Roger Wood
Encyclopedia
Roger Cameron Wood is an American marketer, technologist, and innovator. Using principles of design, software engineering, statistics and branding, he has made contributions to a vast range of digital media, including mobile web, text messaging, social media, product placement, ecommerce, risk analysis, virtual currency and digital advertising. He was a pioneer in the application of Bayesian probability
principles and Kahn’s scenario planning analysis to practical marketing decisions about competition.
He is primarily recognized for his innovations in digital media, especially his pioneering initiatives in mobile marketing.
He is best known for his role at Motorola where he launched iDEN, the first mobile social network
, and its eponymous line of mobile phones, and also his part at Omnipoint/Voicestream, the start-up predecessor to T-Mobile, in launching the first GSM Text Messaging service in America, which enabled consumers to use their mobile phones for web content, and SMS Text messaging while traveling from country to country.
to an AT&T Bell Labs software developer and an educator, Wood was raised in a technology environment. His mother is a member of the Conley family
of Huntsville, Alabama, known for its role in NASA. He worked at AT&T in the billing system
software department as a high school teenager, and displayed skills in combining technology and marketing at an early age.
near Princeton, New Jersey
. He is the 4th generation of his family
to attend Morehouse & Spelman Colleges
in Atlanta, Georgia, where he earned a B.A.
in Statistics
and Marketing
. He attended Columbia University
for graduate studies in computer science
, and earned an MBA from Harvard University
.
, as head of marketing and product management for the iDEN Division
, which created Nextel
and the iDEN
brand of mobile phones.
Reporting to wireless industry legend and then-vice chairman Bob Barnett at only 25 years old, Mr. Wood led iDEN
to become the first mobile social network, and 6th best-selling mobile phone in history. The technology architecture and software applications which group consumers into a myriad of interconnected networks iDEN
was the foundation and precursor to many modern mobile social networking apps, such as Gowalla
and FourSquare.
Additionally, as marketing leader, he conceived the industrial design and brand name iDEN
, which stood for "Integrated Digital Enhanced Network," and played a pivotal role in the creation of iDEN's iconic brand ID, logo, and signature "chirp" audio cue that defines Nextel and its devices throughout the world.
to Craig McCaw
, Wood was a part of the original management team of Omnipoint led by George Schmitt, a high profile Airtouch executive who launched GSM in Europe. Mr. Wood launched the international business for the consortium
of GSM carriers which became T- Mobile USA – then individually known as Voicestream, Aerial, Powertel and Omnipoint. It was the first to introduce international GSM roaming service in the United States
in 1997, and the company's famous "100% Digital, 0% Hassle" television ad campaign, and ubiquitous Omnipoint Parrot logo billboards were prominently featured. He had a major role in the first text messaging service launched in America, sparking the short messaging trend that has been popularized by Twitter, Skype and AIM.
, and Mr. Wood was appointed Corporate Vice President, Global Marketing
at Reebok International, which included Greg Norman
, Ralph Lauren
RLX, and Rockport
brands. In the successful turnaround of the company, Mr. Wood and his team further applied Bayes’ Rule to the company’s competitive strategy against Nike and Adidas. During his tenure, Reebok was the first apparel and footwear brand to use digital advertising, ecommerce, and digital video content, on a global scale, changing the standards of efficiency in ad spending. The company's digital media operations spanned online advertising, online videos, e-commerce, affiliate marketing
and athletic club loyalty card programs
184 countries. His tenure also included the marketing launch of the first motion sensor footwear products with the ability to track physical activity, then convert the information to a usable format online - now a common feature offered by Nike
, Apple and FitBit
. He also had a role in the product placement of Reebok apparel and footwear in Season One of the hit TV show "Survivor."
projects, lending his experience in building global businesses to the entrepreneurial founders.
His past projects have included: CitySoft, a pioneer in social entrepreneurship initially focused on building web sites using employees from lower income neighborhoods; Amobee Media Systems
, Inc., a pioneer in mobile advertising
backed by Sequoia Capital
and Accel Partners
;NewMediary; Scripted.com; Dialpad; and TagWhat.
Bayesian probability
Bayesian probability is one of the different interpretations of the concept of probability and belongs to the category of evidential probabilities. The Bayesian interpretation of probability can be seen as an extension of logic that enables reasoning with propositions, whose truth or falsity is...
principles and Kahn’s scenario planning analysis to practical marketing decisions about competition.
