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Connected marketing replaces mobile-first for new trade group

Mobile-first marketing is giving way to the need to address how individuals are increasingly connected across a multitude of devices, requiring a new perspective and practices, according to mCordis. 

With these changes in mind, mCordis today is announcing The Connected Marketer Institute, which will provide educational and advisory services around a new approach to marketing. The for-profit trade group will hold its first conference, The Connected Marketer Summit & Awards, on Nov. 10 in Silicon Valley, featuring keynote sessions, workshops, exhibits and awards. 

?We predict that the landscape for marketers will change significantly over the next few years, as people become more connected, aware of connected services and data practices, over-the-top commerce and communications practice become more practical with the raise of artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, industry self-regulation and government regulations evolve and more,? said Michael Becker, co-founder and managing partner of mCordis, as well as a previous managing director of the Mobile Marketing Association. 

Making a connection
The importance of traditional marketing approaches is waning as consumers become increasing connected, with individuals and households expected to be connected to dozens of devices providing value to their lives by 2020. Going forward, for marketers to have a relationship with consumers, they will need to be able to serve connected individuals in real-time and at scale, per Mr. Becker. 

Marketers need to learn how to serve the connected individual at any moment with consistent, meaningful and valuable experiences. 

This will require collecting and monitoring data, using machine learning to analyze it and predict what an individual needs at a given moment and then synchronizing and delivering relevant experience in real-time. 

?We see this as a watershed moment,? Mr. Becker said. ?We see the fundamentals of marketing significantly changing in the next couple of years."

For marketers to be effective, they will need to understand individuals ? as opposed to customer groups ? learn how to connect with them, manage friction points and be of service. 

Landscape evolves
As the connected individual takes hold, the marketing landscape is likely to evolve in several ways. New data regulations will come into play and consumers will increasingly manage their own data, brokering it and dictating how it can be used. 

Ad intermediaries are also likely to start to disappear, per Mr. Becker, as marketers invite individuals into their own media databases. 

The role of the marketer, in this environment, will be to bring imagination back to the conversation and to become experts at content. In general, there could be a resurgence in brand marketing fundamentals. 
 
 Mobile will not disappear for the connected marketer. Instead, its role becomes one of a catalyst and enabler. 
 
?For us, The Connected Marketer represents the future of marketing with mobile at the center of the relationship between brands and individuals,? Mr. Becker said. ?It is the only way to engage the individual at scale, on their terms.