Commentary
Is MMA 'Repositioning' Really Anything New?
- by Mark Walsh @markfwal, September 2, 2010
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.
Mark Walsh can be reached at walsh@mediapost.com
Mark, what's clear is that the MMA is looking for a role that they can own and they're having trouble figuring it out. I am the Executive Director of a non-profit, the Heartland Mobile Council (HMC) and we are focused solely on educating brands on how to use mobile as a marketing channel. We are using marketing principles to segment, target and position ourselves to this consumer. And then using the 4P's (product, price, place and promotion) to create our strategies.
The MMA has tried to be all things to all people. Those with marketing experience know that if you try to be everything to everybody, you end up meaning very little to very few. They have to focus or they will lose relevance.
At the HMC, we are focused on educating brands through content and events. We are not trying to talk to carriers or aggregators or mobile tech companies. We are targeting the people who will invest in mobile and lift the industry. This group of people don't have time to sift through all the information available on mobile. They need answers, in an easy to understand format, delivered quickly, but also a complete answer.
In the words of one of my former Procter and Gamble colleagues, who is a Brand Manager on Gillette Fusion: "Yes, I get that I should be doing mobile, but I don't know how." We need to provide him with the assistance he needs - from creating a business case to sell mobile to his management, to helping him understand how mobile fits into his marketing plan, to providing metrics that make sense to him.
That is what the industry needs. That is what the Heartland Mobile Council is setting out to do. That is what will tear down the walls of Jericho and allow us to access the promise of mobile marketing.