Performance Marketing Q&A With Gary Skidmore, CEO Of Aberdeen Group

Media 7 | April 22, 2020

Cameron Worth, CEO & Founder of SharpEnd leads the company’s mission to help brands move closer than ever to consumers by connecting packaging, retail and experiential activity. He is a regular speaker and writer on how to build brands in a connected world. He has spoken at Cannes, the Festival of Marketing, LuxePack Monaco and New York, Ad:Week Europe and New York, DMA, the Connected Consumer Conference, Mobile World Congress and the IoT World Forum. MEDIA 7: How did the idea of “the agency of things” come to your mind? CAMERON WORTH: SharpEnd was created in 2015 as the world’s first Internet of Things focused agency, so there is a slight play on words when we say we’re the Agency of Things. I think the idea of giving things their own agency is an interesting concept, and the strapline fits our capabilities on multiple levels. M7: In what way does technology drive the association of SharpEnd with global brands? What approaches are followed to enable sustainability? CW: Our simple proposition is to help build brands in a connected world, and to do that you must always start with identified consumer needs or pain points and look at technology as just an enabler to deliver an appropriate solution (when appropriate).  Take the issue of sustainability, which is often a pain point for brands that grapple with issues such as how we can reward sustainable behaviour change. One of our approaches to this could be to look at communicating the recycling credentials of the different products. Whilst the consumer can engage with a product as part of a wider consumer experience, the same technology could also house content that could tell you whether the product is recyclable, which type of bin it goes in etc. SharpEnd’s work with Unilever is a case in point. We built a digital product that incentivised recycling through gamification but also served to educate through informing people how and where to recycle in a clear fashion. All users had to do was simply scan their packaging to have all this information at their disposal.

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MEDIA 7 | January 9, 2020

Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus is also an author and host of the podcast FlipmyFunnel. He is one of the leading minds in B2B marketing. MEDIA 7: What are you passionate about? SANGRAM VAJRE: Three things: Lead professionally. Grow personally. Love family. M7: Terminus has been recognized as one of Georgia’s 40 fastest-growing companies by ACG Atlanta. What factors contribute to this pace? SV: One of our core values is #OneTeam – which means we think and act as one team and know that if we treat our team right, they will treat our customers amazing. There are no great companies, only great people that make those companies.

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MEDIA 7 | December 5, 2019

Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD is an experienced Marketing and Sales Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Business Process, Marketo, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and IT Service Management, Andrea is also a strong business development professional and a storyteller. MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing? ANDREA LECHNER: Frankly, not having better options. I originally attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse thinking I’d major in Archaeology. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! But, after visiting the archaeology building – i.e. the cold, dark basement of the science building – where a girl sat to piece together pieces of an old Native American vase, I knew archaeology was not going to be the right path for me. And so, without being good at science and a major in art or art history was unlikely to pay my bills, I decided to go into “business”. I originally registered as a management major, but took my first marketing class and thought it was more interesting and switched my sophomore year. That was pretty much it. I’d never been involved in business classes or DECA in high school – I didn’t really know what to do or what jobs in marketing were even possible. I dumb lucked myself into it really. M7: As a storyteller, do you relate the brand to a story or story to the brand? AL: Both? Neither? I think there are stories in every brand, because there are people working on the brand and people engaging with the brand and people using what the brand creates. People, most often a single person, are at the heart of great stories. You can start with the “point” of the story you’re trying to tell. Say you have a software that help accountants better create reports for board meetings. It’s likely you’ll want to tell a success story about an accountant getting promoted to CFO in part because your software helped better communicate their work product to the board. You could have the idea for that and go looking for that story in your customers. OR, you could hear that story, and say, “That’s amazing!” and share it with customers, partners and internal people. Stories are all around us – the most important thing is to keep your ears and eyes open for finding them.

