The Mobile Marketing
Association Thursday announced a "repositioning" to shift focus from creating awareness of mobile as an ad medium to getting brands and agencies to
increase spending in the category. "We aim to make mobile an indispensable part of the marketing mix," said Federico Pisani Massamormile, the MMA's global chairman and interim CEO, in a
statement.
To that end, the MMA outlined five "building blocks": promote the mobile channel and MMA members to brands and agencies; educate brands and agencies about mobile; develop
authoritative mobile metrics; continue to develop standards and guidelines; and represent the industry in policy and regulatory matters.
Ostensibly, the MMA is already doing all of these
things, but the emphasis on measurement and lobbying stand out. Mobile badly needs standard metrics to foster the growth of advertising, so the trade group's focus on that area makes sense. But
the MMA has been working on that issue for years without making much headway.
The MMA site says its measurement committee is currently working with the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the
Media Ratings Council in the creation of Global Mobile Ad Measurement guidelines due for publication in mid-2010. It's September -- so where are they? Like the IAB, the MMA should also partner
with an outside measurement or consulting firm to start tracking mobile ad spending on a regular basis so everyone can see how much is actually being invested, and where.
When it comes to
playing a bigger role in regulatory and legislative issues, the MMA will have to contend with the CTIA, which has typically been the leading lobbying organization on behalf of the wireless industry.
The IAB has played a lead role in advocating legislation for digital advertising and privacy. Where the MMA would fit into the lobbying mix isn't clear, but it would have to make a determined
effort to carve out its own role in influencing policy affecting mobile marketing.
There's also the question of who will lead the MMA's next phase. The group's former president and
CEO Mike Weirs stepped down at the end of last year after only a year in the post, and Massamormile is still serving as the interim chief executive. If he's staying in the job, take the
"interim" out of his title. If not, why is it taking so long to find a new head?
With an announcement like the MMA made Thursday, one that's long on lofty aspirations and short
on details, it would have been smart for the organization to unveil a more substantive step to indicate the new direction it wants to take. That could include naming a new CEO or issuing a new
metrics-related standard.
But the best it could do was to roll out a blocky new logo that's supposed to reflect the "theme of building blocks" and a "sharp, modern and
dynamic look" to highlight the MMA's new personality and positioning. I'll leave it to the design crowd to weigh in on the new logo, but the MMA's new mission statement rings hollow
until the trade group backs it up with concrete results.