Vivint exec transitions from shoes to security

PROVO, Utah—Vivint has been making a habit in the past year of going outside the industry to hire members of its leadership team. The latest example is Jeff Lyman, who worked for Nike before joining the home automation/home security giant.

Lyman is now Vivint's chief marketing officer, the company, which is based here, announced Feb. 26. He started at Vivint last summer and was vice president of consumer experience until his recent promotion.

Prior to joining Vivint, Lyman spent nearly 10 years at Nike. And he told Security Systems News that the skills he honed at one of the world's largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel translate well into the smart home space, where Vivint is a leader.

“At Nike, there is a huge investment and opportunity around creating digital products that enable athletes to achieve their potential. So I worked for many years in the Nike digital products division,” said Lyman, who has an MBA from the University of Oregon.

He said that division created products such as footwear that can tell wearers how high they jump or move their feet, an Xbox video game that used the camera on the Xbox to be a personal trainer; and GPS smart watches that can tell users how fast and how far they run.

Lyman's work won accolades, such as the People's Voice Award at The Webby Awards, among others, according to Vivint.

“Much of my history at Nike was actually working with digital products that use hardware and software and radios to enable athletes to be better. So that translates really interestingly into the home automation and security industry,” Lyman explained. “These are truly digital products that use hardware, and software and sensors and radios to simplify and enable the activities of the home and bring value to our customer base.”

As CMO at Vivint, the company said, Lyman “will lead marketing and communication initiatives that elevate Vivint's brand awareness and drive adoption of its security, home automation, and energy management services.”

How will Lyman elevate Vivint's brand?

He told SSN that there are a lot of untapped opportunities for that brand.

“If you look at home automation in its entirety, we [as an industry] still have a penetration rate of less than 1 percent of U.S. homes. There are a lot of security homes but as that security business has grown and as it has evolved into more cohesive energy and [home] management services, there is still a lot of room to run. … I think there's an opportunity, for consumers who are seeking those types of products, for Vivint to be a household name there.”

Todd Pedersen, CEO and founder of Vivint, said in a prepared statement, “This is a critical and exciting expansion period for Vivint, and Jeff's knowledge of our brand and mission, backed by his experience at Nike, will help streamline our message and expand Vivint's reach.”

Lyman told SSN he's excited to be a part of the company. “I've been pleasantly delighted with the type of culture, leadership and focus here at Vivint, and I think the sky is the limit for this company and this brand,” he said.

Just last fall, Vivint announced that Mark Davies, former EVP at Alcoa, was the company's new chief financial officer.

In the past year, Vivint also hired former Xerox executive David Bywater as COO, and Todd Thompson, who hails from the hotel and airline industries, as its new chief information officer. It also tapped Matthew Eyring, a prominent business strategy consultant, for a newly created position of chief innovation officer.