He is primarily recognized for his innovations in digital media, especially his pioneering initiatives in mobile marketing.
Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing can refer to one of two categories of interest. First, and relatively new, is meant to describe marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a cell phone using SMS Marketing....
He is best known for his role at Motorola where he launched iDEN, the first mobile social network
Mobile social network
Mobile social networking is social networking where one or more individuals of similar interests or commonalities, conversing and connecting with one another using the mobile phone. Much like web based social networking, mobile social networking occurs in virtual communities. A current trend for...
, and its eponymous line of mobile phones, and also his part at Omnipoint/Voicestream, the start-up predecessor to T-Mobile, in launching the first GSM Text Messaging service in America, which enabled consumers to use their mobile phones for web content, and SMS Text messaging while traveling from country to country.
Early life
Born in Atlanta, GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
to an AT&T Bell Labs software developer and an educator, Wood was raised in a technology environment. His mother is a member of the Conley family
Conley family
The Conley Family, Huntsville, Alabama family of the Reverend Green Conley , is notable for its place in academic, social, political and athletic accomplishments in United States. The family is largely of African and Irish American origin, and came into prominence during the late 19th century and...
of Huntsville, Alabama, known for its role in NASA. He worked at AT&T in the billing system
Telecommunications billing
Telecommunications billing is the process of adding together rated calls or services for a certain user or group of users, applying discounts and preparing the data for invoicing.Billing is also the name for the entire process of creating an invoice...
software department as a high school teenager, and displayed skills in combining technology and marketing at an early age.
Education
He was prepped at the Wardlaw-Hartridge SchoolWardlaw-Hartridge School
The Wardlaw-Hartridge School is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational day school located in Edison, New Jersey, United States, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is commonly referred to as Wardlaw or W-H...
near Princeton, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. He is the 4th generation of his family
Conley family
The Conley Family, Huntsville, Alabama family of the Reverend Green Conley , is notable for its place in academic, social, political and athletic accomplishments in United States. The family is largely of African and Irish American origin, and came into prominence during the late 19th century and...
to attend Morehouse & Spelman Colleges
Morehouse College
Morehouse College is a private, all-male, liberal arts, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Wabash College, Morehouse is one of three remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States....
in Atlanta, Georgia, where he earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
and Marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
. He attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
for graduate studies in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, and earned an MBA from Harvard University
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
.
Motorola, Inc.
Mr. Wood’s career began at MotorolaMotorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
, as head of marketing and product management for the iDEN Division
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone...
, which created Nextel
Nextel Communications
Nextel Communications, commonly styled NEXTEL and formerly traded on the NASDAQ as NXTL, now a part of the Sprint Nextel Corporation, was a United States telecommunications firm operating a nationwide push to talk mobile communications system. Unlike other mobile networks, the Nextel network...
and the iDEN
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone...
brand of mobile phones.
Reporting to wireless industry legend and then-vice chairman Bob Barnett at only 25 years old, Mr. Wood led iDEN
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone...
to become the first mobile social network, and 6th best-selling mobile phone in history. The technology architecture and software applications which group consumers into a myriad of interconnected networks iDEN
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone...
was the foundation and precursor to many modern mobile social networking apps, such as Gowalla
Gowalla
Gowalla is a location-based social network. Users 'check in' at Spots in their local vicinity, either through a dedicated mobile application or through the mobile website. As a reward users will sometimes receive virtual "items" from check-ins. Items have developed to become a promotional tool for...
and FourSquare.
Additionally, as marketing leader, he conceived the industrial design and brand name iDEN
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone...
, which stood for "Integrated Digital Enhanced Network," and played a pivotal role in the creation of iDEN's iconic brand ID, logo, and signature "chirp" audio cue that defines Nextel and its devices throughout the world.
Omnipoint (T-Mobile USA)
After the sale of NextelNextel Communications
Nextel Communications, commonly styled NEXTEL and formerly traded on the NASDAQ as NXTL, now a part of the Sprint Nextel Corporation, was a United States telecommunications firm operating a nationwide push to talk mobile communications system. Unlike other mobile networks, the Nextel network...
to Craig McCaw
Craig McCaw
Craig McCaw is a Seattle-area businessman and entrepreneur who achieved success as a pioneer in the cellular phone industry. He is the founder of McCaw Cellular and Clearwire Corporation.-Early life and cable TV beginnings:Craig is the second of four sons of Marion and John Elroy McCaw...
