Russel Tarr Joins As VP Sales To Develop Direct And Indirect Channel To Market (Digital Rum)

Digital Rum (dR) continues to strengthen its management team with the appointment of Russell Tarr as vice president Sales. Tarr will be responsible for expanding dR's direct sales operation in its retail, entertainment and utilities target markets, while developing strategic mobile relationships with operators and channel partners.

Since the management buy-out of Digital Rum in February 2005, the company has grown rapidly, building on its unique mobile CRM, m-commerce and text ordering services for high street giants including Argos, Shop Direct, Odeon and Orange .

Commenting on his new role, Tarr said: "This is an incredibly exciting opportunity. Digital Rum's proposition is unique in the market place and is largely aimed at companies who have yet to embrace the mobile channel. High mobile penetration in Europe, combined with growing consumer familiarity with mobile data services, makes the mobile channel a highly compelling one for brands - and provides a huge market opportunity for Digital Rum."

An established figure in the mobile industry, Tarr joins from mobile billing and settlement specialist Mobile365 where he was UK and Ireland country manager. During his 14 months at the company, Tarr increased regional revenue by 200 percent, restructured the team in line with new sales strategy, and led the division through the merger of Mobileway and Inphomatch that created Mobile365 in August 2004.

Previous senior sales roles include sales manager for Mchex, a start-up company within the Morse Group, and business development and global sales manager for mobile payments and messaging company, Mobileway - where he secured major brand customers including AOL, Cartoon Network, CitiBank and Celador. Before entering the new media arena, Tarr held senior positions with American Express and British Telecom.

"Russell's big brand credentials, coupled with his proven mobile sales expertise makes him an ideal candidate to drive our business forward," said Bob Pike, CEO of Digital Rum. "His appointment strengthens an already impressive management team and places the company in a great position to manage the challenges of rapid growth and customer adoption."