IVR » mobilegroove

I am honored to have had the opportunity (for the third consecutive year) to be on the judging panels for the Meffys Mobile Entertainment Awards (categories: Search & Discovery and Advertising Campaign). The Meffys are run by the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) and correctly dubbed the 'Oscars of the mobile entertainment industry.' Today I spent much of the day with colleagues David Murphy (Mobile Marketing Magazine), Pip Brooking (Media and Marketing), Jim Cook (MobiAdNews), Helen Keegan (Beep Marketing/Technokitten) reviewing the candidates in the two categories - albeit virtually since I was in my office near Cologne in Germany and they were gathered at the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) office in London. In previous years I was most excited about the companies in the Search & Discovery category because I have purposely focused my career and this site on analyzing tools and technologies that assist us in seeking information/content relevant to our queries and in tune with our personal context. However, this time it was the progressive approaches to mobile advertising that grabbed my attention and won my respect. (By way of background, last year the Meffys for the Search category recognized Gracenote, specifically Gracenote's Mobile Music Platform, as a path-breaking way to enjoy and discover music on our mobile phones. During the last Mobile World Congress, I connected with Jim Hollingsworth, Gracenote Senior VP, Sales & Marketing, on behalf of MSG and bnetTV for a demo of this super-cool service. The video interview pops up at random in the bnetTV jukebox in the sidebar, so I encourage you to tune in when it comes around. This sector profile from Mobile Entertainment is also a help if you need a primer on the Music ID market, where Gracenote and Shazam are top contenders.) I cannot divulge the mobile advertising campaign shortlist, nor can I deep dive into individual brands/campaigns/agencies. (The short list is slated for release next week.) But I can highlight the larger mobile advertising trends and models that merit a closer look. What is different this year? Brands and agencies are much higher on the learning curve because they have got past the hype to ask the key question: What is the place of mobile in mobile advertising? Is it 'just another screen'? Or is it THE screen to rule them all? (More specifically, is it the 7^th Mass Media, as author and consultant Tomi Ahonen observes? Or is it the remote control to our lives as Alan Moore, likewise a renowned author and consultant, reminds us in his comprehensive white paper, The glittering allure of the mobile society? Or is it something else? The jury is out on this one. (In fact, it remains a central question I ask brands, agencies, operators and enablers daily as part of the Mobile Advertising Research U.K. project). There are no easy answers, but I was truly encouraged by the number and variety of mobile advertising campaigns that successfully harnessed the unique characteristics of mobile to deliver a message that resonated with the target audience.