Wiley Hodges
What I Knew Before
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I was unfamiliar with Wiley, but regarding Apple, I knew that they are one of the world’s most valuable brands
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Apple is very secretive with their products
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They are known for their phones, computers, laptops, tablets, and watches among other things
Introduction and Expectations
I was very excited to learn about the company behind all of the products that we use. They are very secretive so it seems difficult to really learn about the insides of the company, so I was interested to hear what an employee would disclose to us.
Wiley Hodges is a director of product marketing who has been with Apple for 14.5 years. He came to our hotel to talk to us about Apple with an Apple intern named Jeff who has been a teaching assistant to Dr. Wellman.
Visit Summary
Wiley described the fast-paced environment that exists at Apple. Focused on marketing, he gave us insight as to what goes into Apple’s marketing process, which all begins with a product brief. He told us that something that is very important to Apple is consistency; they are known for their advertisements being very simple, with elevator-like music playing in the background of a commercial that highlight key new features of a product. He interestingly also told us that Apple advertising does not need to be tailored for different cultures and countries- the simplicity of the advertising is universally renowned.
Wiley also told us about the values of Apple which include competency, mastery, big picture thinking, and the ability to deliver details to senior executives in a timely manner.
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Key Takeaways
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Consistency is very important. When a manager asks you to do something, you want them to feel confident that you are going to produce high quality work in a timely manner. The way that you make them think this is by consistently being a great employee time and time again.
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Post Visit Actions/ Thoughts
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While the consistency of Apple’s commercials was something that I had always subconsciously noticed, I never realized the value that such a decision made for the business.