Curt Hecht, Tobin Ireland and Joe Kennedy Elected to the Mobile Marketing Association Global Board of Directors

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the leading global trade association for the mobile industry, today announced three additions to the MMA Global Board of Directors including Curt Hecht, CEO of VivaKi's Nerve Center; Tobin Ireland, group director, commercial development, Vodafone Group; and Joe Kennedy, CEO & President of Pandora.

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"I want to welcome Curt, Tobin and Joe to their new positions on the MMA Board and thank them for their commitment to supporting the MMA's building of a major Mobile Marketing industry," said Greg Stuart, CEO MMA. "They are pioneers in their respective fields and the unique perspective, expertise, and leadership that they bring to the MMA Board will be critical as we work shoulder-to-shoulder to build mobile into the most smartest and most powerful marketing channel there ever has been."

Curt Hecht is CEO of the Nerve Center, VivaKi's hub of new media companies and ad serving, analytics and performance media tool capabilities. He is focused on developing the next generation of technical platforms to allow Publicis Groupe and its clients to migrate from analog media processes, and scale their digital marketing efforts as both media channel and consumer become digital. Curt is also the Groupe's primary liaison to digital media companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Canoe (Cable MSOs) and telco companies, architecting open and scaleable platforms that can be activated by all of VivaKi's agency networks. Prior to leading VivaKi, Curt was Chief Digital Officer at Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), a subsidiary of Publicis Groupe.

Tobin Ireland joined Vodafone in 2010 and serves as the London-based global mobile operator's Group Director of Commercial Development, where he is responsible for global commercial strategy and new business development. This includes mobile marketing and mobile commerce where Tobin has been leading industry efforts to create an open m-commerce ecosystem supported by all mobile operators. Tobin started his career at McKinsey & Company specializing in retail and media turnarounds as has subsequently served as the Commercial Director of BSkyB (where he spearheaded early interactive TV advertising) and as Chief Marketing Officer of AOL Europe. Tobin is also an active advisor and investor in early stage digital media businesses.

Joe Kennedy joined Pandora as CEO & President in 2004 following a five-year stint at E-LOAN, where he was President and Chief Operating Officer. From 1995 to 1999, he was the Vice President of Sales, Service and Marketing for Saturn Corporation, which he grew to over $4 billion in revenue and established as the top brand for customer satisfaction in the auto industry. Joe joined the initial start-up team at Saturn, four months after its founding, as a marketing manager and held positions of increasing marketing responsibility over the course of his 11-year tenure there.  Joe holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, where he dabbled in music theory and learned to compose his own Gregorian chants. He is Pandora's resident pop music junkie. Joe has also been playing the piano for more than 30 years, most of which has been spent attempting to master Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

Hecht, Ireland and Kennedy begin their terms on the MMA Global Board in 2012.  For more information on the MMA's board and senior leadership, visit http://mmaglobal.com/about/board-of-directors.

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies. The MMA is an action-oriented organization designed to clear obstacles to market development, establish mobile media guidelines and best practices for sustainable growth, and evangelize the use of the mobile channel. The more than 700 member companies, representing over forty countries around the globe, include all members of the mobile media ecosystem. The Mobile Marketing Association's global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe (EUR), Latin American (LATAM) and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com. For information relating to the MMA's Mobile Marketing Forum series, please visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

John Bianchi
Communications Director - Mobile Marketing Association
Mobile: 917 693 4290
Email: John.Bianchi@mmaglobal.com | Skype: john.bianchi63

Valerie Christopherson/Evan Tamura
Global Results Comm. (GRC)
Phone: 949 608 0276
Email: mma@globalresultspr.com

SOURCE Mobile Marketing Association