Allison Johnson: On Apple & The Difference Between Marketing And Selling

There are only a few people who have worked directly under Steve Jobs, and Allison Johnson is one of those people. The former head of marketing at Apple, Johnson oversaw the launch of the company's hallmark products like the iPhone and its famous campaigns like "Mac vs. PC" and "There's an app for that." In this interview with Behance's Scott Belsky, Johnson shares stories from her time at Apple, emphasizes authenticity in business, and reveals how we can find a balance between launching a polished product (like Apple) versus shipping fast for feedback (like Google). About Allison Johnson Allison is the founder of West, a new kind of strategy and creative accelerator based in San Francisco focused on introducing new companies, products and ideas to the world. Prior to West, she ran marketing at Apple for six-plus years reporting to Steve, where she was responsible for launching some of the most iconic products and campaigns of our time. A self-professed revolutionary, she's found herself at the center of some of the industry's most historic turns including IBM's embrace of the internet era with e-business, Netscape's pivot from browser to enterprise software purveyor, HP's reinvention under Carly Fiorina, and the launch of the iPhone and iPad.

There are only a few people who have worked directly under Steve Jobs, and Allison Johnson is one of those people. The former head of marketing at Apple, Johnson oversaw the launch of the company’s hallmark products like the iPhone and its famous campaigns like “Mac vs. PC” and “There’s an app for that.”

In this interview with Behance’s Scott Belsky, Johnson shares stories from her time at Apple, emphasizes authenticity in business, and reveals how we can find a balance between launching a polished product (like Apple) versus shipping fast for feedback (like Google).