The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has long been the place to learn about the future of mobile technology. But this was the year the advertising and media industries really made their mark. Everywhere you went, people were talking about mobile advertising and marketing, and how they related to the technology at hand. It was thrilling to see our industry finally claim a foothold at this fabulous conference I’ve been attending for so long, and IAB was excited to be a part of it.
For the first time at the MWC, IAB, along with partners Facebook and Nasdaq, held an all-day summit on mobile advertising. The conference brought together some incredible thought leaders to debate the future of mobile advertising and the issues driving (or preventing) its growth, from measurement to wearables, from “walled gardens” to better creative. Today, mobile devices help connect us to everything we do-I refer to them as the remote controls to our lives-so the time was right to bring these discussions to the MWC.
Among the biggest topics we wrestled with was finding a workable definition of mobile. When we talk about reaching people on mobile, what are we really talking about? Is mobile just the technology, or does the word represent more than that?
Keynote speaker David Sable, Global CEO of Y&R, challenged marketers to think about mobile as a mindset, not just a series of devices. “The mistake is to think that you’re making stuff for the screen,”he said, “when what matters is what’s happening in the life of the person using that screen.” When Y&R asked consumers in a survey what mobile meant to them, the answer was “freedom,” he said. People want to be able to access their content anywhere across any number of screens.
“If you think first about people, if you think first about humanity, it changes the way you look at technology,” Sable said.
Whether it’s mobile or interactive or print, the fundamentals of advertising remain the same, other speakers noted. You need to evoke emotions, you need to find the right time to reach the right people, you need to be mindful of the user’s privacy and interests. Bridging top-notch advertising with technology and media isn’t easy, but Gerry D’Angelo, European Media Director of Mondelez International, was just one of our speakers who gave great examples of mobile creative that is truly moving hearts and minds.
Of course, technological factors still need to be reckoned with. Measurement continues to be a problem in the mobile space. We don’t have traditional measurement tools like they do in TV or interactive. But as several of our speakers pointed out, that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways of measuring mobile. There are good solutions today, you just have to be a little more open-minded about what you measure. And the lack of traditional measurement options is certainly not an excuse to overlook mobile all together.
We had a great conversation about the challenges presented by so-called “walled gardens.” The problem is real, but surmountable if approached creatively, our panelists agreed. Despite the way mobile operating systems are thought of, your approach doesn’t have to be black or white, app or Web, Android or iOS. All these things are ultimately interconnected, and working across them requires some brave holistic thinking.
Adam Kostyál, SVP and head of European Listing Services at Nasdaq, and Nicola Mendelsohn, VP of EMEA at Facebook, opened the day with a discussion on cutting through the noise and understanding the true state of mobile right now. Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc., talked about the power of mobile and radio. Lindsay Pattison, Global CEO of Maxus, had a conversation with Sarah Personette, head of global business marketing at Facebook, about how to put people first. And those are just a few examples of the fabulous talks we had all day.
As the prime driver of mobile initiatives within IAB, the Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence is dedicated to making IAB the world’s smartest, most authoritative voice on mobile advertising. This program illustrates how the marketing and media ecosystem has fully embraced the power of mobile technology to reach and engage consumers, and that IAB and its members are committed to creating platforms for education in the U.S. and abroad to help them achieve that goal.
Up next is our Mobile Marketplace, a top-level gathering of buyers and sellers from across the industry where we will debate and deconstruct the state of mobile marketing. Taking place on Monday, March 30th in NYC, the annual event will once again offer insightful discussions, unparalleled networking, deep-dive workshops and interactive town-hall discussions. Whether or not you were able to join us in Barcelona, this next event will provide a great opportunity to further your understanding and involvement with the future of mobile. I look forward to seeing and connecting with you there.