In one of the clearest signs yet that mobile marketing has arrived, the trade group tasked with bringing mobile into the forefront has relaunched itself with a marketer-first approach as opposed to a mobile-first one. 

The shift towards brands is evident in the makeup of the Mobile Marketing Association?s new global board of directors, 40 percent of which now consists of marketers as opposed to the one lone marketer sitting on the board several years ago. Additionally, this week the MMA introduced the MM25, a group of 25 leading brand marketers from companies such as Coca-Cola, Walmart and Procter & Gamble who will work to take mobile marketing to the next level. 

?We really have transformed the MMA and relaunched with a marketer-first mission,? said Sheryl Daija, chief strategy officer at the MMA. ?Building from mobile first, now we are marketer first. 

?Our mission now is very focused now on helping marketers figure out mobile,? she said. 

?This is a little bit of a natural evolution. It is not really about if, it is how do you do it well.?

Mobile know-how
For several years, the Mobile Marketing Association as well as marketers have talked up the need for a mobile-first approach to marketing. 

Now that mobile is infused throughout many of the leading brand organizations worldwide, these practitioners are interested in gaining a more sophisticated understanding of mobile marketing as opposed to how to sell-in mobile to their bosses, a big focus not too long ago. 

With this marketer-first approach in mind, the MMA this week introduced the MM25, whose charter is to work collaboratively with the trade group and the industry at large to identify ways to help marketers more effectively integrate mobile. 

Digging into mobile
The key areas of focus for the group will be mobile attribution analysis, mobile creative as well as marketer education and innovation. 

The list of MM25 members includes B. Bonin Bough, vice president of global media and consumer engagement at Mondel?z International; Tom Daly, head of mobile and search at The Coca-Cola Company; George S. Felix, mobile strategy and innovation at Procter & Gamble; Mike Hibbison, vice president of media at Home Depot and Scott Hudler, vice president of consumer engagement at Dunkin Brands. 

?One part of this is for marketers to really access each other in a way that they can learn from each other, debate with each other on what is working and not working and leverage the relationships that we can create for them,? Ms. Daija said. 

?It also does give us an opportunity to learn from the marketers,? she said. ?What do they need from us, how can we help them. 

?The marketers are more and more committed to mobile. They know that it is something that they need to dig into and understand and learn more.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Marketer, New York