Joe Farren, Executive Vice President at Weber Shandwick and subsidiary Powell Tate, leads the Washington D.C tech practice and plays a key role in bringing policy, policy makers and influencers to the national stage. We had the pleasure of having Joe in our office, where he discussed tech policy and, more specifically, the Mobile Industry.
“The Mobile Industry is unlike any other,” said Farren, who thinks that the way the industry rapidly responds to consumer demands and needs sets itself apart. And Farren would know, as he has been deeply embedded in tech and mobility policy long before his current role with the agency. Farren’s previous roles include Assistant Vice President, Public Affairs at the CTIA—The Wireless Association, one of the largest industry trade groups representing the international wireless telecom industry. There, he helped lead the mobile industry’s first paid media campaign.
No wonder the Mobile Industry is constantly evolving and proactively listening to consumers—it has to in order to keep the just under 6 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions worldwide as of the end of 2011 (or 87 percent of the world population) as estimated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), content and up to speed.
As Farren stated, “the mobile device is the 21st century Swiss-army knife,” almost everyone uses a mobile device, and is using it in increasingly different ways. This aligns with Forrester Research predictions from 2011, which cited that mobile commerce sales will hit $31 billion by 2016 (!)
As we continue to see rapid growth in the space, it will be interesting to closely watch how the industry continues to react, adjust, and evolve, all while keeping the consumer at the forefront.
Cullen Heaney is an Account Executive, primarily working with Weber Shandwick's Global Technology Practice. You can follow her on Twitter @cullenhny 
