Mobile ad network InMobi appoints Rob Marston to develop business in Australia

Independent mobile advertising network, InMobi on Wednesday announced its entry into the Australian market with the appointment of Rob Marston as regional director for the Pacific region.

Marston will be responsible for managing InMobi's Australian operations, expanding regional business and building the local team.

According to Emmanuel Allix, vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific at InMobi the mobile advertising market in Australia is under-serviced despite high mobile internet penetration and content consumption

''There are currently more mobile phones in Australia than people and half of these phones are smartphones. This highlights that the Australian market is poised for explosive growth,'' said Rob Marston, regional director, Pacific at InMobi.

Smartphone ad impressions have grown 65 per cent between June and October 2010, according to latest market data from InMobi.

''Our first order of business is to educate the local mobile community and we will begin by launching a series of educational seminars in 2011,'' added Marston.

Prior to joining InMobi, Marston was national director of search with Starcom MediaVest Groupwhere where he was responsible for launching its search division. He has worked for Monster.com and Procter & Gamble among others.

InMobi is venture-backed with marquee investors including, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures. The company has offices in London, San Francisco, Bangalore, Tokyo, Mumbai, Johannesburg and Singapore.