• by Tameka Kee , July 17, 2007

Interpublic has teamed with mobile tech provider Velti to form a stand-alone mobile marketing agency called Ansible.

The idea is to grab a bigger stake of a global mobile ad market that ABI Research estimates will hit $3 billion by next year.

In addition to creating mobile campaigns for its own clients, Ansible will work with other Interpublic agencies as part of the holding company's Futures Marketing Group, which includes emerging media firms such as search agency Reprise Media.

Vladimir Edelman will lead Ansible as CEO. Edelman is a mobile marketing vet who most recently served as CEO of Soapbox Mobile. Larry Harris, an in-house executive, was named president. Harris most recently spearheaded Interpublic's Facebook.com efforts as Draftfcb's executive vice president and director of integrated marketing.

The pair will lead a New York-based agency that has already begun to hire new talent, with no immediate plans to poach mobile employees from in-house digital divisions.

"We're creating a new team that's dedicated to the mobile space," said Harris. "One that will to serve our clients and extend the reach of existing IPG agencies at the same time."

Mobile insiders say the fact that Interpublic chose to integrate a tech component into the agency from the onset points to how closely the art of mobile marketing is tied to the science of mobile technology.

"There is so much complexity when it comes to mobile advertising--from screen sizes, to browser types, to download speeds," said Andy Miller, CEO of Quattro Wireless. "For an agency to truly be full service--to retain more of the client dollars instead of outsourcing them--they need to grasp the technology in-house."

London-based Velti's clients range from service providers like Vodafone to brands like BP and Hennessey--which when combined with "their best of breed technology," led the Futures Marketing Group to partner with the company, according to a spokesperson.

According to Miller, Interpublic's move is part of a trend that signals a shift in industry thinking--one that underscores the mobile marketing hype with actual client dollars.

"It validates the fact that clients are asking for mobile, and including it in as spend from the onset," said Miller. "The market is maturing."

Still, both Edelman and Harris acknowledged that there are challenges to pulling in those ad dollars, especially in the U.S.

"Mobile is fairly complicated on the execution side--it requires interaction with multiple stakeholders to accomplish simple tasks," said Edelman. "This process needs to get simpler so that the barrier to entry gets lower and more people participate."

"There's a lack of serious test and learn methodology," added Harris. "Clients want to test and learn in this channel--not just send a flood of money into it because we've opened an agency. But now we have a bigger footprint--we have the wherewithal to apply the info to our clients across the globe, not just North America."

Although they could not comment on the specifics of new accounts or clients, the executives did allude to Ansible's creation being spurred largely by client interest and a request for a mobile solution that blends technological savvy with focused creativity.

"Technology is a tool, but doing something interesting and creative with that tool ... is challenging," said Edelman. "Very few companies think of mobile as a true marketing medium, and dedicate the thought leadership, creativity, and focus that it deserves."