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Enterprise Iot

Telit Cinterion | January 08, 2024

Telit Cinterion, an end-to-end IoT solutions enabler, today announced a solution featuring cellular and satellite connectivity services on its ME910G1 and ME310G1 modules. In partnership with floLIVE and Skylo Technologies, the new solution ensures that mobile assets — shipping containers, agricultural equipment, trucks, and other high-value assets — are continually trackable and monitored anywhere on earth, from cities and rural highways to deserts and oceans. The new Telit Cinterion solution is ideal for enterprises in transportation, logistics, construction, mining, agriculture and other verticals whose mission- and business-critical applications require guaranteed global connectivity with their mobile assets. The solution will provide OEMs, system integrators, and enterprises with a turnkey, end-to-end suite featuring: Telit Cinterion cellular LPWA module that is fully compliant with the new 3GPP R17 NB-IoT over non-terrestrial network (NTN) standard. This will enable satellite data communication using the NB-IoT protocol — without any special hardware changes required for the integration of the cellular module in the customer application. Telit Cinterion cellular and satellite data service plans, as well as a connectivity management portal. This drastically simplifies access to global connectivity with unique, centralized support and an advanced monitoring platform for full control of device fleets. Satellite connectivity services from Skylo — a direct-to-device Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) operator focused on connecting anything, anywhere — in conjunction with floLIVE — the creator and owner of the world's first and largest hyperlocal global network and a leading IoT connectivity enabler. The Telit Cinterion ME910G1 module is currently under certification and approval by Skylo, making it one of the first modules that will be commercially available for customers globally. The solution will debut in Europe and North America following the launch of the floLIVE-Skylo service in 2024. "The ability to leverage local cellular connectivity across the globe in tandem with satellite connectivity truly opens the globe to IoT and digital transformation," said Chen Porat, floLIVE SVP of Sales, APAC and Africa. "floLIVE offers MNOs and IoT MVNOs with a global hyperlocal infrastructure that becomes the backbone to anywhere, 'always-on' connectivity. This expansion into the NTN domain signifies our dedication to supporting our partners through continuous growth in carrier relations, global presence, and service offerings." "We are thrilled to partner with Telit Cinterion, a recognized leader in the IoT industry. This collaboration will enable us to leverage Telit Cinterion's expertise in cellular connectivity to expand the reach and capabilities of standards-based NB-IoT-over-NTN with the Skylo solutions," said Sriram Subramanian, Director of Product Management at Skylo. "Together, we will empower businesses across industries to unlock the true potential of connected devices and drive digital transformation on a global scale." "Transportation companies, logistics providers and mine operators are just three examples of enterprises that need to monitor their high-value mobile assets anywhere and everywhere on earth," said Manish Watwani, Chief Marketing and Product Officer, Telit Cinterion. "Our strategic partnership with Skylo and floLIVE meets that need by providing the world's first turnkey package of hardware and seamless, ubiquitous, global connectivity that leverages the best of cellular and satellite — all based on the new 3GPP R17 NB-IoT over NTN standard." About Telit Cinterion Telit Cinterion is a global end-to-end IoT solutions enabler providing complete solutions that reduce time to market and costs, delivering custom designed, ready for market connected devices in addition to maintaining the industry's broadest portfolio of enterprise-grade wireless communication and positioning modules, cellular MVNO connectivity plans and management services, edge-cloud software and data orchestration, and IoT and Industrial IoT platforms. As the largest western provider pioneering IoT innovation, Telit Cinterion delivers award-winning and highly secure IoT solutions, modules and services for the industry's top brands.

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Industrial IoT

Ceva, Inc. | January 05, 2024

Ceva, Inc. (NASDAQ: Ceva), the leading licensor of silicon and software IP that enables Smart Edge devices to connect, sense and infer data more reliably and efficiently, today announced the general release of its next generation RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP platform, further expanding its widely-licensed portfolio of connectivity IP, targeting high-end consumer and industrial applications including gateways, TVs, set-top-boxes, streaming media devices, AR/VR headsets, personal computing and smartphones. The RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP leverages all the latest advanced features of the IEEE 802.11be standard to deliver a premium high performance, cost- and power-optimized Wi-Fi solution for integration into the next wave of Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) and Station (STA) products. According to global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, annual Wi-Fi enabled chipset shipments will exceed 5.1 billion by 2028, with more than 1.7 billion of these chipsets supporting the Wi-Fi 7 standard. As Wi-Fi enabled device shipments continue to grow, increasing numbers of semiconductor companies and OEMs are choosing to integrate Wi-Fi connectivity into their chip designs, and need access to high quality Wi-Fi IP to reduce the development costs and risks. Spanning Wi-Fi 4/5/6 over the past decade, Ceva has already established a considerable leadership position in Wi-Fi IP licensing, with more than 40 licensees for its RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 6 IP family, serving a wide range of end markets and applications, from end points to access points, across the IoT sphere. Expanding on this leadership position, Ceva's RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP provides a unique, comprehensive 802.11be MAC and PHY solution for integration into the next generation of Wi-Fi SoC products. Andrew Zignani, Senior Research Director, ABI Research, commented: "Ceva's wireless connectivity IPs play an integral role in the proliferation of connectivity standards in the broad IoT markets, as is evident from their customer's success in shipping more than 1 billion connectivity chips annually. With the introduction of their RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP platforms, semiconductor companies and OEMs have a trusted partner to develop differentiated, high-performance Wi-Fi 7 chipsets for their connectivity roadmaps, with lower risk and a lower cost of ownership." Tal Shalev, Vice President and General Manager of the Wireless IoT BU at Ceva, stated: "The relentless expansion of Wi-Fi usage has pushed the Wi-Fi 7 standard to offer enhanced data throughput, improved latency and support more spectrum in the face of mounting network congestion. Achieving this requires highly complex, cutting-edge functionalities like 4K QAM modulation, Multi Link Operation and Multi Resource Unit to optimize link efficiency across the available bands. Our RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP platform incorporates all the features of this latest-generation, wireless standard, dramatically simplifying development and time-to-market for companies looking to add Wi-Fi 7 connectivity to their products." Wi-Fi 7's 4K QAM modulation scheme is a substantial increase on the previous 1K QAM of Wi-Fi 6, while Multi Link Operation (MLO) introduces dynamic channel aggregation, seamlessly combining heterogenous channels from the same or different bands to navigate interference and boost throughput. Similarly, Multi Resource Units (MRU) enables the creation of larger channel bandwidths by intelligently stitching together punctured or disjointed Resource Units within the same band. The outcome is not only a remarkable up to 5 times increase in raw speeds but also significantly reduced latency, thanks to diminished contentions and retries. About Ceva, Inc. At Ceva, we are passionate about bringing new levels of innovation to the smart edge. Our wireless communications, sensing and Edge AI technologies are at the heart of some of today's most advanced smart edge products. From Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, UWB and 5G platform IP for ubiquitous, robust communications, to scalable Edge AI NPU IPs, sensor fusion processors and embedded application software that make devices smarter, we have the broadest portfolio of IP to connect, sense and infer data more reliably and efficiently. We deliver differentiated solutions that combine outstanding performance at ultra-low power within a very small silicon footprint. Our goal is simple – to deliver the silicon and software IP to enable a smarter, safer, and more interconnected world. This philosophy is in practice today, with Ceva powering more than 17 billion of the world's most innovative smart edge products from AI-infused smartwatches, IoT devices and wearables to autonomous vehicles and 5G mobile networks. Our headquarters are in Rockville, Maryland with a global customer base supported by operations worldwide. Our employees are among the leading experts in their areas of specialty, consistently solving the most complex design challenges, enabling our customers to bring innovative smart edge products to market.

