DailyDOOH

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

Al Kelly, former president of American Express, will officially join New York-based Intersection as president and CEO March 1.

However, Kelly told us in an exclusive interview today, that he has been spending time almost daily this month at Intersection, the company formed last June from a merger of Titan and Control Group and probably best known these days in the media as the lead company in the development and deployment of LinkNYC.

Kelly has already decided that one of his first priorities will be to build the Intersection brand to a high level, while using the management skills and talents of the company to be sure that all existing and future clients are well served and can take advantage of the innovative solutions that Intersection offers. (The company does business in 30 markets across the US from 13 offices, and is particularly strong in digital signage related to the transit sector.)

Prior to being named American Express president, Kelly held several senior positions over his 23-year career there, including heading the Global Consumer Group. While at American Express he began the company’s digital transformation. Kelly also brings significant experience managing public-private partnerships as president and CEO of the 2014 NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee and as chairman of the 2015 Papal Visit to New York City.

“I think specific things I bring from my 35-year career, and especially from my years at American Express, are my knowledge of bringing together public-private partnerships and of building brands to a high level,” said Kelly.

Kelly will head the day-to-day operations of Intersection, and all the business units will report to him. Among these will be Scott Goldsmith as president of Intersection Media, and Scott Anderson and Campbell Hyers as presidents of design and technology. Also in the management group are Colin O’Donnell, chief innovation officer, and Dave Etherington, chief strategy officer.

Don Allman, who moved from the position of president and CEO several months ago to the position of vice-chairman, is working with Dan Doctoroff, chairman of Intersection and Sidewalk Labs – the leader of a consortium that owns Intersection.

“I’ve been talking with Doctoroff off and on over the past three months,” said Kelly. “The position of president and CEO was open and we discussed his vision for the company and mutually saw a big fit for me at Intersection. The company has centuries of experience in it, and I was really attracted by the talent and by the customer engagement.

“My own vision is that every client we have must be made to feel as the most important client that we have, whether they are long-standing or new. And we can offer new, large, exciting, cool solutions as well as being a tremendous service provider, committed to their needs.

“Of course, LinkNYC is taking a lot of attention right now but we are focused on all areas and geographies. Link is still in its infancy and it’s complicated and challenging, so is taking a lot of attention at the moment. Other cities in the US and beyond are showing interest in our Smart Cities approach and we are open-minded to talk to them and about possible partnerships, but first LinkNYC has to be repeatable and robust. (The Wi-Fi aspect of LinkNYC units already deployed will be operational tomorrow (Feb. 18/16.)

“At this point,” he said “we must be prioritized and focused. We have a long list of clients and projects across the US and offer them all our leading-edge technologies.”

We asked Kelly how he plans to build the Intersection brand itself.

“We have a lot to tackle there,” he said. “We must build a new, robust website and develop a strong, visual representation of the brand. It has to give a vision of what we want to be, with our innovation, service excellence, client partners and platform solutions. We want our platforms, our solutions, to always be improving experiences for clients, not just in terms of advertising but effective in all ways.”

Allman said, in a separate interview, “We are working to bring all the ties together. The more we can bring our clients the better. I’m working particularly to bring the strengths of Titan and Control Group together to benefit our existing clients and to expand with new, meaningful offerings.

“People want to do business with us and to it’s important to develop relationships. Both Doctoroff and Kelly are really respected around the world and it’s great for us. We’ll be working with our business partners and you’re going to see lots of success stories coming out.”

And, as Kelly said, “It’s a little early to discuss what other cities and clients are asking about becoming Smart Cities, but we’re open minded.”

Kelly said in a basic press statement, “Intersection’s breadth of municipal partnerships and media assets combined with its extensive design and technology expertise is unprecedented and I’m thrilled to lead its talented team as we capitalize on the immense opportunity in front of us.

“LinkNYC is just the beginning of what’s possible when media andtechnology work together to bring digital experiences into physical space. Intersection is at the forefront of delivering innovativesolutions to improve life in cities while strengthening the criticalrelationship between local governments and their residents andbusinesses.”

“Kelly’s experience managing global-scale businesses combined with his demonstrated leadership in partnering with the public sector on complex projects makes him a perfect choice to lead Intersection as we work to bring connectivity solutions like LinkNYC to cities across the world,” said Doctoroff. “He has a well-earned reputation as a strong but caring leader and an extremely sharp strategic thinker, inspiring those who have worked with him throughout his career.”

Intersection creates engaging user experiences, streamlines complex business systems, and invests in the most effective media platforms to help cities and businesses transform customer experiences, improve operations, and drive revenue. The company’s media assets across the top U.S. markets enable brands to create more engaging connections with their customers across digital and physical touchpoints, while helping fund valuable public services.

The company recently launched LinkNYC, the first-of-its kind communications network that is replacing more than 7,500 payphones with the largest and fastest free municipal Wi-Fi network in the world.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2016 at 00:48 @075 and is filed under DailyDOOH Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.