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Key takeaways from Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona

How will this year's Mobile World Congress, held last week in Barcelona, Spain, move the needle for mobile? Senior executives from the industry offer their points of view.

John Kuolt, cofounder and executive vice president, IQzone, London, email:  
For a week in late February ? or early March, as it will be in 2015 ? the world?s who?s who of mobile descends on Barcelona, Spain, for Mobile World Congress. Make no mistake: just because it takes place in Europe, MWC is a global event with execs coming from 201 countries from all four corners of the Earth.

Each year the congress seems to get bigger and 2014 was no difference, with a record attendance of more than 85,000 and another year where a few things really stick in the mind.

Mobile ad spend growing, yet there is still a lack of knowledge
The growth of mobile advertising over the last five years has been phenomenal. While mobile advertising spend continues to increase every year, there are still so many people approaching mobile advertising for the first time and, as an industry, mobile advertising can be very insular.

There is incredible interest in the mobile ad space right now and not only that, but an almost unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

The sheer number of people asking questions around what is possible in mobile advertising was a little surprising, but it just goes to show how much more education there needs to be around this topic for brands, publishers and other people engaging with mobile advertising for the first time.

The accelerated growth of mobile advertising makes it an extremely exciting place to be right now, but let us not kid ourselves, there are important issues that the industry, as a collective, needs to address.

It is great for the mobile advertisers so ingrained in the space as they can look forward to collaborating with other advertisers, publishers and brand to help equip them with the knowledge, enabling them to take full advantage of all that mobile has to offer.

It is partly because there are still a number of problems that need to be solved when it comes to mobile advertising that make it such an exciting space to be involved in.

There have been problems around getting advertisers to deliver full-screen, engaging ads without ruining the user experience: Making sure the advertiser is getting what it wants, the user has what she wants and the publisher gets what it wants. Until this holy trinity arrives, mobile advertising is never going to reach its full potential.

How can we make wearables an advertiser?s dream?
There are somethings at MWC that are never really going to change:

? By Thursday you will always see executives taking quick power naps on beanbags

? Within the first five minutes of the first day, you will always bump into someone you know from back home

? The handset and device part of the show is always going to get the most mainstream attention.

This year all the usual big players set the tone with various hardware launches. This element of the show will never really change too much, especially as some of the alternative Asian manufacturers really start to challenge and come in to their own. It is MWC?s heart and soul.

However, 2014 ushered in a new category in the hardware sector: wearables

In 2013 there were delegates walking about with Jawbone UP and the odd Google X employee walking about wearing Glass, but this year, wearables was a big part of MWC.

As part of its Unpacked event, Samsung launched the Gear 2 Neo, Gear 2 and Gear Fit.

Samsung was not alone. It seemed that pretty much everyone had a wearable strategy or product plan.

So far it remains unclear on how consumers are really going to use wearables or even how they are going to justify paying for them. Arguably what we will see over the next year or two is a consolidation of players in the space with smaller companies being acquired and dominant players really owning the space as a couple of wearables rule the market ? just as we have seen with smartphones.

What is going to be interesting, though, is how manufacturers might look to subsidize the cost of wearable tech.

At the moment, consumers are still a little uneasy of handing over $100 to $150 for something that only does a couple of actions.

What would be interesting to see is if wearables can become an ad platform, which would help subsidize the cost if data can be opened up to relevant brands in a way that does not take away from the user experience of a wearable.

If this is to be a viable option, then the industry cannot just rehash existing methods as it initially tried to do with mobile.

It is clear that unlike previous fads of MWC ? 3D screens on phones anyone? ? wearables are here to stay.

But given the fragmentation between each device, it is not clear if the first people to take those first brave steps in to an ad-subsidized platform will reap the benefits of first-mover advantage or do a poor job of it and come close to ruining it for everyone else. Definitely something to watch out for at MWC 2015.


Ross Sleight, chief strategy officer, Somo, London
While it is impossible to fully explore the multitude of dazzling opportunities, products and services that are showcased at Mobile World Congress, the event is excellent for identifying the key mobile trends that will impact business in the near future.

