• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 26, 2013

Veteran agency executive and mobile expert Eric Bader is joining social data-driven ad network RadiumOne as its first chief marketing officer. Bader was most recently CEO and founder of Mobilize, a mobile services platform he started last year after serving as global president and chief strategy officer at Interpublic Group’s Initiative.
 
In his new role, he will oversee brand development, strategic partnerships and all marketing-related activities at RadiumOne. Founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal, the company’s ShareGraph technology mines social data to find consumers that most closely match a brand’s customer base, and serve them targeted ads online and in mobile across its publisher network.
 
RadiumOne, which says it’s on track to pull in revenue of $100 million this year, has raised $33.5 million to date in venture funding from investors, including Adams Street Partners and Trinity Ventures. With 250 employees and 400% annual sales growth, the company decided it was time to bring on a CMO.
 
Chahal said Bader, who has served on RadiumOne’s advisory board, brings an ideal combination of “ad-tech smarts and agency credibility” to the new post. Prior to joining Initiative in 2010, Bader had founded and been president of BrandInHand, an early mobile-focused marketing firm, as well as holding management roles at MediaVest and Ogilvy.
 
In the startup arena, he was also general manager of College Sports Network (later CBS College Sports). At RadiumOne, Bader said much of his focus will be on positioning the company with advertisers. “A lot of what I’m going to be doing is clarifying the principles behind why we’re in this business and what we’re doing, and make it super clear for brand advertisers and their agencies,” he said.
 
In tandem with that effort, he will work on strengthening relations with industry trade groups, such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the Association of National Advertisers and the 4As. “We want to make sure we’re not just participants, but actually leaders of the brand platform marketing space,” he said.
 
To date, Radium says its customers include 50 of the Fortune 500 and brands including Hyundai, Del Monte, AT&T and Arby’s. For his part, Bader has worked with a series of big brands, including American Express, Coca-Cola and P&G during his agency career.
 
“What I’m bringing to it is the recognition and insights and understanding of what brands need," said Bader, who will work out of San Francisco-based RadiumOne’s New York office. “I understand the outcomes they’re looking for and the mechanics of how they want to invest.”
 
As for Mobilize, the managed service platform for mobile apps he started a year ago, Bader said it is “on hold for the moment,” in need of further development and funding. “The opportunity at RadiumOne was such a perfect fit for me, I put aside my mobile startup business and hopped on,” he said.