Stella Low 

Chief Communications Officer
HP 
US

The former head of global communications at Apple, and SVP and chief communications officer at Cisco, Stella Low joined HP in August 2022 as chief corporate affairs and communications officer.

She manages HP’s reputation and brand management, and oversees all internal and external comms, the company’s sustainable impact strategy and the HP Foundation.

UK-born Low is a Silicon Valley veteran, and her experience also encompasses leading global comms at EMC and Dell Technologies. She became Apple’s first comms head in nearly two years, following the departure of Steve Dowling in 2019, but spent just eight months in post before moving on.

She has more than three decades of experience in marketing and communications and a strong track record of creating worldwide campaigns. In her personal life, she’s an advocate for heart health awareness and serves on the board of directors for the Bay Area Division of the American Heart Association.

Can you share a moment in your career when you saw PR’s direct impact on business performance?

Big product launches always make an impact because they not only turn up the volume and spotlight the innovation but they also prime the pump for new sales and revenue streams. I remember working on a launch where the company I worked at was late to market compared to its competitors, but the product was superior in its architecture. We thought carefully about how we positioned it and became the #1 market seller within three months of launch.

What are the communications industry’s biggest challenges and opportunities in the year ahead?

Challenges: the economy and macro headwinds facing our business including softening customer demand; increased political polarization; budget and resource squeeze; burnout/exhaustion from pandemic hangover. Opportunities: trust and authenticity; doubling down on thought leadership around company purpose; DEI; experimentation with generative AI; more in-person interaction through events and experiential; more inclusion through hybrid participation, from hiring more diverse candidates to engaging more widely with audiences everywhere using digital and online channels; use of influencers.

If I wasn't working in marketing/communications, I would be...

Running a garden center specializing in flowering plants and succulents.