The team at Somo believes the following three were the most interesting.

1) Connected everything
This year, MWC was dominated by mobile connecting all physical objects.

Every major stand had a connected car on show with all the major car manufacturers showing how mobile powers auto services.

In-car telemetrics alongside navigation and entertainment were omnipresent as car-focused app stores link mobile directly to the car?s dashboard.

Focusing on the connected home, Qualcomm displayed a number of new technologies in their smarthome of the future, including door locks, lighting and remote heating controls and entertainment, all powered through the mobile remote control.

Wearables were ubiquitous, from mobile connected smartwatches taking calendar and messaging services direct from mobile to your wrist, as well as new fitness wearables such as Galaxy Gear Fit. 

There was even a connected toothbrush from Oral B, connecting data on tooth-brushing to the brusher?s mobile device and making it accessible to dentists.

2) The next 1,000,000,000
The race is on to create low-priced handsets as the next 1 billion people to connect to the Internet will do so on smartphones.

Nokia launched its Android-powered X series with the lowest price point of $89 specifically aimed at developing markets.

But it was Firefox with its Web based OS launched at MWC last year that stole the show with a stunning $25 smartphone prototype that will drive adoption at this highly accessible price point.

3) Enterprise awakens
MWC has always been a hotbed for enterprise innovations, but it is the combination of cloud, Big Data and mobility that is driving an increased urgency to this sector.

Mobile device management for enterprises to enable bring-your-own-device programs such as airwatch was out in force. Samsung launched its next version of Knox, a mobile security system for enterprises showing that mobility is not just a consumer-focused issue, since the same consumers want the power of mobile within their workplace as well.


Dan Hodges, managing director, Consumers in Motion, New York, email:
Mobile World Congress boasted a record 85,000 attendees including more than 5,000 CEOs and government officials from 40-plus countries.

The entire mobile ecosystem was represented, including hardware and software companies, established players, marketplace disruptors and startups. It is the most comprehensive event in the mobile industry.
 
The global economy is undergoing a major disruption as the prevalence of smartphones is changing consumer behavior. All industries will be affected. As such, brands must constantly test and learn to stay informed and relevant. 
 
Luca Lindner, president of McCann Worldgroup, said in a speech at MWC that ?if you stop learning, you are dead.?

McCann was the first agency group to understand the importance of MWC. During the event, McCann engineered a comprehensive education program focused on best practices and innovation to help clients better understand the effect of the innovations taking place.
 
Leading brands used MWC as an opportunity to launch new brands and provide their vision for mobile. Here were a few examples:
 
Gibu Thomas, senior vice president of mobile and digital at Walmart, provided a strategic vision of how Walmart sees mobile in the path to purchase.

Walmart is in the process of integrating mobile into all aspects of the customer journey. All retailers should pay close attention to Walmart?s leadership in mobile.
 
Procter & Gamble Co. brand vice president Cohen-Dumani launched the marketer?s first ?connected toothbrush?- the Oral-B SmartSeries 7000.

Oral-B SmartSeries toothbrushes connect with the owners? smartphones via a Bluetooth 4.0 connection to transfer data on how they are brushing their teeth to a compatible Oral-B app on the device.

?For us this is a new start,? Ms. Cohen-Dumani said. ?We need to figure out for other products in the P&G portfolio how it is relevant. We?ll be learning over the next few months to see how things are going, and it might inspire us to do more things faster.?
 
Unilever announced Brandtone as its new marketing platform. This new platform is essentially a database that houses details on millions of consumers. This information can be used to identify target audiences and send messages directly to them.

Brandtone will allow for highly relevant messaging which will drive better results.
 
Hotel chain Marriott is exploring how it can use mobile devices and location-based services to better tailor its hospitality offering.

Marriott is specifically looking to target international travelers as it looks to put consumers at the center of its service development.

Vikas Chawla, vice president of mobile and digital guest services at Marriott International, said the company is exploring using mobile devices to communicate with guests prior to their arrival at the hotel.

