James Smith Joins Verve Mobile as Chief Revenue Officer

NEW YORK, May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Verve Mobile, the leader in location powered mobile advertising, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as Chief Revenue Officer and will oversee all sales and marketing functions including advertising sales, sales planning and account management, creative services and marketing and communications.   James is based in Verve's New York office.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130508/LA08463)

James joins Verve from Warner Bros. Entertainment, where he was Chief Revenue Officer for its leading digital consumer properties Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes.  Prior to joining Flixster, James was Chief Revenue Officer at the Huffington Post.   At both The Huffington Post and Flixster, prior to its acquisition by Warner Bros., James built the sales and sales support functions from scratch and was responsible for building and scaling advertising revenue through his deep relationships on Madison Avenue.

Prior to joining The Huffington Post in 2006, James was the Senior Vice President, Key Accounts at AOL where he was responsible for developing and managing AOL's relationships with its most important advertising partners and over $125M in annual revenue for AOL. 

"I'm thrilled that James has agreed to join Verve in our mission to build the category-killer in location-based mobile advertising," says Tom MacIsaac, Verve's Chief Executive Officer.  "Verve's sales growth over the last two years has been extraordinary and we expect that this trend will accelerate under James' leadership."  

"Verve is at the forefront of one of the most exciting trends in digital advertising, the convergence of mobile, location, and context; essentially bringing true one-to-one marketing to brands like never before," says James Smith, Chief Revenue Officer.  "With the exceptional team already in place and the additions we are announcing today, Verve will be unequaled in its ability to present and deliver cutting edge mobile advertising products to our clients and partners."

Verve is also announcing a major expansion of its national sales team, including the additions of: 

• Neil Shapiro, as Vice President - East, based in New York.  Neil joins Verve from Shazam, where he managed the Eastern and Midwest regions. 
• Jennifer Fine, as Executive Director - Southwest, based in Los Angeles.  Jennifer joins Verve from WHERE/PayPal Media where she held a similar role.
• Kara Jenkins, as Director - New England, based in Boston.  Kara joins Verve from WHERE/PayPal Media where she held a similar role.

In addition, Beau Davis has been promoted to VP Strategic Accounts, a new role in which he will manage select key advertiser accounts nationwide.  He will also continue to oversee Verve's Midwest sales team.

About Verve

Verve Mobile is the pioneering leader in location-based mobile advertising. Our customers are national brand advertisers who want to engage consumers on their mobile devices with location-aware, data-driven and highly targeted marketing. We also serve premium publishers across the nation, delivering the platforms and services they need to power and monetize their mobile properties.  The Verve location-powered technology platform and the proprietary data it generates are revolutionizing mobile media and advertising. It enables consumer and content brands to reach their desired audiences on the go, out and about, and closer to the buying decision than ever before. Verve has offices in New York, NY, Chicago, Washington D.C. and San Diego, CA. For more information, visit http://www.vervemobile.com 

SOURCE Verve Mobile