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Industrial IoT

Casa Systems | January 10, 2024

Casa Systems (Nasdaq: CASA), provider of innovative access network solutions serving customers worldwide, today announced the launch of the first solution in its AurusXT 5G Industrial IoT (IIoT) Series, the NTC-500 5G IIoT router, which leverages the speed and coverage of a 5G network to provide high-speed Ethernet-to-cellular connectivity. Casa’s NTC-500 is the first 5G IIoT router to support dynamic network slicing capabilities, allowing operators to provide new and tailored services to their enterprise customers. Casa’s AurusXT Series will offer a range of 5G IIoT devices designed to deliver reliable connectivity to a broad range of both fixed and mobile use cases. The NTC-500 is the first of the AurusXT Series to disrupt the IIoT market with a cost-effective 5G IIoT Router that utilizes the speed and coverage of a 5G Sub-6 GHz network to deliver a fast and reliable connection to machines, equipment, and vehicles. Casa’s industry-first and proprietary 5G Dynamic Slicing Technology sets the NTC-500 apart from every other IIoT router on the market. Other 5G IIoT routers are limited to static slicing, forcing end users to endure labor- and time-intensive manual, on-site reconfigurations whenever they want to make a slicing change. Casa’s Dynamic Slicing Technology empowers mobile operators to unlock new revenue streams by allowing their customers to flexibly establish and rescind network priority on demand. “The proliferation of 5G networks coupled with the sunset of global 3G networks has created a groundswell of demand for 5G IIoT devices,” said Steve Collins, SVP of Access Devices, Casa Systems. “Our AurusXT Series is designed to deliver cost-effective 5G IIoT solutions that will address most use cases. With our dynamic network slicing capabilities, mobile operators will be able to unlock new revenue streams by offering tailored service plans to meet their enterprise customers’ individual requirements.” IIoT routers can be found in installations around the world – wherever Ethernet-to-cellular connectivity is in demand – from remote security cameras in industrial sites or on roadways, to digital signs in shopping malls or other public venues, to standalone ticketing and other vending machines, to anywhere an IIoT device in any industry needs wireless connectivity to transmit data. Enterprises facing the inescapable sunsetting of 3G technology now have a cost-effective and future-proof option for upgrading the hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of IIoT routers within their domain. By opting to deploy Casa’s NTC-500, operators can bypass the adoption of 4G devices and minimize costly truck rolls to replace both 3G and 4G IIoT routers. The NTC-500 supports the latest 3GPP Release 16 features, including 5G Non-standalone (NSA) and 5G Standalone (SA) with failover to 4G LTE. This ensures it will not become obsolete when 4G technology phases out, minimizing the operational impact of updating hardware. The NTC-500 is compatible with both 4G and 5G, enabling customers to enjoy the benefits of 5G with the added assurance that existing 4G devices will deliver the best possible performance. Casa Systems is currently welcoming new resellers globally. Resellers or system integrators interested in becoming a Casa Systems IIoT device reseller are encouraged to contact Casa at https://www.casa-systems.com/. About Casa Systems Casa Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CASA) is a next-gen technology leader that supports mobile, cable, and wireline communications services providers with market leading solutions. Casa’s virtualized and cloud-native software solutions modernize operators’ network architectures, expand the range of services they can offer their consumer and commercial customers, accelerate time to revenue, and reduce the TCO of their network infrastructure and operations. Casa’s suite of open, cloud-native network solutions unlocks new ways for service providers to quickly build flexible networks and service offerings that maximize revenue-generating capabilities. Commercially deployed in more than 70 countries, Casa Systems serves over 475 Tier 1 and regional service providers worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.casa-systems.com/.

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