Apple is on a hiring binge as it scales its iAd team in anticipation of its Sep. 10., release of iTunes radio, its ad-supported streaming music service.
Apple had posted five iAd-related jobs to its own job board and another 35 to LinkedIn just in the month of August as of Friday. The openings are for a variety of jobs including account coordinators, ad design managers, project managers and engineers who will create new rich media ads for iAd.
In addition, Apple appears to be hiring ad execs with creative experience to help brands and agencies create better ads for its expanding iAd advertising network. When Apple launched its iAd mobile ad network in 2010 it exerted tight control over the creative to ensure that the content of the ads matched the look and feel of Apple products. With iTunes Radio and the introduction of audio and video ads to iAd, Apple is scaling up its iAd to accommodate the new ad formats.
One of the more interesting postings was for an "iAd Creative Manager," described as an account manager-user experience design hybrid to improve the usability and creative possibilities of iAds. The job was posted to Apple's job portal on August 15 and was taken down late last week. Apple declined to comment on whether it had already hired someone for the role or if it had an offer out to a prospective hire.
Leading the search for Apple is former ad industry recruiter Linda Waste, who currently identifies herself on her LinkedIn page as as a senior recruiting manager at Apple. Prior to joining Apple earlier this year, Ms. Waste was director of talent at DDB Chicago and Energy BBDO in Chicago before that.
iTunes Radio will broaden iAd's inventory from just mobile banners to audio and video ads as well. When iTunes Radio goes live to consumers on September 10, it will do so with several large advertisers including McDonald's, Nissan, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble. Those brands paid upwards of $10 million to be exclusive iTunes Radio advertisers within their respective industries through the end of 2013. Apple is readying iTunes Radio -- and its new ad products -- for its wide launch to advertisers at the start of 2014.
iTunes Radio is expected to boost iAd, Apple's growing mobile ad network. An eMarketer report released this June projecte iAd's U.S. revenue to grow from $213 million this year to $376 million in 2014 and $623 million in 2015 (a 71.3% compound annual growth rate).
