From a Marketing Maven: How to Build a Successful Team and Solve Problems Creatively

Innovation and wisdom are polar opposites, right? Alicia Arnold, SVP of Account Director at Hill Holliday, proves it is possible to have both qualities. She shared with us her view on the future of marketing, leadership, and a different approach to solving business problems. 

Connect with Alicia on Twitter and
LinkedIn 

1. Tell us something about yourself that most people don't know.  I'm a lifelong learner. I hold a Bachelor's in Management, an MBA in Marketing, and an MS in Creativity, Innovation, and Change Leadership. I've also taken classes in furniture making, pottery, jewelry making, cooking, tennis, Zumba, Mandarin, interior design, real estate, snorkeling, scuba diving (did I mention I can't swim), photography, writing, and inventing.
2. What has been your criterion for taking on new activities/learning experiences? Do you have a strategy or is it just whatever inspires you? How do you feel these areas of interest have helped you professional experience/skills? How would you motivate others to take on learning new subjects? When it comes to taking on new activities and learning experiences, I look for things that give me energy. It's more of an exploration. Learning new things and exploring different interests provides a good canvas for relating to situations, relating to people, and coming up with ideas. 

Spotlight On: Silje Vallestad

Name: Silje Vallestad
Title: CEO & Founder
Company: Bipper
Location: Norway

A little about 'Bipper': Bipper was founded by Silje Vallestad, a mother of three, after her six-year-old daughter's friends began using cell phones and she was unable to find custom mobile solutions that covered her needs as a parent concerned about her children’s safety. Bipper developed and launched MobileKids in Norway and Bulgaria in partnership with two operators in the fall of 2010 and brought the mobile application for smartphones to the international market in 2013. The company launched bSafe in 2011 prompted by requests from mothers who wanted access to the same SOS feature available on their children’s MobileKids app. Headquartered in Norway with offices in Silicon Valley and Kiev, Bipper has received awards that include Red Herring Global, Rookie of the Year, Bully Award, Mobile Premier Award and SIMagine. In 2011, founder Silje Vallestad was named Norway’s Entrepreneur of the Year. 

Spotlight On: Amy Stern

Name: Amy Stern
Companies: Founder of Amy Stern Consulting LLC and Aim High Videos
Location: NYC Metro area

1. A little on your expertise… I do sales consulting for organizations and companies that have the “telecom and broadband blues”. I help companies solve their telecom and broadband needs, whether that entails expanding and adding capacity, saving money, working on a disaster protection plan, or fixing a service problem. My background of 30 years at Verizon doing wholesale marketing, product management, sales, new product launches, tariffs, pricing and contracts prepares me for that. My other passion is making videos. I make website videos and short documentaries. I work a lot with people who have an interesting personal story to tell, and with organizations that have a message to get out. In the short time that I’ve been doing this, I’ve had videos selected to appear in 5 film festivals.

Spotlight On: Ashley Brown

Name: Ashley Brown
Company:  Self
Location: Boston, MA

1. A little on your expertise… I have done a lot in marketing in a short amount of time since graduating.  For instance I have worked on projects including client mobile ad inventory management, an email newsletter (for Women in Wireless), social media strategy plans, building a mobile app directory, event planning, market research, and catalog design. I love art. The subject matter and medium don’t matter as much to me as seeing something grow from a blank canvas to a beautiful and captivating product. To that end, many of my projects have dealt with creating engaging experiences for startups/small businesses, which allows me to see transformation on many levels.

2. Why did you join Women in Wireless? During college I had the pleasure of interning for two summers at Jumptap, a well-known mobile ad network.  While interning there I met Diana and kept in touch. I found out about Women in Wireless and about how I could be involved even as a recent college grad. Based on on my experience and the personal relationships I’ve been fortunate to make, I have definitely seen that while being new and rapidly growing multi-faceted industry mobile is interestingly enough and surprisingly male-dominated. I was excited about the opportunity to interact and communicate with successful women. Who wouldn’t be right?

