Women in Wireless- SPOTLIGHT On Laura Marriott
Women in Wireless salutes Laura Marriott as a pioneer in the mobile marketing space and is proud to have extended the MMA committee she founded into what is today a stand-alone 501(c)6 organization dedicated to fostering networking and career development for women in the mobile industry.
Name: Laura Marriott
Company: Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairperson, NeoMedia Technologies, Inc.; Advisory Board Member, Women in Wireless Location: Boulder, Colorado
1. Tell us a little about your background in mobile/digital…
I’ve been at the forefront of mobile marketing since its emergence as a burgeoning technology and marketing channel almost a decade ago. My focus has been on educating brands and marketers to help them understand how best to engage the mobile channel, as well as campaigning to raise awareness globally about the power of mobile as a critical marketing channel. In my current role as CEO of NeoMedia, I’m responsible for driving the company’s international growth and development, raising awareness for the value mobile barcode technology brings to marketers and advertisers world-wide. In previous roles as mobile marketing consultant and as president of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), I helped to create the foundation for the mobile marketing industry that we have today by leading several initiatives to raise the industry’s profile with marketers, advertisers, the public, and regulatory bodies – including a global event series, awards program, industry wide guidelines and so on – established during my tenure as President of the MMA from 2005-2009. I feel fortunate to have been involved in mobile marketing since the early days and really appreciate the like-minded community we’ve built globally.
2. Why did you join WiW’s advisory board?
I have been involved in Women in Wireless since it was first launched in 2006 as a new committee initiative within the MMA during my tenure as President. At that time, I launched and co-chaired the WiW committee with Connie Wong, CEO of Vidiator. What drove Connie and I to launch the WiW committee was a desire to develop a forum for women in our industry to collaborate, network, capitalize on our successes, and grow professionally through our shared experiences as female leaders, in an industry dominated by men. Since then, I’ve watched WiW mature to become its own separate entity with a unique set of initiatives and a broad network of talented professionals. I feel privileged to have been involved in its creation and growth and look forward to contributing to WiW’s on-going development in my role on the advisory board.
3. What is it that drew you to mobile and keeps you engaged?
For me, the reasons that drew me to mobile are the same ones that keep me excited and inspired every single day. Mobile remains the most innovative, fast-paced, talent-filled and culture-changing technology sector. In just two decades we’ve seen more change in the mobile space than in any other technology. Mobile touches everything we do now in both our personal and professional lives. Mobile is the go-to device and is helping to connect the unconnected in developing markets. It is such a powerful medium. Today, we use our devices to shop for goods, pay for services, watch TV, and much more. Now we’re seeing other sectors like healthcare and automotive join the mobile bandwagon with new implementations that will impact and improve the experiences for every consumer. I feel that this is the most exciting time for mobile ever and I remain passionate and enthusiastic about the possibilities for our industry.
4. What do you think is the hottest trend in mobile right now?
The launch of LTE networks around the world has been the hot topic for the past 18 months and looks set to dominate the mobile headlines for the foreseeable future as we see the results of trials and mass market roll-outs. However, one of the hottest trends coming out of Mobile World Congress this year was mobile commerce. The mobile industry, retailers and brands are turning their attention to how mobile can make it easy for consumers to complete purchases on the go. We expect that we will see more mobile barcodes, an enabler to the mobile commerce experience, in 2012 as a result. The space is dynamic and moving quickly, there are a lot of exciting things happening.
5. What is your favorite app?
I love our own NeoReader® application for scanning mobile barcodes. However, in addition to NeoReader, the other apps I use daily are Mint, Google Search, Facebook, WhatsApp and Pandora.
T ON…Laura Marriott-Women In Wireless
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