New Apple retail head Deirdre O'Brien joins Instagram, shares pics from trip to Hong Kong ...

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AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited April 2019
In a rare move for an Apple executive, new retail head Deirdre O'Brien has joined Instagram, inaugurating her account with a handful of photos from a worldwide business tour.

Apple store in Hong Kong


O'Brien is on the service as @deirdre.at.apple. Two photos were shot in Hong Kong, including Apple IFC Mall, while a third was shot at Apple Cotai Central in Macau.

View this post on Instagram

I love the bamboo grove in Apple Cotai Central. Such a unique and beautiful store with a great team!

A post shared by Deirdre O'Brien (@deirdre.at.apple) on Apr 18, 2019 at 8:49am PDT

Any reason for the focus on Chinese territories is unknown. O'Brien is visiting many other retail teams in cities such as Austin, Cupertino, and Paris.

That would make sense, since predecessor Angela Ahrendts took a similar tour after joining Apple in 2014. Presumably O'Brien's goal is to not only familiarize herself with locations but endear herself to the retail workforce.

View this post on Instagram

It's been a fantastic few weeks getting to meet with our retail teams around the world. From Cupertino to Austin to Paris to Hong Kong -- thank you for the many warm welcomes!

A post shared by Deirdre O'Brien (@deirdre.at.apple) on Apr 18, 2019 at 6:59am PDT

Apple executives normally limit their social media activity to Twitter. There are exceptions, particularly with CEO Tim Cook, who periodically posts on China's Weibo -- likely with the help of Mandarin-speaking assistants.

O'Brien was appointed senior VP of "Retail + People" in February, combining her previous role with a new one.
ronn

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    kestralkestral Posts: 311member
    Who cares
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  • Reply 2 of 8
    iOS_Guy80ios_guy80 Posts: 952member
    More power to her. As long as she can keep a good thing going and find ways to improve the retail experience. 
    ronn
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 8
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,484member
    kestral said:
    Who cares
    Me, for one. 
    ronnmacxpressGeorgeBMacchemengin
     4Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 8
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,472member
    kestral said:
    Who cares
    Those of us "in the know" do.  For example, the end of the article properly says:

    "Apple executives normally limit their social media activity to Twitter."

    It may seem like a silly thing, but Apple really locks down employees hard.  It's nice to see a little freedom going on here.  Apple needs more of that to better connect their employees with everyday people.
    ronnmacxpress
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 8
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,814member
    In the Far East there are a lot of people who love and hate certain numbers. Does anyone have the actual addresses of the Apple stores in the Orient to see if they selected the right "feng shui" for their addresses? The most popular numbers over there are 8, 99, 888, 168, 998. Eg, 168 sounds like the Cantonese words for "Sure Easy Fortune", 9 is "long time" and 99 is "eternal." The number 4 sounds like the Cantonese word for "death" but oddly sounds like the Shanghainese word for water so is considered lucky in the city of Shanghai. In most of China they skip the number 4 in building floors (including 40-49) but in Shanghai those floors might actually exist because the number 4 is lucky there.
    edited April 2019
    ronnmacseeker
     0Likes 0Dislikes 2Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 8
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,983member
    kestral said:
    Who cares
    I think a lot of people do. Its nice to see the person in charge of something so important getting away from their desk in Cupertino and seeing the real world and not just making decisions from behind a desk. If you don't care, then thats fine, but many people do and there are many people who will now follow her on social media.
    cornchipchemengin
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  • Reply 7 of 8
    GeorgeBMacgeorgebmac Posts: 11,421member
    It will be interesting to see how she reforms Apple Stores in line with Apple's current push into services...
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 8 of 8
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,484member
    GeorgeBMac said:
    It will be interesting to see how she reforms Apple Stores in line with Apple's current push into services...
    How? You don’t sell services in a brick and mortar store.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
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