Mr. Daly has been tireless and enduring in his efforts to push best practice in mobile and weave the medium into marketing across channels. As a member of Coca-Cola?s global connections team for the past 10 years, he currently leads the company?s strategy for mobile marketing, collaborating with internal and external teams worldwide to deliver many of the marketer?s highest profile online initiatives. 

?Tom Daly has never wavered in his commitment to communicate in the language of today?s consumer, nor in his strategic approach to mobile marketing,? said Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief of Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily, New York.

?Mr. Daly has rung up hundreds of thousands of frequent-flier miles to educate Coca-Cola marketers and executives across industry sectors to raise the profile of mobile as a serious marketing tool for branding and customer acquisition and retention,? he said. ?He is truly a role model worth emulating and someone whose contribution to mobile is inspiring for brand executives to shape the current and future of marketing.?

The Mobile Hall of Fame is the highest honor in mobile, bestowed by Mobile Marketer, the world?s leading publication covering mobile advertising, marketing and media. Late Apple founder/CEO Steve Jobs was the 2011 inductee into the Mobile Hall of Fame for moving consumers and markets into the post-PC world.

Mr. Daly, who is the opening keynote speaker Tuesday, Jan. 14 at the Mobile FirstLook: Strategy 2015 conference in New York, has been inspired and shaped by experiences in the advertising industry and with brands such as UPS and ING. 

The executive?s body of work has earned recognition for him and the marketers he has represented with honors such as the Ad Age ?Digital Media Master? (1997), Mobile Entertainment ?Top 50 Most important people in Mobile Content? (2008), OMMA ?Interactive Marketing All-Star? (2009) and the Mobile Marketing Association?s ?Mobile Marketer of the Year? (2012). 

In addition, he was named to The Internationalist ?Top 100? (2012, 2013), Business Insider ?Top 30 Most Creative People in Mobile Advertising? (2013), Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce ?Atlanta Mobility Star? (2014) and Adweek ?The Adweek 50? (2014). 

Most recently, Mobile Marketer awarded Coca-Cola the highly prestigious accolade of 2014 ?Mobile Marketer of the Year.? This recognition occurred under Mr. Daly?s watch and tutelage.

Mr. Daly is active in industry trade groups such as the Mobile Marketing Association, where he sits on the global board, and civic organizations including the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce?s Mobility Taskforce. Via such participation, his goal is to advocate responsible, informed and effective use of technology to grow businesses through marketing and advertising.  

Based in Atlanta, Mr. Daly lives with his wife and four children who have endured his extensive international traveling and inspired occasional tweets at @TravelingParent.

For his body of work and for his unquestioned commitment to mobile as a key marketing medium, Mobile Marketer is pleased to induct Tom Daly into the Mobile Hall of Fame. He will be presented with the honor Jan. 14 at 9:30 a.m. ET right after his opening keynote presentation at Mobile FirstLook.

In this Q&A, Mr. Daly highlights his proudest mobile achievements and the critical role that mobile plays in Coca-Cola?s marketing, as well as the three initiatives he thinks are exemplary in the soft drink giant?s repertoire. Please read on.

Nearly five years ago, the company elevated mobile from a series of successful and innovative local ? e.g. country-level ? initiatives to something recognized as strategically important to the long-term vision for the company.

I was included in those planning sessions and aspired to be ?pixel in a period at the end of a sentence in the future history of The Coca-Cola Company? and to "use the phone in one hand to put a Coke in the other." Today, while I may not achieve the former, I do believe that the company has fully embraced the later. That is my proudest mobile achievement.

Mobile is a necessary, but not exclusive, key to Coca-Cola?s marketing. Indeed, it sits among other essential elements including data, systems and, of course, content.

What is, in my opinion, key and perhaps unique to mobile is the ability to ?network the networks,? meaning weave the power of mobile networks into the power of our system?s physical network and vice versa.

Coca-Cola Co. is uniquely positioned bring Metcalfe?s Law ? the "network effect" to life.

The 2012 Summer Olympics Games in London. That was the first global program that really achieved the kind of holistic, global, mobile-first activation that could provide a model for all programs to follow. This campaign exemplifies the company?s ability to embrace new marketing capabilities and scale massively.

?Chok, Chok, Chok? is a highly recognized and truly mobile-first experience originating from our business in Hong Kong. It?s a few years old now, but to this day it continues to be referenced as a standard for creativity, impact, results and relevant use of mobile technology. 

This campaign exemplifies the value of 360-degree marketing and Coca-Cola?s ability to weave offline/online mobile to immerse consumers in experiences that provide fun, engaging and innovative.

Finally, Coca-Cola?s collaboration with Google on their Project Rebrief. In this case, working with Google, perhaps the most beloved of all Coca-Cola campaigns, ?Hilltop,? was re-imagined to tell that timeless story, but with new communication technologies. Mobile was the heart and earned the world?s first Cannes Mobile Grand Prix in 2012.  This campaign exemplifies Coca-Cola?s ability to take something that is comfortable and familiar and make it new, fresh and inspiring. 

First is passion. It motivates. It persuades. It sells. 

Next is perseverance. There are good and rational reasons that companies continue with what?s familiar. In short, more often than not it works.  

Having said that, all marketers and communicators understand the need to innovate.  

Going the extra mile is about helping all stockholders understand why mobile ahead of all the other opportunities and priorities should be the idea that gets to break through. It takes perseverance to advance capabilities that haven?t yet proved themselves. 

Finally, there?s curiosity. There is no substitute for knowing how mobile technology really works.  

Generalists in an organization can be successful simply knowing ?what time it is.? As the mobile specialist, it?s vital to know how the watch is made. 

You need to ask more questions and spend more time getting answers. 

Be a craftsman or craftswoman. Understand the details and become consumed by them, but don?t lose sight of the ?big picture.?