, Wood was a part of the original management team of Omnipoint led by George Schmitt, a high profile Airtouch executive who launched GSM in Europe. Mr. Wood launched the international business for the consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
of GSM carriers which became T- Mobile USA – then individually known as Voicestream, Aerial, Powertel and Omnipoint. It was the first to introduce international GSM roaming service in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1997, and the company's famous "100% Digital, 0% Hassle" television ad campaign, and ubiquitous Omnipoint Parrot logo billboards were prominently featured. He had a major role in the first text messaging service launched in America, sparking the short messaging trend that has been popularized by Twitter, Skype and AIM.
Reebok, Inc.
The consortium of GSM operators was sold to Deutsche TelekomDeutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
, and Mr. Wood was appointed Corporate Vice President, Global Marketing
Global marketing
The Oxford University Press defines global marketing as “marketing on a worldwide scale reconciling or taking commercial advantage of global operational differences, similarities and opportunities in order to meet global objectives.”...
at Reebok International, which included Greg Norman
Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
, Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
RLX, and Rockport
Rockport (company)
The Rockport Company is a manufacturer of shoes based in Canton, Massachusetts.Founded in Marlborough, Massachusetts in 1971 by Bruce Katz, the company produces footwear and operates stores in the United States and 66 countries around the world...
brands. In the successful turnaround of the company, Mr. Wood and his team further applied Bayes’ Rule to the company’s competitive strategy against Nike and Adidas. During his tenure, Reebok was the first apparel and footwear brand to use digital advertising, ecommerce, and digital video content, on a global scale, changing the standards of efficiency in ad spending. The company's digital media operations spanned online advertising, online videos, e-commerce, affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's own marketing efforts...
and athletic club loyalty card programs
Loyalty program
Loyalty programs are structured marketing efforts that reward, and therefore encourage, loyal buying behavior — behavior which is potentially beneficial to the firm....
184 countries. His tenure also included the marketing launch of the first motion sensor footwear products with the ability to track physical activity, then convert the information to a usable format online - now a common feature offered by Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, Apple and FitBit
Fitbit
Fitbit Inc. is a company headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. Led by James Park and Eric Friedman, the company is known for its product of the same name, the Fitbit Tracker, a wireless-enabled wearable device that measures data such as the number of steps walked, quality of...
. He also had a role in the product placement of Reebok apparel and footwear in Season One of the hit TV show "Survivor."
Willis Group Holdings
Additionally, Mr. Wood was COO & Practice Leader of the Media, Entertainment & Technology (MET) Practice at Willis Group Holdings. His practice focused on motion picture, internet, television, theme park, advertising, and video game clients. The turnaround of Willis Group is widely viewed as one of the most successful investments in the history of KKR.Silicon Valley
Mr. Wood has also played a role as investor, board member, and executive in several venture capital-backed startupStartup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
projects, lending his experience in building global businesses to the entrepreneurial founders.
His past projects have included: CitySoft, a pioneer in social entrepreneurship initially focused on building web sites using employees from lower income neighborhoods; Amobee Media Systems
Amobee Media Systems
Amobee, founded in 2005 by Gil Shulman, Saul Rurka and Zohar Levkovitz, is an end-to-end mobile advertising solution and service for large-scale advertisers, developers, publishers and operators. Amobee enables its customers to run targeted mobile ad campaigns on a global scale...
, Inc., a pioneer in mobile advertising
Mobile advertising
Mobile advertising is a form of advertising via mobile phones or other mobile devices. It is a subset of mobile marketing.- Overview :...
backed by Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a Californian venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. The Wall Street Journal has called Sequoia Capital "one of the highest-caliber venture firms", and noted that it is "one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture-capital firms"...
and Accel Partners
Accel Partners
Accel Partners is a global venture and growth equity firm funding companies from inception through the growth stage.The firm is based in Palo Alto, California with major offices in Bangalore, Beijing, London, and Shanghai....
;NewMediary; Scripted.com; Dialpad; and TagWhat.