Naturally, the news that Web giant Google was getting in on the action in mobile by acquiring AdMob created an atmosphere of excitement and optimism at the Global Mobile Marketing Forum last week in L.A. But it was more than a mood; it was a quantifiable trend. Mike Wehrs, President & Chief Executive Officer, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), reported that mobile marketing shows an increase of 40 percent over last year.

What’s more, mobile is a line item in more budgets. Mike gave us the example of German carmaker Volkswagen, which is “doing things exclusively with iPhone Apps independent of other media channels”.

Another sure sign that mobile marketing has arrived full-force was the announcement by Microsoft (just prior to the event) that it had decided to join the MMA. In fact, Microsoft became the organization’s inaugural Premier Member, reflecting Microsoft’s commitment to both the association and the mobile marketing industry. As Charles Johnson, General Manager, Microsoft Mobile Advertising, put it in a press statement: “As mobile advertising has grown in significance, the time is now for carriers, OEMs, publishers and advertisers to join forces to capitalize on that growth.”

REAL RESEARCH

Peter Johnson, VP Research, Mobile Marketing Association, provided us the latest findings from the Research and Metrics Committee.  A highlight: leveraging coupons and loyalty programs are winning customers. It is found to be the most successful of all the mobile marketing approaches (!).

Another surprise is spending. To date the average media spend by agencies on mobile is still only 1.8 percent of the total spend.  However, those agencies that have experienced successful mobile marketing have already moved mobile up to account for 2~3 percent of their overall spend.

In 2009 spending on mobile marketing was $1.7 billion in total. But there was a potential for $2.5 billion, if we think back to the boost in spending shown by companies successful in mobile marketing.

Success breeds success – and encourages more spending. To get there from here the industry needs more education and a sharing of best practices. To this end the MMA is working to encourage knowledge sharing worldwide and making sure best practices are better evangelized.

BRAND SUCCESS

But the real proof that mobile is at the top of the agenda comes from the major players pushing the envelope.

COCA-COLA COMPANY: Tom Daly, Group Manager, Strategy and Planning, Coca-Cola Company, revealed what it looks for in mobile agencies. It may not be easy to get into Coca-Cola, but it’s worth it. According to Tom, Coca-Cola is “working with over 400 brands in 200 countries with a minimum of $8K per brand per country, and it is growing and we are looking for new partners.” His checklist for agencies: The company looks for three things.

1) Talent and environment
2) Thought leadership
3) Account management process.

As he summed it up: “We look for best in class to take Coca-Cola to the world leaders in creative mobile marketing and transparency is key.”

AT&T INTERACTIVE: Matt Crowley, CMO, AT&T Interactive, argued local and search are the real drivers for mobile advertising. As he put it: Today the total of mobile ad spend is about 70 percent (display and SMS) compared to 30 percent search. But he expects this will change to 25 percent (display and SMS) and 70 percent search in 2013. In fact, local search is the driver.  “We have seen over 250% YOY mobile search network growth and our goal is to pre-load the YP mobile app with local search on every device.” Matt added that AT&T counts 79 million subs and 22 million on Medianet, AT&T’s mobile portal. “There is over 22 percent access of Medianet daily.”

CNN: Louis Gump, VP of Mobile, CNN, talked about the future of news on mobile. He asked the audience how many look at news on their mobile before they get out of bed in the morning and about 30 percent answered they did. No wonder mobile is at the center of their strategy. CNN has a freemium model (offering the mobile website free and a paid CNN app).

The company debated the pricing for this, but decided on the $1.99 price as a way to keep mobile moving forward as a profit center to propel initiatives across all the mobile strategies of CNN. As Louis put it: “We wanted a dual revenue stream, and at $1.99, yes, there was debate over prices from $0.99~9.99. But we chose that price as we doing this for marketing. We want mobile as a sustainable business platform.  He continued: “We need not only the one-way free route, but a way to sustainability 3.5 and 10 years down the road.” To date 34 percent of users access CNN news only on their mobile phones. This means over one-third of users are only getting their news from CNN and only via mobile. Connect the dots, and “mobile is now the channel for CNN to reach a different demographic of people.”

