Mobile Groove

How and why should brands and marketers take advantage of the unique characteristics of mobile to connect with us at the moments we need them most? Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, a leading integrated advertising and marketing communications agency, tells why marketers need to think beyond reaching a target audience.

As Rory sees it: The real power of mobile is context. It allows brands to interact with people during  target moments (I need something now), target moods (I want s…

Last week an independent panel of highly acclaimed thought leaders in the advertising ecosystem finished the first phase of screening dozens of submissions from agencies, brands and talent all over the world competing for the coveted International IAB MIXX awards. Lisa Ciangiulli, who sat on the panel of judges, draws from her personal experience to give us the inside track on the ideas and approaches pushing mobile marketing and interactive advertising to new levels.

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The willingness of people to interact with brands on their mobile phones (and their growing reliance on mobile devices for shopping advice and assistance on the move) has jumpstarted a new phase in mobile marketing growth driven by retail brands and advertisers.

From department stores to computers & electronics retailers to luxury fashion brands, marketers are investing in mobile advertising to reach and influence people throughout the purchase funnel (awareness, engagement,  cons…

Editor’s Note: This blog post originally appeared on the Optism blog, a home for engagement marketing. You can follow Optism on Twitter (@optismww) and sign up here for the latest news.

Hulu, the U.S. online video service announced a stream of changes to its offering a few days back. Our favorite was the ‘Ad Tailor’. As Hulu puts it, “The goal of Ad Tailor is to increase the relevance of ads for our viewers.” It’s very simple. When a viewer watches a program on Hulu, during the ad break, the user is asked how relevant the ad was to them. This helps Hulu overtime to display more relevant ads to that viewer.

The advertising industry is so often caught up in clever technology that involves complex behavioral or contextual algorithms that they forget that ‘users’ are actually ‘humans’. What better way to find out what is relevant than to ask?

Editor’s note: This provocative guest column from Andy Bovingdon, Bango VP Product Marketing, takes a hard look at the critical questions publishers, developers and advertisers need to ask themselves as they architect truly effective mobile strategies. Should the Apple iPad, just now coming to Europe, be considered a mobile device (and therefore take a central role in mobile strategy)? Or do other factors beyond technology play a deciding role?

In the run up to launch of the iconic iPad device it’s no wonder that the topic has come up in several recent mobile marketing meetings with clients and colleagues alike. The emotional bond – even obsession – with this device is understandable. But the need for hard-nosed business realism (particularly if you are a publisher or marketer aiming to delight your particular customer base or target demographic) is much greater.

In brief: Steve Ives, Taptu CEO, recounts the key takeaways of the new report showing the growth of Mobile Touch Web sites outpaces the growth of apps in the Apple and Android app stores why commerce rocks on the Mobile Touch Web PLUS a look a the Virtual Roundtable and what mobile industry entrepreneurs, authorities and pundits think about the Mobile Touch Web and the potential impact on how we live, work and shop.

Taptu, the search and discovery engine that indexes touchscreen content, reports that the Mobile Touch Web – websites and destinations created specifically for access via touchscreen devices such as the Apple iPhone – has grown 35 percent since last quarter. Unlike other mobile Web content, this content stands out through finger-friendly layouts and light-weight pages that are faster to load over cellular networks. The report, which covers January 2010 thru April 2010, also shows Mobile Touch Web sites rose to 440,100 from 326,600 in January.

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