Advertisemen
Mr. John Harrobin is the former Chief MarketingOfficer of
Verizon. He served in various operational management and senior
executive roles in a progressive career spanning 18 years and earned a
reputation as a thought leader and strong executor. John was instrumental in Verizon Wireless’s
rise to the top position in the wireless industry, forged strategic partnerships with
Apple, Microsoft, and Google that shaped the mobile ecosystem, and transformed
pricing, content, and distribution strategies for both Verizon Wireless and
FiOS.
John
has a consistent track record of building successful brands, identifying
breakthrough growth initiatives, pioneering the use of data and digital tools,
and developing integrated marketing programs that deliver value. He developed brand identity, advertising, and
promotions and managed Verizon’s $1.5 billion+ media budget. He also introduced propensity modeling for
customer acquisition and retention programs and econometric modeling for media
investment decisions.
John
also launched several new products and business units with the company, including
mobile advertising (partnering with Microsoft
to monetize),
FiOS TV advertising (striking deals with Comcast
and Time Warner to
guarantee over $100mm of incremental margin per year), mobile content, mobile
payments, and disruptive and profitable pricing models such as $9.99 Family
Share Plans, Share Everything for wireless data and “Skinny Bundles” for FiOS TV. In addition, he led the effort to secure an
agreement with Google to sell Android devices and, by launching Droid, helped
take Android from less than 2% share to +20% within 45 days.
Mr.
Harrobin has a robust understanding of content distribution and usage rights
having been on both the buy and sell side of media. He led negotiations and partnerships with
several teams, OEMs, celebrities, media outlets, and sports leagues including
the NFL, NHL, and IndyCar. John has
received numerous awards for integrated marketing campaigns including Effies,
Telly, Webby, Pencil, Event Marketer and Mobile Marketing
Association (MMA). He has been recognized with several honors
including Communicator of the Year, 40 under 40, Marketing 50, and Hottest
Brands (Droid).
John
has a diverse career of executive leadership at Fortune 20 public companies
while also interacting with start-up and private equity backed companies. He has led teams of over 600 members across
four continents and has an exceptional track record for developing talent. He has keynoted several presentations at
conferences including: AdAge Digital,
Billboard Entertainment Live, CTIA, CES, and Mobile World Congress. John is currently a General Partner and
Operating Advisor with a venture fund specializing in the Princeton University
ecosystem and serves as both an investor and advisor to a handful of early
stage media and mobile technology companies.
In addition to his professional endeavors, John serves as a mentor to
young entrepreneurs at TechStars and has served on a local school advisory
board. He is a Certified Management
Accountant and holds a Bachelors degree from Villanova University and an MBA
from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
John
Harrobin
Additional Details
•
Mr.
Harrobin’s energy and relentless focus on growth are equally applied in the B2B
arena, where at Verizon he launched the Verizon Partner Program to penetrate
the mid-market SME segment, growing indirect channel mix from 2% to over 40% in
less than three years. He also formed
the Commercial Committee to make informed capital spending decisions, aligned
sales compensation to margin delivery through the Quota Review Board, and
established an Executive Briefing Program to ensure top-to-top collaboration
with 50 strategic accounts. He continued
the tradition of growing revenue at NBC Universal where he served as EVP and
Chief Marketing Officer of the Content Innovation Agency, launching the Content
Studio to package creative and media together and drive sales outside of NBCU’s
intellectual property.
•
John
was the 1st person in the United States, outside of Apple or its
Agency, to produce an Apple TV commercial for the Verizon iPhone launch and worked extensively with Apple on all
device launches. He benchmarked Apple’s
brand voice, retail design, corporate communications, and merchandising tactics
and subsequently revamped all of Verizon’s communications at every customer
touchpoint, including over 5,000 direct and indirect agent stores.
•
In
addition, John was among the first advertisers on both Facebook and Twitter. He was 1st (in any category) to
initiate a Digital Upfront and 1st (in the TMT category) to pay
digital Ad Networks based on Performance (orders vs. clicks) leading to a 5X
increase in online sales and reduced CPO.
John also issued the 1st RFP for a Data Management Platform
(DMP) and provided seed funding through Verizon Ventures so that the selected
partner (BlueKai, subsequently purchased by Oracle) could complete
development.
•
John
introduced Speedmatch, launched the FiOS gateway router, and developed new
Triple Play bundles and service rep training to shift package mix to
higher-margin packages and set recording-breaking growth while simultaneously
increasing Online channel mix to over 20% of sales.
•
He
identified and led Verizon Venture’s investment in Invidi to develop targeted
and advanced advertising for FiOS TV and in Skyfire to provide mobile browser
acceleration. John also struck an
exclusive deal with Siri (before Apple's purchase) to enable functionality on
Verizon Android and Blackberry devices.
•
Mr.
Harrobin represented Verizon on the Board of Directors of the Joint Innovation
Lab (JIL), a global consortium consisting of Vodafone, Softbank, and China
Mobile with a mission to promote standards that streamline and accelerate mobile
application development. Masayoshi Son, Founder of Softbank, served as the
board’s Chairman.
•
He
also served on the cross-carrier Steering Committee for Softcard, a joint
venture of T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon focused on mobile payments that was
acquired by Google.
•
John
also served on the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Board of Directors
for nearly a decade and was active in their efforts to promote guidelines for
privacy and self-regulation of advertising.
At the request of the ANA he also served on the Council of the Better
Business Bureau's ARSC (Advertising and Self-Regulatory Council).
Advertisemen