Chirag Bakshi, VeriSign
Chirag Bakshi managed the Wireless Messaging Products & Business group at VeriSign and has recently taken on the Mobile Content & Messaging Strategy role. He helped establish VeriSign as a leader in the marketplace for Mobile Messaging solutions. The solution portfolio includes Personal Messaging services )Inter-carrier SMS & MMS, PictureMail & Album services), Off-Portal Messaging services )SMS & MMS aggregation, Premium Gateway for carriers), Enterprise Messaging )Mobile Banking, Oracle & other wireless employee productivity solutions) services, Interactive TV Messaging and several new initiatives in the Messaging business. He currently represents VeriSign on the MMA)Mobile Marketing Association) North American board. Prior to joining VeriSign, Mr. Bakshi was a Founder and Chief Operating officer at Unimobile where he helped the company build a world-class scalable and robust Wireless Platform. Unimobile was acquired by VeriSign in early 2004 to begin VeriSign's entry in the Mobile industry. Mr.Bakshi has also been a General Manager at Electronics for Imaging )EFI) and Director at Apple Computer. He developed distributed PBX Switches for Rolm Corp. in the early part of his career.
Company Highlights: VeriSign is a global leader in the Mobile Messaging industry. VeriSign infrastructure handles more than 50% of all SMS, MMS traffic in No. America for person-to-person messaging. VeriSign infrastructure enables more than 50% of all Premium Mobile Content transactions in No. America as the leading aggregator in the mobile industry. VeriSign solutions enable Sprint's leading MMS service)PictureMail) for consumers as part of the Sprint PCS Vision program. VeriSign provides Interactive TV mobile solutions for a majority of reality TV shows in No America powering Mobile Voting for these shows. VeriSign enables Mobile Banking solutions for leading banking brands globally.
MMA participation: VeriSign)mQube prior to acquisition) has been an active participant within the MMA since 2002. The company has actively participated on the MMA board and also several committees within the MMA. As a leading Premium aggregator in N. America the company has highlighted several key issues facing the industry and helped strive resolution for the issues. It actively participates on the Consumer Best Practices)CBP) committee, Mobile Banking Committee, Interactive TV committee and several other initiatives within the MMA.
David Oberholzer, VP, Corporate Development, Limbo Inc. )Burlingame, CA)
Dave Oberholzer is requesting your consideration for the North American MMA Board of Directors.
Dave is a seven-year veteran of the wireless data industry, and has been a consistent leader in its development. Dave is uniquely qualified for a leadership role in the MMA due to his experience working in a infrastructure provider )InphoMatch), a Tier 1 Carrier )Verizon Wireless), and in his current role in the leading advertising supported mobile entertainment community )Limbo).
During this time, Dave has been at the crux of the most significant issues facing MMA member companies including the growth and management of the off-deck business in the U.S., and the emergence of the mobile advertising model. Dave has worked on implementing the fundamental infrastructure of these businesses and is an expert on mobile technologies, capabilities, and business models. Specifically, Dave has intimate knowledge of the content, marketing, promotional, legal, and regulatory aspects of the mobile content business.
A consistent and passionate advocate for the entire mobile ecosystem, Dave has continuously worked for the development and growth of the mobile data content business beyond the status quo of existing business models and technologies.
As a MMA Board member, Dave will continue to focus on a balanced approach toward the development of the mobile content business with particular emphasis on growth, openness, innovation, and consumer protection during this era of wholesale changes in the mobile and content businesses.
MMA Participation:
Currently, Dave is a member of the executive management team at Limbo, the largest non-premium mobile entertainment community. Previously, in leading the direct-to-consumer data business at Verizon Wireless, Dave drove the content programming team that was responsible for all off-deck content, in addition to various on-deck content responsibilities. Before Verizon, Oberholzer was a director at InphoMatch and general manager for Predictive Systems. As the chairman of the Consumer Best Practices Committee, Oberholzer helped pioneer the development of mobile content and off-deck community in the U.S. marketplace. Prior to his work in the mobile industry, Dave served as an officer in the U.S. Navy where he flew carrier-based aircraft. Dave studied computer science at Villanova University, and has an MBA and an MIS from the University of Maryland.
About Limbo
Limbo is the world's largest mobile entertainment community. The company leverages its patent-pending platform - which includes SMS, mobile web, mobile video, web, and email - to seamlessly integrate brands throughout unique games, content and community. The Limbo platform delivers over 50 branded interactions per consumer as well as provides unparalleled increases in purchase intent. The award winning, privately held company, is headquartered in Burlingame, California.
