s new media equation (you may recall R/GA’s epic World Cup spot for his company). From the Post:
“Apple bought Beats for a lot of reasons,” said one new business executive at a top agency. “They think they’re marketing geniuses. It is safe to assume Beats would be part of an assessment of all [Apple] partners.”
If Beats is behind the new AOR decision, TBWA may soon look as dated as the iPhone 4.