Commentary

Slow Connection

Your view on things changes according to the lens you use.

In the case of Friday's conference we tried to swap out the usual perspective on startup new media. Instead of the familiar cant about the sexy new technology, the revolution in marketing it might represent, we tried to bring in a more sober view. Through the lens of media planning generally, mobile still looks microscopic. As Joe Mandese noted in the first panel with agency executives, MAGNA reports that mobile marketing spend didn't even crack $200 million this year, barely "a rounding error" Joe said.

Again and again throughout the day the perspective of planners and agency veterans kept pulling me out of the myopia one suffers from covering an industry closely and constantly. So many of the cases our panelists cited were very intriguing samples of how mobile can work. But I don't recall anyone mentioning how it played a consistent, predictable and valuable component in a grand brand or ad strategy. Sure, many of these campaigns ride alongside many campaigns or try to extend the brand into the pocket. But we are years away from mobile entering the marketing mix in any serious way.

What needs to be done at what levels to get us there?

I wish we had asked that question more.

In the Web 1.0 world of 2000, we used to ask that question a lot. The usual answers were:

We need metrics that look like the rest of the measurements media planners must consider.

We need mobile marketers (or people with some understanding of what is possible.)

We need better case studies that tie the discreet success of a mobile campaign to playing a substantial role in satisfying a larger goal or strategy.

I'm not sure yet whether the same things will move mobile marketing out of what is very clearly an r&d effort for most brands.

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