Doug Busk, VP, Industry Relations, SinglePoint )Bellevue, WA)
Doug is a long-time MMA participant through his year inside and out of the carriers, representing both Verizon and AT&T Wireless divisions in the group from its infancy. Doug was elected to the MMA NA Board for the 2007 term and was an active participant in Off-Net and Logo Committees. SinglePoint was also active in the Advertising Committee. Most recently, Doug was elected to the .mobi MAG Board and PAB. With 7 years of messaging product management at two top tier carriers based on a foundation of online advertising, Doug drives a marketing perspective through the lens of carrier experience. While at Verizon Wireless and Cingular )now AT&T), he not only helped author the standards that protect the user experience while freeing marketers and content providers to leverage the marketing power of the "third screen," but also led their implementation in messaging product creation and development. Now, in his current role directing marketing, strategy, and carrier relationships for a leading aggregator, Doug occupies a seat on the opposite side of the table, serving a customer base of advertisers, content providers, entertainers, and marketers with connectivity and billing solutions. In sum, Doug considers himself a mobile marketer at heart, having originally entered the wireless business in 2000 as he felt at the time it would come to represent the most targeted, powerful marketing medium to date. It is his hope he can help realize that vision in continuing his role on the MMA Board.
Over the past year, SinglePoint has been influential in helping fuel the tremendous growth of the interactive TV industry, providing the technologies needed to execute large-scale campaigns. In Q3 2007, SinglePoint handled 67 percent of interactive TV text message transactions across the four largest domestic wireless carriers. SinglePoint is engaged with an audience of more than 220 million mobile users, working in partnership with mobile network and portal operations, entertainment media companies, brand managers and advertising agencies.
Gene Keenan, VP, Isobar
Gene Keenan leads the cutting edge of marketing innovation as Isobar's VP of Mobile Services. In this role, Gene has won numerous Aegis Globe awards for his innovation has been the recipient of industry awards including an MSNEMMY for his work on Adidas. Gene is on the board of the Mobile Marketing Association who also counts as board members these major brands: P&G, VISA, AOL, CBS, ESPN, FOX, Microsoft, and every major carrier in the USA. He co-chairs the metrics committee of the Mobile Marketing Association )MMA) and guided the creation, funding, and execution of the first marketing effectiveness study on behalf of the MMA. Gene works on the Adidas, Electronic Arts, Dolby, Tivo, Amp'd, New Line Cinema, and Motorola accounts. Before joining the interactive space Gene was a professional chef who toured with the Grateful Dead for eight years and owned an organic edible flower and herb farm.
Maria Mandel, Senior Partner - Executive Director Digital Innovation, OgilvyInteractive )New York, NY)
I have been an active member of the MMA for 3 years now having served as chair of the marketing strategies and best practices committee as well as a 2007 board member. In addition, I have been active campaigning for increased activity and marketing spending in this channel. I speak at conferences, write articles for trade press and am often interviewed by key publications. My current role at Ogilvy is to consult our clients on emerging communication platforms such as broadband, mobile, video gaming, digital out-of-home advertising, and interactive TV. Ogilvy has been an active member of the MMA for several years now, and as an agency, we have tried to help develop the mobile industry by creating several high profile test pilots and industry case studies.
Prior to joining Ogilvy, I was director of interactive services at Draft, where I oversaw clients that included Unilever, Jose Cuervo, and Johnson & Johnson. My client-side experience includes brand management at Kraft. I am an adjunct professor at NYU's Stern School of Business and a Wharton Business School graduate.
I would like to help continue to grow the MMA as a pillar for the mobile industry and make it the go-to organization for companies involved in this space. I would like to continue developing the marketing and advertising side of the MMA and help lead the industry in mobile advertising techniques, standards and measurement.
Michael Bayle, GM, Global Mobile Monetization, Yahoo! )Sunnyvale, CA)
I am the GM of global mobile monetization for Yahoo and have served as a Board member of the MMA North American chapter this past year. For the first half of 2007, I co-chaired the Advertising sub-committee, but relinquished that role to Christine Loredo, who joined Yahoo from AOL, where she was the Board representative for AOL. For the second half of 2007, I continued as Board representative to the Advertising sub-committee.
After obtaining a BA degree in Japanese and a MS in Computer Science from Stanford, I began my career as Director of Business Development at IDG, With this advertising experience, I joined as one of the earliest employees at LinkExchange before the company was acquired by Microsoft in 1998, after which I helped the company to amass the largest reach of any internet advertising network in the US.
Currently, in my sixth year at Yahoo, our team has launched mobile advertising solutions in 21 different countries this past year, continuing the leadership from 2004 when we launched the world's first mobile sponsored search solution in Japan. Additionally this past year, we have struck partnerships with 20 operators in 20 countries to provide our oneSearch solution which incorporates our various advertising services including sponsored search, display, adver-games, and video. We also have struck two partnerships in the UK exclusively focused on monetizing the assets of our operator partners Vodafone and T-Mobile.
It's largely due to these global deployments that I have been a personal believer in global ad standards from day one "on the job". With my team at Yahoo and colleagues from competitors and partners alike, via the MMA we successfully drove adoption of new guidelines in EMEA and NA this past year. Yahoo was the first inline to publicly voice its support and immediately adopt these guidelines globally. One of my goals for 2008 will be to continue this momentum and advocate for the Asia MMA guidelines to come inline with the harmonized guidelines of EMEA and NA. Another goal will be to continue my work with the MMA and IAB leadership teams to find a path for formal cooperation in the mobile medium, which will be a leapfrog step in allowing marketers to more confidently spend their resources in this environment, and quickly evolve the industry to a position where mobile is no longer "an emerging medium".
