nGage adds digital marketing veteran to senior exec team

nGage Labs, a leading provider of in-location shopper engagement solutions, has appointed Michael Ricci as the company's as chief marketing officer, a newly created global post reporting to CEO Rod Ford.



"I am extremely excited to have Mike join the nGage Labs executive leadership team," said Ford. "We are building a world class innovation engine committed to only working with the brightest and most progressive minds in the digital personalization space. At nGage Labs business is about performance and our formula is to attract the brightest minds in digital commerce and empower them with an organization experienced in perpetual delivery of new innovations. Mike's passion as a digital innovator and track record of delivering disruptive, yet practical digital commerce solutions is unmatched in the industry. His vision of using data, science, and emerging technologies to drive a level of customer engagement previously unavailable to marketers perfectly aligns with the foundational mission of our company."



Ricci is joining nGage Labs from Wedtrends where he was VP of digital and solution marketing. At Webtrends Ricci was responsible for all facets of digital marketing including WWW, social, mobile, video and the product/solutions marketing teams. He oversaw the rapid growth of the company's mobile analytics business and an emerging data visualization practice. At Webtrends, Ricci worked with blue chip clients like Reebok, State Farm, Coca-Cola, Hilton, Microsoft, the New York Times, RIM and Fandango.



"I'm excited to be joining the nGage Labs team. I've had the opportunity to work with many of the members of the executive team and have watched nGage Labs as it has blazed a new path in personalized, targeted, mobile shopper engagement solutions," said Ricci. "Mobile commerce is a sector of mobile marketing poised for explosive growth and I believe that nGage Labs has some of the most compelling technology in the marketplace and a wealth of retail experience that our clients will find invaluable as they attempt to harness the power of this highly personalized (mobile) device. Ultimately, mobile shopper engagement is both an art and a science and I believe that our approach is truly disruptive and look forward to helping translate that into world class digital marketing that positions nGage Labs as the 'go-to partner' in this space."



Ricci has also held senior executive, customer-facing positions as VP and mobile practice leader for Merkle, Inc., a leading marketing services firm, and as VP of creative and strategy for iLoop, a premier mobile marketing company focused on assisting marketers, digital agencies and other entities create effective mobile marketing strategies and user experiences.



nGage Labs provides in-location customer engagement solutions that enable merchants and retailers to recognize, personalize, and engage buyers directly via the customer's mobile device and interactive smart displays.