Motorola CMO Frost Dies at 55

NEW YORK Motorola said its chief marketing officer, Geoffrey Frost, died suddenly today. He was 55. A cause of death was not provided.In a statement, Motorola chairman and CEO Ed Zander said, "This is a very sad day for all of us. Our thoughts and prayers are with Geoffrey's family. Geoffrey was an innovative and charismatic leader, and Motorolans around the world came to rely on him as both a trusted colleague and a friend. Motorola and the marketing community have lost a creative genius." As CMO, Frost spearheaded the company's brand mission to be a leader in the burgeoning "m-commerce" or mobile-business space. He joined the company in 1999, just as the Internet and wireless devices were becoming more widely accessible to the general public. With WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather, Frost shaped the "Moto" campaign to emphasize Motorola's position as a hardware provider at the forefront of the new technologies. Frost was named in Adweek's sister publication Brandweek as one of its Marketers of the Year [Brandweek, Oct. 10], and the article noted his achievements in building the company's market share in the wireless category. The article said in part, "Once known for unfashionable phones and clunky advertising, Motorola now has probably the hottest phone on the market (Razr), a deal with Apple's iTunes and a hipper image thanks to its catchy 'Moto' ads." Earlier this year he added Omnicom Group's BBDO to the Motorola roster for its iTunes-enabled Rokr phone campaign, and named Interpublic Group's FCBi, the interactive division of Foote Cone & Belding, to handle its global interactive account. "His fresh insights, passion, energy and commitment to excellence in everything helped all of us renew and reinvent Motorola," the Schaumburg, Ill.-based company said in a statement. "He drove a hard-charging agenda focused on design and innovation. His legacy is a reinvigorated global brand—a brand that has rediscovered its roots and become cool again." Before joining Motorola, Frost was a top Nike strategist as global director of advertising and brand communications for the Beaverton, Ore., athletic wear maker. Earlier in his career, Frost worked on the agency side as a creative at Grey Worldwide and Scali, McCabe, Sloves. Motorola said it has named George Neill, corporate vp of marketing, to step in as the company deals with Frost's passing. Funeral and memorial arrangements are still being planned.

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Motorola CMO Frost Dies at 55

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Kathleen Sampey