Apple Music Marketing Exec Bozoma Saint John to Leave Company

[C64]

amazing news, she was so dam annoying on the keynote last year, she got so excited and danced for half an hour, glad to see her gone

That keynote was received extreme well, which dumbfounded me. I thought her whole performance was fake, completely over-the-top and annoying. Maybe it was a different vibe for people in the room, or that people were happy that Apple is finally hitting some arbitrary diversity quota, but on the live feed it was pretty bad. No idea what impact this will have on the marketing-side, but I definitely won't miss her during the keynotes.

 

[Glockworkorange]

After all of the hand wringing from the tech press the past, say, five years, I think this is the reason she was so well received: "people were happy that Apple is finally hitting some arbitrary diversity quota"

 

[Rojaaemon]

Oh no! Not that head of Global Consumer Marketing who made me turn off the keynote while she was marketing that stuff she's paid to market!

 

[Mackinjosh]

She and Eddy Cue are the only two things worse than Apple Music.

 

[Njordy]

I cautiously enquire why you think this?

From what I'd seen and read, she was an enthusiastic, intelligent person who increased the profile of black women in industry.

I'm sorry, but some people care about if the person is right for the job without looking at their skin or crotch. She was beyond horrible on the stage. If I'm not mistaken she was even trying to rap. Wtf? Glad she's gone.

 

[macpro2000]

Good riddance.

Agreed. I thought she was an embarrassment.

 

[satchmo]

I'm sorry, but some people care about if the person is right for the job without looking at their skin or crotch. She was beyond horrible on the stage. If I'm not mistaken she was even trying to rap. Wtf? Glad she's gone.

Yes, hires should be based on competence. If you're not performing, you should be let go.

That said, the reality is that people of colour don't get the same opportunities as caucasians. That's why corporate CEO's by and large are still an old white man's domain. And Apple's senior management could probably use some fresh younger mind, regardless of ethnicity.

 

[friednoodles]

Wow, this forum. So much hate.

 

[Radio Signal]

"Annoying" is how people should be judged for their work? Sheesh, talk about petty and immature.

Annoying people tend to be the ones who actually do get promoted. Because they're driven and ambitious. Obnoxious and resentful trolls usually stay at the bottom where they belong.

There's quite a bit of study that supports JUST THAT, in fact. Let alone Steve Ballmer.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/08/18/why-jerks-get-ahead/#6b1168ef4091

 

[Xenden]

Glad to see her go.

Her performance onstage last year was totally inappropriate.

Good riddance

 

[Adam Warlock]

Wow, this forum. So much hate.

Yeah, sorry, no safe spaces here.
[doublepost=1496503598][/doublepost]

Annoying people tend to be the ones who actually do get promoted. Because they're driven and ambitious. Obnoxious and resentful trolls usually stay at the bottom where they belong.

Nonsense. There are plenty of annoying people without drive and tons of obnoxious achievers.

 

[opeter]

I will be happy, when there will be similar news about Eddy, Tim and some others

 

[Adam Warlock]

That said, the reality is that people of colour don't get the same opportunities as caucasians.

You're right. Of late they seem to get more opportunities with the latest 'diversity' drives and schemes.

That's why corporate CEO's by and large are still an old white man's domain.

Or maybe it's because they were simply the most qualified in those cases.

And Apple's senior management could probably use some fresh younger mind, regardless of ethnicity.

Agreed, but quota-driven 'diversity' is exactly what they don't need. Why? Apple and others seem to have achieved greatness without it, so it's quite obvious that isn't what they need.

 

[JGIGS]

No, she was not. The amount of lazy incorrectness on forums is staggering.

Love people who nitpick because I didn't put her full title. Thought it was pretty self explanatory what I meant but she was Apple Music and iTunes head of Global Consumer Marketing and thus had nothing to do with building the software. Feel better now?

 

[Vanilla35]

???

Stop trying to race bait. Her presentation was obviously a departure from the normal presentation, there are bound to be people who really liked it, and those who really hated it. Don't try to act like you're unsure of why someone could dislike her, other than her race.
[doublepost=1496508753][/doublepost]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I'm a little bit surprised she was let go so early. I figured they'd give her at least a bit more time, but I suppose 2-3 years is enough to see that little impact had been made, apart from the departure in presentation style given last year.
[doublepost=1496508844][/doublepost]

I cautiously enquire why you think this?

From what I'd seen and read, she was an enthusiastic, intelligent person who increased the profile of black women in industry.

Is that supposed to change our opinion of her?

 

[tkermit]

She and Eddy Cue are the only two things worse than Apple Music.

