TEAM

Derek Handley
Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer
New York

In 2001, Derek founded mobile marketing and media company The Hyperfactory, with his brother Geoffrey Handley. Now based between New York and Auckland, Derek is responsible for The Hyperfactory’s global strategic growth and direction.

In 2006 Derek was named one of the 40 Most Influential People in New Zealand Telecommunications 2006; in 2007 he was nominated as Bayer New Zealand and the National Business Review Top 60 Innovators 2007 and won the PwC Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He became New Zealand’s youngest ever managing director of a listed company at the age of 22 when he led online racing and sports betting company Feverpitch to list on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. He has been widely quoted and featured in AdWeek, Wall Street Journal, AdAge, Contagious Magazine, on the future of digital and mobile media and been a featured speaker at OMMA, Ad-Tech, the Global Mobile Marketing Association, Mobile Entertainment Forum, IAB and many other leading events.

When not talking mobile or media, Derek spends time thinking about being an astronaut, plays a lot of poker and tries to play polo.

Geoffrey Handley
Co-founder
Sydney

Geoffrey Handley is co-founder and architect behind international, multi-award winning mobile marketers, The Hyperfactory. Geoffrey has over 10 years experience evangelizing innovative digital experiences, serving as a founding member of Asia's leading intranet developer Pacific Connections prior to The Hyperfactory.

Geoffrey's position as a respected industry spokesperson in the interactive mobile marketing and development industry in Asia Pacific has made him a familiar face across the board. He is one of the Mobile Marketing Association's most active members in the Asia Pacific region and Founding Board Member of the MMA's Asia Pacific Chapter, a key mobile player within the Asian Digital Marketing Association, a regular contributor to industry publications and a highly sought after speaker and panelist in the region.

Jeff Arbour
Senior Vice President, North America
New York

Jeff Arbour is Senior Vice President for The Hyperfactory and a key driver behind the company's growth in North America. Jeff has been helping brands navigate the mobile channel since 2003. First hired at The Hyperfactory in 2006, Jeff has helped define domestic and global mobile strategies and executions for top prestigious brands.

Over the years Jeff has been working with key clients including Toyota, BlackBerry, L’Oreal, Coke, Intel, Microsoft and Kraft, which have won a number of awards recognized by MMA, AdTech and the Webbys among others. He is also often invited to be a guest speaker at various international conferences.

In 2008 Jeff was named the #1 in DM News’ Top 30 Under 30, Direct and Interactive Marketers Under 30, as well as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Marketers of 2008 and 2009 by Invesp Consulting.


Paul Johansen
Chief Operating Officer
Auckland

Joining the company in June 2008 in the role of Group Chief Operating Officer, Paul Johansen, previously based in Melbourne, has made the shift over to New Zealand to take up the role as The Hyperfactory continues on its path of aggressive global growth. Prior to joining the award-winning team Paul was Asia Pacific Programme Manager at NYSE listed CRM giant Amdocs. With a passion for innovation and over 20 years of experience in the carrier and telco ecosystem The Hyperfactory is thrilled that Paul is joining the leadership team in this exciting time of global growth.

Brani Mead
Global Business Analyst

Brani is at the heart of how The Hyperfactory takes our concepts and puts them into reality. Having worked on both the technology and brand side of the digital space for over 10 years, Brani has the rare ability to translate that ‘Big Idea’ into zeros and ones. Part of the original core-team, Brani has been with The Hyperfactory since 2002 and in this time has worked on some amazing programs in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China and the USA.

Brani holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from the University of Auckland. His skills focus on the ability to adeptly translate business requirements and interpretate them into ideas and technically-enabled answers.

Srinivasa Rao Munagala
Head of Research and Development
Auckland

Srinivasa has been at the helm of The Hyperfactory's development team for the last four years and is regarded as a propeller-head when it comes to all things mobile.  Having begun his career at IBM 10 years ago, he has had a passion for, in his own words "developing branded mobility solutions, not just software!" for the last seven years.

