Ex-Apple marketing guru Guy Kawasaki now advising Motorola
Apple's former chief technology evangelist Guy Kawasaki has taken a job as an advisor to Motorola. His remit at Motorola includes product design, user interface, marketing, and social media. One of his first social media tasks …
Context & Ripple Effects
Motorola has spent years trying to answer the question Christy Wyatt posed in late 2011 about standing out from the Android pack, and its answers have included provocation — the Android Voice Actions vs. Siri comparison it ran against Apple in February 2012. Hiring Guy Kawasaki continues that pattern by other means: instead of taunting Apple, Motorola is importing one of Apple's most recognizable voices.
The move also echoes a precedent on the platform side — Google brought in blogger and engineer Tim Bray for Android back in 2010 (Tim Bray takes Google Android job) — suggesting both Google and its handset arm see well-known hires as part of the differentiation toolkit. The pickup across Betabeat, Android Community, and Google+ within a day shows how much attention an ex-Apple name attached to Motorola generates.
First-order effects
- Kawasaki's confirmed remit spans product design, user interface, marketing, and social media, giving Motorola a single advisor touching both what its phones look like and how they are talked about online.
Second-order effects
- Rival Android OEMs competing for the same 'not just another Android phone' positioning face a competitor whose marketing now carries Apple-era credibility, raising the bar for their own brand storytelling.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds alongside earlier cross-platform hires like Bray's, talent migration from Apple into the Android ecosystem becomes a standing competitive weapon rather than a one-off curiosity.
The trend: Android hardware makers are borrowing Apple's playbook wholesale — including its people — to escape commodity positioning.