Apple Music has actually gotten surprisingly nice. Of course, if you only knew it by its marketing, which misses a bit of diversity, you'd think all they offered was rap music and other mainstream content that, more often than not, is rather tasteless and bland. Thankfully this is not the case at all. In my experience, the recommendations are mostly on target once it's honed in on your own taste and there is a wide variety of music from all genres to choose from. You just have to ignore and look beyond all of the generic editorial content.

 

[Jdshewman]

Why is everyone's focusing on a silly keynote appearance? What has been accomplished with Apple Music and iTunes during her tenure? Apple Music has nothing more than a churn rate 3x worse than Spotify. I am sure Tidal has openings.

 

[valleian]

To be frank, I really have to eat crow here and laugh about my former self who celebrated his departure.

Nowadays I really wish he'd come back and take over. He might have had his disagreements with he who shall not be named, but he strikes me as one of the better visionaries for the company.

I don't know him personally, but just the fact that he was let go by the guy who changed Apple's direction so very much leads me to believe that he was in the way.

I doubt it was Apple Maps only, because in the end the launch of a service or product probably still needs Tim's signature as well.

@TOPIC:
Didn't like her appearance on last year's WWDC, but I'm sure that she's been very good at her other jobs.
As for Apple Music and iTunes marketing, I think that one had some very positive changes from before, but also some bad ones.
Overall I think that a good talent is leaving Apple and I wish her the very best for her future career.

Glassed Silver:ios

Regarding Scott Forestall,

I still support him being forced out. He was apparently a dictator when it came to iOS design and feature changes/implementation. He was holding Apple back. If he were still around, I wholeheartedly believe iOS would still use skeumorphic design, and would lack many of the features it has today (control center, widgets in Notification Center, airdrop, iMessage apps, 3rd party keyboards, etc.). If he had become the CEO, I truly believe he could have become the Steve Balmer of Apple (yeah yeah, I know a plethora of MR readers think Tim Cook is the Steve Balmer of Apple, let's take a look at Apple's market and economic increases in the past 6 years and get back to me). Scott Forestall would have put the can on several of Apple's most susucessful products and software services. We wouldn't have an Apple Watch, most likely wouldn't have an iPhone bigger than 4 inches. We wouldn't have an iPad Pro nor the Apple Pencil, I'd be surprised if we had Touch ID, we wouldn't have the Apple TV w/ tvOS, we wouldn't have Siri on Mac, we wouldn't have Apple Music, iPhone upgrade program, and so much more.

Scott Forestall was the Apple of 2012, and even then he was getting long in the tooth. He was a person determined to live in the past, to try and build Apple off their successes of the 2000's. Yes, I think we all loved the Apple of the 2000's, but if we continued to perpetuate 2000's-esque ideas through the 2010's, Apple would be a failing company.

 

[Ries]

That keynote was received extreme well, which dumbfounded me. I thought her whole performance was fake, completely over-the-top and annoying. Maybe it was a different vibe for people in the room, or that people were happy that Apple is finally hitting some arbitrary diversity quota, but on the live feed it was pretty bad. No idea what impact this will have on the marketing-side, but I definitely won't miss her during the keynotes.

When a presentation has a complete pokemon set of diversity, you know they aren't there for their skills, but because they were a missing piece in the collection.

 

[dannys1]

I'm in the minority for really like her keynote appearance on here then, thought she was a breathe of fresh air. Then again i'm usually in the minority on here. I think that's a good thing.

 

[You are the One]

The balance of being politically correct and running effective management don't work out. Never will.

Seen it so many times in large corporations where unqualified people are promoted to high positions, not because their qualification in the work area, but because they are needed so the diversity statistics will work out according to the desire of the media and liberal nutjobs in general.

Diversity is driving costs and represent enormous resource waste.

Not saying this is the case here, just a general observation of the industry and society in general.

 

[CPx]

You'd think that she kicked some people's puppies in here..

 

[BurgDog]

There is no way she was fired, Apple would never do something that stupid, much more likely she just cashed out of Apple and got a better offer somewhere else. There is no question she would get many offers and it looks like Apple could't match something she got that was better.

 

[Robert.Walter]

People said that about Forstall too. Perhaps there is a pattern here…

Whose list? Maybe Forstall was printing and distributing that list?

 

[macduke]

Not really a fan of any of the Beats people, or even Beats in general, but she was probably the best of the bunch, for whatever that's worth. For some reason Jimmy always strikes me as a huge sleazebag. Boz was just a little awkward. Not really sure if any of them understand Apple's culture. Hopefully they're not altering the culture very much either, but looking at the design of things like Apple Music makes you wonder. I feel like Angela has had the biggest impact on their culture by trying to make everything about appearances and less about functionality. Hopefully Apple reins that back in at WWDC.