As The Hyperfactory's Head of Research and Development, he has been instrumental in many award-winning campaign platforms and a few world firsts including the 2001 live "PXT2Screen"! In addition to working on premier brands including Toyota, General Mills, P&G, McDonalds and Motorola, Srinivasa has been the Lead Developer and Architect on many of The Hyperfactory's award-winning campaigns.

Nicole Amodeo
Vice President of Media

As Vice President of Media, Nicole Amodeo oversees The Hyperfactory’s media strategy and operations efforts, and has been responsible campaign performance for top accounts including Toyota, Loreal, RIM, Target, Sony, Disney and Avaya.  Nicole began her career at mOne (later Mindshare Interaction), where she began focusing her efforts as a mobile specialist.  As digital lead on the agency’s BP account, she drove the company’s multi-channel “BP Helios Power” campaign, which included a Hyperfactory-enabled mobile  program that garnered multiple awards, including a Silver Effie and a CIMA Star Award.  A former client of The Hyperfactory, she took the leap from the digital media world because of the passion and excitement generated by The Hyperfactory in this quickly evolving mobile landscape.

When she is not plugged into work, Nicole is enjoying perks of city living.  With the exception of a couple of years in the UK, she has lived in Chicago since graduating from Penn State University.

DANIEL BLACKBURN
Senior Vice President of Account Development

Daniel looks after the account teams and crafts long-term brand planning for The Hyperfactory’s current and potential clients.

Prior to joining the Hyperfactory, Daniel spent two years consulting on both the selling and buying sides of mobile media, including an engagement with Telephia prior to its acquisition by Nielsen.  He began his mobile marketing career with industry trailblazer Enpocket (subsequently sold to Nokia), managing West Coast Sales and Business Development.  Throughout his mobile career, Daniel has worked on leading brands such as Toyota, Disney Parks, Nissan, Honda, CNBC, MSN Mobile and Nestle.

+ BOARD OF DIRECTORS

GRANT BAKER
Chairman

Grant Baker is a well known New Zealand entrepreneur who as CEO of Ubix Business Machines was also a director and shareholder of Ubix’s parent company, Blue Star Group. Blue Star had revenues of NZ$1.3b when it was sold to NASDAQ listed US Office Products in 1997. Grant was also a founder of a number of other companies including electricity retailer Empower Limited, which become New Zealand’s largest privately owned electricity retailer with over 150,000 customers. He was Executive Chairman of Empower and its major shareholder until it was sold to Mission Edison in 2002.

Most recently Grant was Executive Chairman of 42 Below Limited, a New Zealand based spirits distiller with 42 Below Vodka. The company’s super premium products were sold in 15 countries around the world including the UK, USA and Australia. 42 Below was listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange until it was sold to Bacardi Limited in 2006.

RICH FRANK
Director

Former President Walt Disney Studios, Paramount, Exec-Consultant to Zenith Media. One of Hollywood’s most creative, vibrant and ingenious players, Rich Frank has enjoyed a long-term career in Hollywood. Frank was Chairman of Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications and headed Disney’s syndication arm Buena Vista.

He was the President of Walt Disney Studios for nearly a decade and also oversaw the development of The Disney Channel. Prior to his tenure at DisneyFrank was President of the Paramount Television Group and also one of the founders of the USA Network. Under Frank’s leadership, television and movie properties such as “Cheers,” “Taxi,” “Family Ties,” “Regis and Kathy Lee,” “Dead Poet’s Society,” “Pretty Woman,” “Father of the Bride,” and “The Lion King” achieved phenomenal success.

Rich was President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for an unprecedented six years, a board member of the MPAA for eight, and is currently a vice chairman and executive board member of the American Film Institute.

JOHN HANDLEY
Director

A director of The Hyperfactory since 2001 John’s early career focused on the marketing of FMCG products working in over 50 countries in North, Central and South America, the Middle East and Asia. John was first mover of numerous international brands into the nascent Peoples Republic of China market including Campbells Soups, Evian Water, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Gordons Gin and Tonic Waters. In latter years John has been an active and Independent Director of several Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed companies including Heng Tai Group Ltd with a market capitalization in excess of HK$2 billion.