WAA And WMA Merge To Expand Global Forum For Standards In Mobile Marketing Leading industry bodies join forces to set standards and deliver new benefits for members NEW YORK, January 10, 2002 - The Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) and the Wireless Marketing Association (WMA) have announced today that they will be merging to create the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The two leading bodies in mobile marketing and advertising standards have formed the new organisation to consolidate efforts and resources in their common goal to foster the mobile marketing industry and protect the interests of both the consumer and industry players. The new Mobile Marketing Association brings together the global members of the WAA, such as Unilever, AOL, Ogilvy Interactive, DoubleClick and Nokia, with the WMA's strong UK membership, which includes network operators Orange, BT Cellnet and Vodafone, media owners and content providers News International, Freeserve and Lycos, and consumer brand owners like drinks manufacturer Diageo. The WAA's decision to rename as the Mobile Marketing Association following the merger with the WMA was to reflect the broader impact of this powerful medium and its increasing value across the marketing mix. In creating a united forum, the MMA aims to promote the industry growth further, establish effective standards and take a strong stance on privacy and consumer protection. The new MMA European Committee will be headed up by Chair Cyriac Roeding of 12snap, with co-chairs Steve Wunker from Brainstorm and Booky Oren of Comverse. Following on from his role as Chairman of the WMA, Steve Wunker will be responsible or developing the MMA in the UK. Of the merger, Cyriac Roeding commented: "This is a great step ahead for both the WAA and the WMA. The newly expanded MMA is clearly the leading organisation for Mobile Marketing in Europe. Mobile phones are already becoming a core medium in the marketing mix of the world's largest brands, and our members will be seen as the leaders in this field. Current members will have input into the global standards we will put together, and so directly influence the mobile marketing industry." Steve Wunker added: "The MMA now has a much broader membership base, which is vital if we are to gain mass acceptance of mobile as a marketing medium. Over the coming months, we will be working together on a variety of research projects to better understand how consumers react to the medium in the long term and how best to control key issues like privacy and fraud." MMA Chairman Robert O'Hare comments: "We are delighted to be forming a new global forum with both the WAA and the WMA to address the issues of mobile marketing. It is an industry that has already taken off massively around the world and in order to continue its growth we need to work together to create a self-regulating forum which looks after the interests of both the industry and the consumer." Head of Global Expansion for the MMA, Perry Allison said: "The industry is moving on very quickly with developments in technology, and a greater acceptance by consumers of the mobile as a marketing medium. Today's marketers have a responsibility to carry standards into the next generation of mobile marketing and we are looking forward to leading the industry as the MMA." The Mobile Marketing Association will hold its first meeting under its official title on 28 January 2002 in conjunction with the Mobile Marketing & Advertising Conference in London, UK. IBC's second Mobile Marketing & Advertising event is the official conference of the MMA. The conference will feature issues such as creating compelling marketing on mobile devices and how to build customer loyalty, and includes top level speakers from advertisers, operators, content providers and advertising agencies. For more information about the Mobile Marketing & Advertising conference please visit www.ibctelecoms.com/mobmarketing About the MMAThe Mobile Marketing Association is the premier global industry trade association devoted to hand held device manufacturers, carriers & operators, software providers, agencies, marketers & retailers, advertisers and service providers of mobile wireless marketing and advertising. A global organization, the MMA global board of directors consists of the leading companies in the wireless arena, including; AOLMobile, AT&T Wireless (NYSE: AWE), AvantGo, Avesair, Cingular, Comverse (NASDAQ: CMVT), Contra Integrated Inc., D2 Communications, Doubleclick (NASDAQ: DCLK), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), Iquity Systems, Logica, Lot21, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Mobliss, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Nextel Communications, Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Ogilvy Interactive, Oracle Mobile, SkyGo, Sprint PCS (NYSE: PCS), Telephia, Weather.com, WindWire, Unilever, Verizon (NYSE: VZ), and Vindigo, all directed to the goal of fostering the rapid growth of the wireless advertising industry by establishing voluntary guidelines that address key industry and consumer issues. For more information, visit the MMA website at: www.mmaglobal.com.