The mobile marketing industry is ever-changing, and that applies to the people as much as the technology. Movers & Shakers is a regular feature following the hottest hires in the industry, so you can keep track of whos joined which company, and what theyre doing there.

Stewart Easterbrook and Gregg Colvin Join Widespace Board
Brand mobile advertising firm Widespace has appointed Stewart Easterbrook and Gregg Colvin (pictured) to its board.

Easterbrook was previously CEO of media agency Starcom MediaVest Group, moving to executive director digital development across Europe, and currently holds several strategic advisory posts at a number of technology companies.

Colvin holds senior advisory roles across several large businesses, and has just completed half a decade at Universal McCann Worldwide, most recently as North American COO. Prior to this, he was vice president at Fox Networks Group.

Easterbrook and Colvin will take up advisory roles, joining Widespace investors Industrifonden and Northzone, as well as Widespace founder Patrik Fagerlund and founder and chairman of the board Henric Ehrenblad.

Easterbrook said: “Widespace works uniquely by delivering the kind of brand campaigns we’re used to seeing across more traditional channels, on mobile. Its success is driven by an in-depth knowledge of the advertising industry, great technology and a talented team. I’m looking forward to being part of the journey.”

Havas Hires López to Run Mobext UK
Havas Group has appointed Patricia López as head of Mobext UK. She will lead the UK Mobext division, comprised of 10 mobile specialists delivering mobile strategy, media, data, creative, content and business solutions to advertisers. She will be responsible for driving the development and delivery of innovative, business-building mobile marketing solutions and further develop the Havas mobile offering across all media and creative agencies in the UK, ahead of the opening of Havas Village in 2017.

López joins from Havas Media New York, where she was mobile marketing manager, looking after mobile strategy and media plans for brands including GUESS, Philips, LVMH and NBTY.
She said: “In a world in which everything revolves around mobile, it is essential to have a team of mobile experts to deliver truly mobile first tactics that will impact client business. Mobext has proven extremely beneficial for clients in other markets and I am excited to lead the re-launch of this division and join a fantastic team in the UK.”

GeoPoll Recruits Dhillon to Oversee Sales Expansion
African mobile survey and media measurement firm GeoPoll has recruited Arjun Dhillon to oversee and expand its sales team across the continent. Dhillon comes to GeoPoll with over 15 years’ experience in the FMCG and telecom sectors in Kenya and India. Most recently, he was the head of sales and retention at Safaricom Kenya, Kenya’s largest telecom company. He has significant experience in building and leading high-performing sales team and will be based in GeoPoll’s Nairobi office, which has grown to over 30 staff since GeoPoll began its expansion on the continent in 2014.

Under Dhillon’s guidance, the sales team will continue to grow in Kenya and other key countries in Africa including South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ghana. By the end of 2016, GeoPoll expects to add over 20 sales representatives across the continent who will work with partners including global media companies and brands to integrate mobile surveys into their data collection projects.
This diverse team of individuals will come from the market research, telecom, and media sectors and will assist GeoPoll in selling its core product, Kantar-GeoPoll Media Measurement, along with On Demand survey projects that measure brand health, track retail habits, and more.

“As demand for GeoPoll’s market research and media measurement solutions has picked up across Africa we’ve continually grown our team, and now we are excited to enter a new phase with Arjun leading a continent-wide expansion of our business development efforts,” said said GeoPoll president, Steve Gutterman. “Under his guidance the team will bring GeoPoll’s mobile survey capabilities to new clients and sectors that lack reliable, up-to-date consumer data.”