Interesting to note: CNN doesn’t limit its focus to the iPhone. Instead the mobile strategy is holistic and covers four platforms:

1)    Mobile website (with 11~12 million users  per month – free and ad-supported)
2)    Text messaging (breaking news alerts)
3)    Video- on-demand and streaming (to distribute clips much more widely)
4)    Apps (and here the news is the September 27th  release that has changed the way news is consumed on the iPhone)

FUTURE OF MOBILE

Charles Johnson, Head of Mobile Advertising for Microsoft led an engaging panel on the future of mobile advertising. Ken Wilner, CEO,  Zumobi, stated that that key to mobile is “engagement”. Yes, acquisition is important, but once you obtain a consumer, the on-going engagement is second to none as mobile is with the consumer all the time, everywhere. Frank Babieri, CEO,  Transpera, was particularly bullish about the outlook for video. In his view, of the users that access online video that also access mobile video, “more then 62 percent of the time they will access it from mobile.” Another data point to keep in mind (from Charles): We replace our phones every 12~18months and we’re due to make those purchases soon. Smartphones will likely be the ones we chose, attracted by all their cool features and the great mobile Internet experience. Thus, 2010 will be the year of mass-device transition, and that will accelerate our industry even further.

BANKING: Bruce Withers, Head of Mobile, Wells Fargo, shared his mobile banking vision. He should know. Wells Fargo has been nominated as one of the top mobile banking solutions in North America and part of that success is linked to their sharp focus on youth (Gen Y and Millennials) that are part of the larger group of mobile professionals that need banking services on the go. Some key stats illustrate the success of a multi-approach mobile strategy.

•    Text messaging alerts: the user averages about 19 requests per month
•    Mobile website and iPhone application: users engage in about six sessions per month.
•    Location: Wells Fargo has added unique features in their iPhone App, including an ATM finder and direct links to wellsfargo.com.

CROSS-MEDIA: Mike Carter, CEO, MyThum and Tiffany Gerhard, Sr. Manager, Marketing- Emerging Capabilities, BestBuy, had a great session on the success of cross-media marketing for a retail brand.  For me it was one of the highlights of the day – particularly if we consider that BestBuy was doing NOTHING in mobile two years ago. Now, they have holistic strategy and results that speak volumes (literally). The strategy includes mobile as part of the marketing mix, but it is also core strategy to the company’s CRM strategy. Tiffany pointed out that mobile is a key link in clinching the sale – and everything that follows. “The use case quite good for us is when many of our customers come into the store that find when a product is out of stock. They can just go to their BestBuy application and click-to-buy in one action and then have the product delivered right to their home” But it doesn’t stop there. Mobile allows the company to support the buying process with information and interaction with customers. “Everyday now is a learning process for us to get better with mobile.”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Throughout the event execs and speakers raised a variety of interesting points and challenges.

•    Zaw Thet, CEO, 4Info, brought our attention to the need for an industry-wide initiative to establish a mobile cookie.  Today the next best thing is the user’s telephone number or UID on the iPhone.  By using this we can recognize and build cross-media campaigns for targeting users from platform to platform.
•     Chetan Sharma, Chetan Sharma Consulting, stated we are finally seeing the growth of the networks. Now, mobile has surpassed the data card (!).
•    Michael Shim, Head of Mobile Sales, Yahoo, reported that Yahoo’s growth of 54.8 percent is greater then the average for the industry of 45.4 percent with the mobile Internet.  Yahoo is doing unique ad solutions for apps and working on a slew of cross-media campaigns (with clients such as Subway) that link the Web to mobile.

INSIDE INNOVATION

The MMF event also recognized companies and campaigns pushing the envelope and spearheading mobile adoption. The MMA received hundreds of submissions in 12 categories from companies across the globe and winners for the Fifth Annual Global Mobile Marketing Awards were selected by the MMA Awards Selection Committee, a body comprised of global industry leaders from wireless carriers, technology and content providers, agencies and industry publications.

I had the honor of sitting on the panel of judges, a privilege that gave me a first-hand look at the campaigns. The campaigns that were real eye-openers for me in terms of real ROI and creative excellence came from agencies such as: Mobile Dreams Factory (Mini Mobile Dealer), AKQA (Gap Style Mixer), F.biz (Trident Fresh) MyThum (Rogers/Live Nation live ticketing solution) and the Pizza Hut iPhone App from Pizza Hut.