3. What is your favorite thing about mobile? Mobile is no longer niche-specific, and it is quickly becoming more ubiquitous across demographics. For example, a smartphone seamlessly operates in a myriad of settings and functions. Once a Blackberry fan, I now own an iPhone. Siri is amazing.  A virtual friend and, personal concierge for some, and more roles than I can think of to so many fans of the iPhone. The word mobile itself means many things to many people and the focus can entail topics ranging from advertising to content to gaming an much more. My phone is use for way more than calls and texting with friends and families. What excites me even more is that mobile has become so ubiquitous in just a few short years and I’m right in the middle of it all. The possibilities for the future are astounding.

4. What do you think is the hottest trend in wireless right now? Not too long ago, the sole purpose of a smartphone was to be productive. Somewhere along the way we were distracted by social media and gaming. Google’s app for Google Drive brings smartphones back to their core of productivity. There are plenty of apps for note taking, calendars, and everything in between but not nearly as much for working directly with assignments.

5. What is your favorite app? It’s so hard to pick. What’s interesting about this question is the context because I have favorite apps for different things. At the moment, I am in love with the ShopWell and Lemon apps. As someone who is committed to healthy habits—for both my wallet and my personal health—I love that they allow me to proactively understand where I can improve in their respective functionalities.

Spotlight On: Veronika Sonsev

Name: Veronika Sonsev
Company: Founder & CEO of inSparq; Founder, Women in Wireless
Location: New York, NY

1. A little on your expertise... As an entrepreneur you do a little of everything; however, my core expertise is business development and strategy. In my 12-year career as a business development and strategy executive for AOL and Jumptap, I built new lines of business, developed strategic partnerships and launched international markets. I love problem solving and finding creative ways to grow a business through deals.

2. Why did you join WiW? I joined WiW because I was invited by a group of powerful industry women to a spa day at CTIA. At the time, it was an informal group that gathered together at trade shows. It was refreshing to network with other women at a show that was dominated by men. I participated in this fashion for a few years. Later, I realized that WiW really struck a cord. Women wanted an opportunity to network with each other because they were committed to helping other women with their careers and business objectives. As I read more about the lack of women in the most senior roles in corporate america (and saw it play out in the tech industry), I realized there was an opportunity for us to get more organized and really make a difference. The WiW leadership team met early this year decided to focus our mission around empowering and developing female leaders in mobile and digital media. Once we got focused and spun out from the Mobile Marketing Association (our original home), our group really started to flourish and take off!

3. What is your favorite thing about digital/mobile? My favorite thing about digital media is that it's constantly changing, especially the mobile industry. When I first got into mobile in 2004, it was all about getting on-deck carrier distribution for your app or mobile site. With iPhone and Android, the industry changed tremendously in just 3 years. Mobile went from primarily a B2B business to a direct to consumer business. As phones get smarter and smarter, innovative companies will continue to develop products that make our life easier on the go. Can you imagine getting around NY without google maps on your phone? How would you find that presentation in a pinch if you didn't have Dropbox? I can't wait to see what's next.

4. What do you think is the hottest trend in wireless right now? If you look at the WiW job board, you will see that Mobile Advertising is red hot. Media spending on mobile is growing incredibly quickly and I keep hearing about more and more mobile advertising companies cropping up. Mobile seems to be a powerful outlet for everything from brand advertising to targeted local campaigns -- just check out the 'Specials Nearby' on FourSquare. According to eMarketer, mobile advertising will reach $15B in 2015, so it's definitely a category that cannot be ignored. The other thing that seems to be hot these days are apps. Every time I reach TechCrunch, I learn about a new app that's trying to gain user adoption. I'm not sure how long this trend will last though. There is a lot you can do with HTML5 and it's only getting better. My prediction is that the apps are going to scale back and most content sites will be built on HTML5 like the wired web.

5. What is your favorite app? Why? I don't have much free time, so my favorite apps are all productivity oriented: Skype - has great android integration for making cheap international calls Dropbox - great for pulling up a presentation in a pinch, Google maps - I would get lost in NY otherwise, Tweetdeck - my favorite Twitter app, Pandora - I like to listen to Pandora while running

6. Why did you get into the digital/mobile space? I got into mobile because online started to feel like traditional media. It was boring!