Paul Strasser (age: 40; nationality: Austrian; marital status: single) joined 3united/VeriSign as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in November 2006.
VeriSign operates digital infrastructure that enables and protects billions of interactions every day across the world’s voice and data networks. VeriSign is the leading provider of premium-SMS, mobile commerce, and mobile content solutions in Central and Eastern Europe. VeriSign also offers connectivity and interoperability services, intelligent database services, content and applications services, billing and payment services and operates the world’s largest independent Signaling System 7 (SS7) network. News and information is available at www.verisign.com
The position of COO for the VeriSign location in Vienna was created and assigned to the Organization and Telecommunication Expert from St. Pölten in Lower Austria.
Apart from the reorganisation of the enterprise locations in Vienna, Salzburg, Hamburg and the offices in Eastern Europe, further expansion of the company also ranks among his fields of responsibility.
Member biographical highlights
Peter Garside is the Head of Ericsson IPX in the UK and Ireland, and was the founder of the Ericsson IPX Organisation in this region. Over the past three years he has built the business from the ground up, to a successful world class payment facilitator serving hundreds of content providers. Peter's passion has been building up the WAP Billing business for micro payments, and in 2005 he received a commendation for this solution at the International Management Awards. Currently Peter is working towards secure MMS and the successful implementation of Payforit. With an Hons Degree in International Business, Peter has worked in Nigeria, Sweden, and the UK. He has worked with GSM (Infrastructure and Service), Voice over IP technology and mobile merchant messaging and billing solutions.
Member company highlights
Ericsson IPX
Information Management 2005 Award for IPX WAP in the UK
Led the Content Provider field in developing The Trusted Mobile Payment Framework with the operators.
First to launch live services with Payforit in the UK for single purchase and subscriptions
First to launch secure MMS
Launched WAP billing in 11 countries
Launched premium SMS in 22 countries
Highlights of active participation within the MMA (including committee or Board participation, monthly newsletter, etc)?
Ericsson IPX has participated several events and forums:
MMA Forum in LA in Nov 2006
MMA Awards
Best practice seminars
MMA Conventions
The annual MMA meeting
We have also submitted articles for the MMA newsletter.
Length of term as MMA member? Ericsson IPX has been a MMA member since October 30th 2006
Reasons why candidate should be considered for Board of Directors position
Ericsson has had a long tradition in the telecoms arena. Ericsson IPX’s sole business focus is in off-portal mobile billing and messaging services. We have 100s of customers from all around the world. We have local operations in every country we operate in.
Peter Garside has driven the UK business and added real value to the industry by promoting WAP billing services through Payforit. Peter would bring experience of many content providers and the technical know-how of Ericsson to realize mobile marketing ideas.
Biographical Highlights
At The Coca-Cola Company, I started in a European function dedicated to pan-european digital initiatives beginning this year. My department, European Interactive Marketing, operates in that function and is tasked with reinventing connections to consumers by leading and enabling interactive (web, mobile, etc…) strategies for some of the world’s most valuable brands, including of course Coca-Cola ®. In my over 9 year association with the company, the most visible deliverable was the launch of www.cokefridge.de which is recognized as one of the leading teen focused online and mobile loyalty, promotions and brand experience platforms in Germany. My current role focuses on developing outstandingly innovative digital brand experiences in the area of gaming, sports and loyalty programs across Europe. With our product’s core audience being teens and young adults, mobile technologies have a highly visible role in each of this area.
Prior to my current role within Coca-Cola I was Senior Interactive Marketing Manager in Germany for about 3 years delivering several mobile and online programs that even have changed the way of how Coca-Cola did market its brands (see PR echo on the launch of cokefridge.de or Fanta Message in a Bottle). My brand development skills were polished during my time as a classic Brand Manager always having leveraged the power of interactive marketing for award winning programs such as “Fanta Message in a Bottle” or “Coke light Man Election”.
Company Highlights
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola®, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the company markets four of the world's top five soft drink brands, including Diet Coke®, Fanta® and Sprite®, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light soft drinks, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees, energy and sports drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in over 200 countries enjoy the company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1.3 billion servings each day.
Length of term as MMA member: June 2006
Reasons to consider
• Professional areas of responsibility within Coca-Cola are highly aligned with the mission and vision of the MMA and its members. This alignment ensures access and visibility to achieve MMA goals and objectives
• Extensive and enduring track record of leveraging emerging technology within marketing communications functions for global brands.
• Practical experience advocating adoption of new media from two angles: as a specialist and as a brand/business manager
• Access to the resources of one of the world’s preeminent brand marketing organizations: The Coca-Cola Company
• Committed to action and results
I’ve been involved with the MMA since its very first meeting in 2000, when a handful of the first practitioners gathered together in London to talk about a trade body for the nascent industry. As one of mobile marketing’s most experience practitioners (literally A through to Z – AdMob to ZagMe) and as a leading commentator (via MobHappy and Carnival of the Mobilists), I’d really love the opportunity to help lead mobile marketing through its next phase of growth and as it matures from a niche to the mainstream.
My role as European Managing Director for AdMob allows me an insight into this mainstream world. While AdMob is only just over a year old, we’ve already proved that large scale mobile marketing can work. Our first 6 months saw an impressive 30 million ads served, but that was dwarfed by the next 6 months, where we ran over one billion. Our current run rate is ½ billion a month, with no end to this phenomenal growth in sight.
This experience allows me to bridge the twin worlds of mobile content and blue chip brand advertising and agencies, for a total view of the market and where it’s going. Both these constituents have different needs and issues to address and it’s important to take both into account as we move forward.
I have enjoyed over 20 years in marketing, with the last 7 devoted to Mobile Marketing. This makes me a veteran practitioner, with well over 2500 campaigns run to date.
As a commentator on the industry, I also founded and write (along with Carlo Longino) MobHappy,, which is one of the most popular blogs about mobile technology and mobile marketing with around 40,000 regular readers. I also founded the Carnival of the Mobilists, which features the best writing about mobile from the previous week. Together, this gives me a huge and influential audience to communicate with and means that unusually, I’m both a practitioner and widely read analyst of the business.
My original entry into mobile marketing came via ZagMe, one of the pioneers of the sector. ZagMe was a location based mobile marketing channel, that recruited over 85,000 users and 150 advertisers before falling victim to the post-9/11 financial climate. However, ZagMe taught many lessons and much of this was encapsulated in my free White Paper, which has been widely circulated within the mobile community. Email me (russell AT admob DOT com) if you’d like your own copy.
Before my mobile career, I spent over 15 years working in marketing, which included advising leading brands such as Coca-Cola, Diageo, Texaco and Mars.
I hope I can count on your vote and I pledge myself to contributing actively if I’m fortunate enough to be elected.