My takeaway: We kicked off the MMF event asking ourselves if 2009 was the “year of mobile” – again. Maybe not. But 2010 is going to be an adventure.  With budgets coming back, mobile showing up on marketing budgets and the advance of smartphones, the stars are aligned for 2010 to (finally) be the year of mobile is 2010. With the stars aligned it’s up to the industry to deliver – with solutions that scale and turnkey cross-media strategies with mobile at their core.

Editor’s note: Matthew Snyder is CEO and Founder of ADObjects-Inc, a cross-media strategic consultancy focused on revenue-generating, customer acquisition, brand building and business development solutions for clients determined to make the most out of mobile. Clients/Partners include: Bing, CBS Radio, Canadian Music Week, Nokia and Mobility Ventures, as well as a variety of media companies and major brands. During his career at Nokia, where he held a number of positions including Device Program Manager and Global Director of Strategy in the Multimedia Group, he architected Nokia location-based services strategy and mobile search application. MSearchGroove is proud to be an associate of ADObjects, joining a vibrant team of professionals including Chetan Sharma, Founder and President of Chetan Sharma Consulting, a management consulting and strategic advisory firm, and Roman Kikta, a renowned venture capitalist, wireless pioneer, seasoned entrepreneur and author. Feel free to contact Matthew directly (matt@adostrategies.com) or follow him on Twitter (matsnyder2001).

Mobile advertising must deliver value.

It’s the key takeaway that has run through each of the 20+ industry events I have attended/chaired over the past year like a leitmotiv. However, the value of mobile advertising is changing.

At first, many brands/agencies were convinced that their value proposition was inextricably linked to their level of cool. In line with this mindset, they focused on fun campaigns around free content such as branded games, ringtones and images, as well as some viral elements people could pass around to their friends.

The strategy has paid dividends for brands such as Coca-Cola.

A textbook example is the Fanta Stealth Sound System, which harnessed high-pitched frequencies that are audible only to youth thus providing young people a new way to communicate with each other without adults listening in. Another campaign that generated buzz (and impressive results) was Fanta Virtual Tennis. The world’s first 3D augmented reality tennis game let players use their mobile devices as tennis racquets to hit a virtual ball.

COKE MOBILE MILESTONES

At Mobile Marketing Forum (MMF) Europe, Hinde Pagani, Coca-Cola Senior Mobile Marketing Manager, Global Interactive Marketing, treated attendees to a string of case studies that included these gems. But the real excitement was about simple SMS campaigns that employed a mechanism known as UTC, or under the cap (unique codes inserted under each soft drink bottle cap) to engage people and increase brand trust.

Coke still offers its demographic fun, free content. (It boasts three iPhone apps, including a runaway success that has been downloaded 500,000 times in two months – without promotion!) But it’s campaigns that combine free content with free airtime that are the real crowd-pleasers. In fact, this winning combination has allowed Coke in India to count a whopping 5 million responses in just four months. Coke in Germany has also run a similar campaign, offering customers three minutes or three SMS free of charge.

Read between the lines, and value has new meaning. It’s still about delivering cool content, but it’s also about delivering a service that teens (and their parents) appreciate.  As Hinde put it: “(With these campaigns) we gain teens’ trust and please their moms.”

PROCTER & GAMBLE CAMPAIGNS

Another company that benefits from a sharp focus on sensible service is P&G.

In fact, the presentation from Dagmara Brylak, Proctor & Gamble’s CEEMEA Mobile Subject Matter Expert, was my personal favorite because it illustrated how brands can deliver value by providing guidance, advice and education. (All the more important that brands take this responsibility since the mobile screen is the only screen in emerging markets.)

Case in point: an ingenious text-to-win campaign for Pampers diapers in the Philippines to increase brand loyalty and boost sales. Rather than offer the usual mix of coupons, free samples and assorted goodies, P&G cleverly chose to focus on what matters most to young mothers: their babies.

Understanding the importance of higher education in the region and the anxiety of new mothers about their toddler’s future, P&G offered participants the chance to win a free university scholarship for their child. Predictably, the campaign was an overwhelming success.