?We are looking to see how we can pivot the experience around the customer,? Mr. Chawla said. ?Our shift is about how do we put you [the consumer] at the center of the experience. If you?re not doing that, then you?re just doing data for data?s sake.?                                      


Ivan Braiker, CEO; Doug Stovall, chief operating officer, Hipcricket, Bellevue, WA; emails: ;
Maybe the miles we walked or the great Catalonian food and drink we consumed had a distorting effect, but during our time at Mobile World Congress 2014 there were many moments when you would forget that you were at a mobile trade show.

Everything felt so familiar, so normal. And for mobile marketers and advertisers, that is a great thing.
As we reflect on the show, four major areas stand out:

1. The normalcy of mobile

2.  What is good for the world is good for the mobile industry

3. The importance of mobile advertising

4. Handsets continue to be the center of the mobile ecosystem

Mobile is normal
Many companies represented at MWC such as automakers, banks, payment providers and consumer packaged goods brands would never have been considered ?mobile? just a few years ago.

This influx of traditionally ?non-mobile? brands at a mobile industry trade show proves what many of us have heralded for a while: mobile will become so integral to our daily lives that we will wonder how we lived without it.

It seems that time has come. 

While brands recognize the power of mobile, both IT and marketing departments are still coming to terms with how mobile complements or supplements their current way of conducting business.

Consumers have made the choice to integrate mobile into every aspect of their lives. We as marketers need to meet their expectations for seamless engagement by pushing our brands into mobile in a meaningful way.

What is good for the world is good for mobile commerce
Mark Zuckerberg?s keynote focused on his vision, sponsored through his Internet.org effort, to connect the entire word to the mobile Internet for free. He argues that connecting the world is not only the right thing to do, but it is the best thing to do for the business of mobile.

An example that Mr. Zuckerberg pointed to was Globe Telecom. Internet.org has worked with Globe in the Philippines to double the number of Filipinos who can access the Internet. In turn, Globe?s gross data plan subscriptions are up 28 percent.

This is the dual potential that mobile access provides. It gives millions of people equal footing and access to the information they crave and need to be true world citizens. It promotes equality, education, health, tolerance and citizenship.

At the same time, it gives marketers and brands first-time access to emerging markets that are hungry to participate in the global economy. It is the next great step forward for mankind and for business.

Mobile advertising to the rescue
Mobile advertising was a ubiquitous topic of conversation at MWC. Specifically, how to monetize mobile advertising and create a revenue stream large enough to sustain your product or service.

Mobile advertising should be a win-win for all involved.

Mobile advertising allows users to enjoy the content they demand for free, content providers to keep the lights on and brands to engage and connect directly with consumers at all points of the path to purchase in ways never before possible.

This is the promise of mobile advertising: a seamless loop of mutually beneficial connections.

As evidenced by conversations at MWC, we are not quite there yet. But we are close.

With improved data and analytics, a better understanding of what audiences respond to and maturation of ad serve and network technology, mobile advertising will no longer be a question. It will be the answer.

Handsets are still king
Wearables were on display at MWC. The next evolution in mobile technology, these devices promise to streamline the mobile experience and truly integrate with our normal, everyday activities.

Left out of the wearables conversation is the fact that most still rely on a smartphone handset.

For hardware manufacturers, software developers, marketers and advertisers, handsets are still king and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Many manufacturers are producing elegant phones, each larger than an iPhone 5S. Unless Apple comes out with a great device next time, it is going to be harder to justify the premium cost for a smaller device.

The increased screen size is boost to marketers and advertisers by providing a larger canvass for creative and space for meaningful interactions. But the diversification of devices and operating systems means that responsive design and mobile optimization of sites and applications is more critical than ever.

Where will we be in six months?
If Mobile World Congress has the effect we believe it will, in 2014 we will see:

1. Accelerated expansion of mobile into emerging markets, providing new customer channels for brands and marketers.

2. A growing market for used handsets as premium consumers trade up for devices to integrate with their wearables.

3. Data and analytics forced to rapidly evolve to provide conclusive evidence for mobile advertising and marketing?s return on investment.

This will be a good year for mobile.