I have actively participated in all of the 2007 MMA board meetings, and participated as a speaker in the NYC and Barcelona MMF events. Wearing a combination of my Yahoo and MMA hats, I have spoken about mobile advertising in over two dozens events in 2007 including at ad: techs on both coasts and at US and International IAB events alike.
Irrespective of my potential election to the MMA Board, my commitment will remain in 2008 to actively participate in the association to continue to evangelize the opportunities uniquely available to the mobile medium, while leveraging the best practices of advertising industry as it exists today.
Michael Becker, EVP, Business Development, iLoop Mobile, Inc. )San Jose, CA)
As an active member of the global mobile marketing community and industry, I would like to nominate myself for the 2008 MMA Board of Directors.
I have been a contributing and active member of the MMA since August 2004. My recent and on-going contributions to the MMA include:
I have been professionally focused on the mobile industry for the last 12 years with deep involvement on commercial, volunteer and academic fronts. I am the EVP of Business Development for iLoop Mobile, a leading mobile marketing software solutions provider that is bringing new technology and business models to the forefront of the industry. iLoop Mobile was awarded the MMA Global Innovation Award in November 2007 for the iLoop Mobile mFinity Platform. I also sit on the DotMobi Mobile Advisory Group Steering Committee, chair its Education Committee, and am a member of its Mobile Internet Emerging Market Tasks Force. I am pursuing a Doctorate of Business Administration, focusing research on the emergence of mobile enhanced customer managed interactive services. Much of my research is found in MMA AOC publications.
- Winner of the MMA Overall Excellence Award, 2007
- Production of the award winning International Journal of Mobile Marketing. To date the AOC has produced four issues of the IJMM )43 articles from around the world, roughly 375 pages of research). The IJMM won the 2007 ASAE Gold Circle Award for top peer reviewed print journal
- Producer of Academic Review column )authoring 15 of the 17 articles released to date), Monthly Industry Brief and the MMA Academic of the Year Award category
- The AOC has over 14 planned and ongoing initiatives for 2008
As a MMA Board Director going forward in 2008, I will contribute to the expansion and global industry influence of the MMA. I will commit myself to membership acquisition, revenue generation and evangelism of the MMA as a leading voice in the industry. As an academic, industry practitioner and technology expert, I am uniquely positioned to help promote the unifying capabilities of the MMA and promote a vision on how all its members can work together for the success of the industry and themselves . As a Board Director, my future goals and projects for the MMA in 2008 will include the launch of the MMA Certified Mobile Marketer Program that will foster industry standardization and new revenue channels for the MMA, and supporting MMA expansion in Asia, Latin America and the EMEA. In addition, as a DotMobi Steering Committee member I will be a facilitator between the two organizations for mutual benefit, and will continue my oversight of the Academic Outreach Committee. Thank you for your consideration of my candidacy.
Tom Daly, Group Manager, Strategy & Planning, The Coca-Cola Company )Atlanta, GA)
Active in the marketing and advertising industry for over 20 years, my career is a blend of perspectives that I believe are of great value to the mission and members of the MMA.
Those years have been spent in a mix of client, agency, and entrepreneurial positions. On the agency side, I've worked in account management for agencies ranging from public to private, local to multi national, and in advertising centers like New York to more regional locales such as Washington, DC, and Atlanta. On the client side, I've held positions leading utilization of "emerging media" for three Fortune 500 firms in three distinct categories: Transportation )created the Interactive Marketing Department at UPS), Financial Services )ran eBusiness at ING), and Consumer Packaged Goods )The Coca Cola Company where I re launched the primary Web experience for the world's most valuable brand: Coca Cola). I've also spent a little time growing my own business, writing and publishing a series of books for the children of business traveling parents.
Currently, my role with The Coca Cola Company involves the delivery and growth of highly visible, ground breaking global programs, both on the Web )re launch of www.Coca-Cola.com), and in the mobile space )The Sprite Yard). As a member of a global team, my work puts me in touch with consumer marketing programs )including mobile, of course) in countries all over the world.
In the two years that I've been involved )as a board member with North America, as treasurer of the global board, and as board sponsor of the "Measurement Committee"), I've been able to create a highly symbiotic relationship between Coca-Cola and the MMA. With regard to other MMA member companies, I've endeavored to help in the overall growth of the industry by being as accessible as possible to share insights into the needs of major brands.
As the June launch of The Sprite Yard )announced at MMF due in part to my influence), mobile marketing is a critical and urgent priority for The Coca Cola Company. I play a lead role in developing the Company's strategic response and supporting its tactical commitments. For the MMA and its members, participating on the board creates an opportunity to channel that urgency and inspire all stakeholders - within my Company, within other member companies, and among individual participants - to realize the full potential of mobile marketing NOW.