But it didn’t stop there. To create an on-going dialogue with the customer P&G launched a brilliant campaign to deliver young mothers healthcare information relevant to their own baby’s stage of development. (Moms gladly volunteered their baby’s date of birth to P&G because the value-add they received in return was so significant.)

Connect the dots, and P&G delivers more than a mobile advertising message. It delivers a public service that customers appreciate.

MMA LEARNINGS & LUFTHANSA

After the event I caught up with Paul Berney MMA Managing Director, Europe, after the event to compare notes and observations. Kudos to Paul and his team for organizing a high-caliber event that showcased key learnings and best practice from an exciting roster of global brands including Nike Turkey, Coca-Cola, BMW, Lufthansa, Proctor & Gamble, Autotrader, Deutsche Post, Pepsi, Nestlé and BBC Worldwide, to name a few.

We agreed that this event (with its impressive line-up of brands and solid focus on ROI, response rates and other key metrics) represented a welcome departure from the hype that has characterized the vast majority of mobile advertising events.

As Paul put it: There is a “groundswell of understanding” among brands and agencies that mobile is part of the marketing mix. More importantly, brands are thinking through where “mobile fits in the customer journey.”

An excellent example is Lufthansa. At the MMF Marcus Casey, Lufthansa Head of E-Commerce and Mobile, walked us through the airline’s end-to-end mobile-only service that allows people to check in, select their seats and receive a boarding pass directly to their mobile phone in only five steps. Some figures that speak volumes (literally):

•    Pageviews: approx. 1.5 million per month
•    Number of customers using the mobile boarding pass service: 90,000 per month with 60 percent email and 40 percent via SMS
•    Visits since launch: +11 percent growth month over month (steady)

Encouraged by these results Marcus said Lufthansa will focus efforts on moving its mobile service portal into a full-fledged sales channel, complete with up-to-date travel information, commerce (to book flights on the fly) and after-sales extras including baggage tracing.

The takeaway: A paradigm shift takes places when technology becomes invisible in our lives. I would argue the same holds true for truly valuable mobile advertising. When it is so firmly established in our lives, then we can conclude that the industry is out of the bowling alley and well across the chasm. (To borrow from the must-read high-tech marketing book by Geoffrey A. Moore.)

The MMF showcased many positive examples of what can happen when mobile is properly integrated in the customer journey. Brands that get this right deliver real value – and examples such as P&G open up a world of possibilities.

P&G has placed mobile at the center of an exciting value proposition that transforms adverting into educational content. Mobile isn’t another screen – it is the way mothers in the Philippines learn how to care for their babies. Put another way, the P&G brand message has become part of the how these people live their lives.

Granted, fun is still a selling point. (As Marc Mielau, BMW Head of Digital Media, pointed out: Mobile advertising value is about “saving time or killing time,” so lots of potential in campaigns that entertain us or simplify our lives.) But it may be the more common-sense campaigns (tuned into the lifestyles, life stages and personal concerns of the people they want to reach) that deliver real value and real results.

***

By way of background, Marc’s full presentation (and video) is available here. A highlight: his lessons learned at a glance.

1.    Mobile does not function in a vacuum.
2.    Mobile marketing has to deliver value. (Sound familiar?)
3.    Megaportals are helpful as distribution channels.
4.    Users want to get inspired and involved.
5.    If you cannot track it – kill it!

***
Note: I also joined with bnetTV to conduct interviews during the event with companies including Mobixell and Alcatel Lucent, video segments I will showcase on MSearchGroove over the next weeks. bnetTV has also partnered with the MMA to create a compilation DVD (of speaker presentations and exclusive interviews) you can purchase here.

Finally, I encourage companies across the mobile advertising ecosystem to contact me directly with case studies and story ideas. I have some exciting projects in the works and I’m eager to hear what YOU have to say.

The bottom line: These results highlight the potential of compelling, relevant and properly targeted messages. In particular, they illustrate how much more likely are consumers are to respond to SMS and MMS ads than simple Internet banners.  Peggy adds: Mobile Advertising Research U.K. confirms this, but there’s also a lot of mileage left in banners. For more on what makes for a great mobile advertising experience and a balanced value chain check back tomorrow for my take on a new-launch Hardees campaign.

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TOP APPLICATIONS ON THE APPLE APP STORE HAVE MORE THAN 1 MILLION USERS, according to AdMob’s latest Mobile Metrics Report for May 2009. The report found that the most popular free applications in AdMob’s iPhone network generated the majority of usage, with the top 5 percent of applications garnering more than 100,000 users in May, and some apps showing more than 1 million active users.

A further 14 percent of applications had between 10,000 and 100,000 active users, while 54 percent of applications had less than 1,000. AdMob reached 15.1 million unique users through iPhone and iPod touch devices across 2,309 applications in May, with the average user accessing four applications.  44 percent of iPhone ad requests came from devices running the new version 3.0 of the iPhone OS, compared to just 1 percent of iPod touch requests.  Source

The bottom line: These numbers from AdMob underline the ongoing popularity of apps on the iPhone. But they also offer some insight into the potential value of in-app advertising for developers and content providers, since the apps in AdMob’s iPhone network are all free to download, and earn money solely from advertising.

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SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO AND MUSIC ACCOUNT FOR 40 PERCENT OF MOBILE DOWNLOADS IN THE UK, according to a study from GfK, as the model grows in popularity against pay-per-download sales. The research also states that casual and classic trivia and word games lead the mobile gaming market with 27 per cent of sales, while the budget sector (£3 or less) is also enjoying success through basic and retro games.  It also adds that nine per cent of the mobile tariffs signed up in the UK in Q1 have bundled-in flat-rate data.
Source

The bottom line: This study illustrates the growing popularity of the flat-rate model, both in mobile data access, but also in content subscriptions. Still, the content-subscription model contrasts with the booming pay-per-download app store model.  Will one triumph over the other?

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AD-FUNDED MMS REVENUES TO HIT $8.7 BILLION by 2014, says Juniper Research in a new Mobile Messaging report.  The report says that annual growth rates are reaching 94%, with SMS and mobile email continuing to dominate the person-to-person (p2p) mobile messaging market.

The report, entitled “Mobile Messaging & IP Evolution”, found that the Far East & China would lead the global ad-funded MMS market by a considerable margin, followed by North America and Western Europe.  The adoption of push MMS and SMS in mature and emerging markets has enabled network operators to support ad-funded voice and SMS tariffs, and combat falling ARPU, while providing brands with new advertising channels. Source

The bottom line: These are bold projections from Juniper.  P2P MMS messaging still has a way to go before it reaches the usage level of SMS, but these projections suggest that MMS advertising could prove to be a lucrative revenue stream in its own right.

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MORE THAN 60 PERCENT OF MOBILE USERS STILL ONLY USE THEIR HANDSET FOR VOICE AND TEXT, according to a KPMG survey. The survey of 4,190 consumers in 19 countries also says that consumer satisfaction rates with mobile services have increased. Music satisfaction is up to 66 percent, video 52 percent (from just 14 percent), IM 44 percent and live TV 38 percent.

The factors influencing users’ next mobile content purchase, according to the survey are, in order: clarity of pricing, cost, ability to save content, download speed and the ability to try content before purchasing it.  36 percent of respondents said they would accept mobile advertising, while 49 percent said they would accept it in music and 28 percent in games.  Source

The bottom line: The level of acceptance of mobile advertising is encouraging.  However, the headline is arguably the most pertinent point: for over 60 percent of consumers, the mobile internet doesn’t exist and text messaging is the only data application of a mobile device.

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MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT REVENUES ARE EXPECTED TO GROW 28 PERCENT ON AVERAGE over the next year, according to the Mobile Entertainment Forum’s quarterly Business Confidence Index, up one percent from its last survey.

Content owners are much more optimistic about their revenues, with the anticipated average income up from $6.1 million to $17.1 million.Revenue in Western Europe is expected to be down 10 percent, North American revenues are predicted to be up 8

percent. 81 percent of respondents said they were as confident as last year about the future of their business. Source

The bottom line: This MEF study illustrates a bullish mobile entertainment market, unbowed by the economic climate.  It could be that, aside from the natural obligation towards market confidence, stakeholders believe the purchasing of relatively low cost content through microbilling will remain popular as consumers delay the big ticket items and seek alternative forms of entertainment.

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APATHY AND PRICE RULE IN NOT SELECTING THE iPHONE, say the latest findings from The NPD Group.  The study showed that the primary reasons consumers do not want to purchase an iPhone are “lack of interest” (55 percent) and “high price” (42 percent).

One in five mobile phone owners say they want to purchase an iPhone, but have not yet done so, and NPD’s report indicates data plan pricing and exclusivity remain key obstacles.  18 percent of consumers who have not purchased an iPhone cited the expense of the data plan, while 21 percent said they didn’t want to switch carriers.  Source

The bottom line: Reasons why Apple’s iPhone isn’t persuading everyone to leave their current carrier and device seem quite simple: they aren’t actually that bothered.  Given the previous data point, which revealed that 60 percent of people only use voice and text, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

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iPHONE USERS TOP SMARTPHONE LOYALTY ratings, according to a new survey by Crowd Science.  It also says four out of ten BlackBerry and other smartphone users would switch to Apple’s iPhone as their next smartphone purchase.

On the other hand, only 14 percent of non-BlackBerry smartphone users would switch to a BlackBerry for their next purchase. Meanwhile, a huge 82 percent of iPhone users are loyal to the brand. Source

The bottom line: In contrast to the previous report, this one highlights the attitudes of smartphone users who, almost by definition of being smartphone users, care a little more.  The study is as much a study of consumer brand perception, and the iPhone steals the show as expected, but BlackBerry may take note of the small minority who would switch for their next purchase.

***

MORE THAN HALF HAVE MOBILE SECURITY FEARS, according to mobile security specialists, Cloudmark Inc.  The report says mobile spam now affects two in three consumers, more than 50 percent worry about mobile security, and only 7 percent believe the information they send over the phone is secure.

Cloudmark also says the concern about mobile security is detrimentally affecting the adoption of mobile services such as banking and e-commerce, with more than two thirds (69.3%) of consumers stating that they wouldn’t use value-added services such as mobile banking.

Two thirds of consumers (65.9%) have received unwanted or unsolicited messages (spam) on their mobile phone. While a majority of spam messages could simply be seen as a nuisance, 29% of respondents had received malicious spam such as phishing messages, fraud messages or messages containing inappropriate content.  Source

The bottom line: This report highlights the ongoing fears around the security of mobile devices, which will likely become more prevalent as smartphones become more pervasive, and spammers and malware authors pay more attention to mobile. However, we should also remember that the mobile security specialists who produced the report might have a small agenda of their own.

But it was Jonathan’s presentation in London last week – like no other – that has strengthened my determination to create/cultivate the linkages/ exchanges that will allow us all (“every single one of us,” as Jonathan would say) to move the industry a giant step forward. One day after a speech to the 450+ attendees at Future of Mobile, where Jonathan launched into a harsh critique of the mobile advertising industry (in fact, the entire communications industry), he switched gears and replaced his entertaining rant with a realistic roadmap to change. I was fortunate to witness the birth of this powerful plan and overjoyed that I accidentally left my MP3 recorder running.

If you do nothing else today, listen to Jonathan’s speech here.

It outlines the seven steps that the industry can/should/must follow to get where it needs to be. Jonathan aptly titles this chapter of our great adventure No Way Back From Here. And the truth is. There isn’t.

By way of background, it all began with Vol. 1 of a book/concept Jonathan dubbed The Communication Ideal. (Many of you may not know the context – and therefore miss the pivotal importance of Vol. 2 ( No Way Back From Here). For this reason, Jonathan and I are developing a comprehensive yet highly accessible summary of key points to post on MSG to make sure we’re all on the same page. On December 8, Jonathan “will close the Communication Ideal Phase of the ‘Every Single One Of Us‘ movement.” December 9 marks the start of No Way Back From Here, a new venture and one that will be the most powerful ever because it combines pragmatism and passion. (Listen to the audio and you’ll understand…)

Cognitive dissonance (until now rampant in the mobile space) has been replaced by the recognition of a painful truth: Mobile advertising (and perhaps mobile as a whole, if we accept advertising is nothing more than a form of content) is broken. Now we (“every single one of us”) has to fix it. The good news: We are ready to seek solutions. The great news: It’s not just about Jonathan.

Granted, Jonathan is spearheading this re-think, but his outreach to stakeholders, shareholders and investors at all levels ensures this effort will deliver real value and tangible results. And if you think this has never been/can never be done, then think again. Mobile Advertising Netherlands, an effort involving the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and companies up and down the mobile advertising value chain, has recently produced research aimed at providing companies “insights in the possibilities and status of Mobile Advertising in the Netherlands.” Clearly, there is a blueprint here to follow – and Jonathan gets this better than most.

However, as I have I observed earlier, it’s not about Jonathan; it’s about every single one of us.

There is encouraging evidence that many of us see it this way. In fact, the need for new guidance and new approaches runs like a leit motif through my work and my encounters with execs over the last weeks/months. From briefings with brands such as Coca-Cola, to yesterday’s amazing exchange with Mauro Montanaro, Jamba CEO (soon to be branded Fox Mobile), the same message comes through loud and clear: Mobile is not about technology, it is about communication.

Insisting that mobile content/apps/advertising is about anything else is a flawed approach and “business as usual” is not an option.

The need for a re-think also echoed through many of the presentations during the Mobile Content conference and the invigorating discussions/exchanges that followed. You could sense this groundswell at Future of Mobile when six social media practitioners/industry bloggers – including Helen Keegan of Beep Marketing and James Whately of Whatelydude – took the stage to tell us where mobile has failed and why. (More on Helen’s take here.)

Take a wider view and you can pick up on similar messages and similar intensity across a wide range of sites and destinations, including London Calling (written by mobile advertising evangelist and esteemed colleague Andrew Grill), David Cushman’s FasterFuture and Tomi Ahonen’s Communities Dominate Brands – to name a few.

Connect the dots, as Tomi and I did, and change is underway – at all levels everywhere. (Tomi documented his moment of clarity in this eloquent must-read post.)

My take: If we accept that advertising is content (just today MoCoNews tells us Gap and Target have launched iPhone apps to spread brand love and boost their value-add) and we recognize the pivotal role of mobile and community in advertising (translated: mobile social networks, viral marketing and personal recommendation), then the only sustainable business model lies at the intersection of these new universal constants.

And, if you listen in on the audio, take special note of Tomi Ahonen’s introduction. Yes, there is a change in Jonathan’s thinking, but there is also a seismic shift in the mobile industry -and the epicenter for this is London!

(I am immediately reminded of The Medici Effect, a book by Frans Johansson that documents how, why and where diversity in ideas and experiences breeds breakthrough ideas/insights. They occur at intersections, and London is certainly the place where mobile and advertising meet. I’m going to read the book again, and suggest you also check it out…)

And before you dismiss the potential significance of London (and the U.K.) in the scheme of all things mobile, consider today’s stats from Nielsen and the story they tell (as reported by Brand Republic): Mobile Internet use has skyrocketed in the U.K. in 2008, growing eight times more than PC-based Internet.

The Mobile Media View report found that from Q2 to Q3 2008, the number of people using the mobile internet increased by 25 percent from 5.8 million to 7.3 million . That’s compared to 35.5 million surfing the wired Internet, up only 3 percent from Q2 to Q3. The mobile audience is younger than its PC-based counterpart, and flocking to sites that provide immediate information/value. In fact, mobile Internet traffic also accounts for the lion’s share of visits to majority of page visits to sites like BBC Weather, Sky Sports and Gmail.

Finally, as I have twittered and told my closest associates, MSG will be a proactive part of what Jonathan is leading and what we are all building. The first efforts will center on #1 of the seven-step plan: Documenting/assessing the lay of the land through primary research, interviews and analysis.

Understanding how things are now is the first step to affecting significant future change.

And speaking of analysis, interviews with Coca-cola, Jamba (Fox Mobile) and some 25 other key execs/thinkers will be featured (in Q&A format) in the Netsize Guide 2009, a book whose unifying themes are empowerment, engagement and expansion. I am proud that Netsize has commissioned me to write the guide and pleased to collaborate with George Yaryura, Netsize Strategic Marketing Manager, who shares my enthusiasm about the project and excitement about its potential impact.