In a move that highlights the growing importance of mobile advertising in the marketing-media ecosystem, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has launched the Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence.

The independently funded and staffed unit inside the IAB is charged with driving the growth of the mobile marketing, advertising and media marketplace. The IAB also announced the appointment of Anna Bager as vice president and general manager of the Mobile Center, a new position in the organization.

?We think that the timing is just right to do this, as the past two or three years there has been an explosion in the mobile market with the iPhone and smartphones in general and tablets,? Ms. Bager said. ?Mobile advertising is a great opportunity?the IAB expects it to grow significantly and its members do too.

?With mobile advertising expanding from the traditional advertising industry, a lot of new types of players may come to the table, taking into account the communications players such as the carriers,? she said. ?It?s growing with the type of companies that are active in this field, so we want to bring them together and create an ecosystem to promote standards to facilitate best practice and make it easier to do this.

?We?ll look at new technologies to target different types of devices, look at best practice cases and spread the word about who has done what and what has been successful to evangelize around the area.?

Ms. Bager joins the IAB from Ericsson, the global telecommunications company, where she was the head of business intelligence for the Multimedia division.

Before heading business intelligence at Ericsson Multimedia, Ms. Bager was the head of research and a senior consultant at Ericsson?s Business Consulting unit.

Prior to Ericsson, Ms. Bager was a European consulting manager at IDC?s Telecommunications and Networking Center.

Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence
The IAB claims that the Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence will provide the next phase of leadership required for continued growth in the mobile advertising industry.

Consumers want their information and entertainment on-the-go, and this trend is only going to continue, bringing enormous opportunity for advertisers to stay connected to their audiences, per the IAB.

The IAB?s new Mobile Center will devote resources to market and consumer research, mobile advertising case studies, executive training and education, supply chain standardization, creative showcases and best practice identification in the burgeoning field of mobile media and marketing.

The Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence will serve as the industry-wide resource for innovation in mobile advertising.

Sixteen IAB member companies have committed financial support to the association?s Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, marking the first time the industry trade group has directed enhanced resources to a single platform.

Eight IAB member companies have provided advanced support and will serve on the Center?s Board of Directors, including AT&T Converged Services, Cars.com, Google, Microsoft, The New York Times, Univision Interactive Media, Weather Channel and Yahoo.

Another eight companies are supporting the Center as research and development sponsors, including 24/7 Real Media, CNN, Disney Interactive Media Group, Federated Media, The Huffington Post, IDG Communications, NBC  Universal and Tremor Media.

Up to three more Board sponsorships are available to IAB General Member companies, Rothenberg said. The Mobile Center of Excellence will be based in the IAB?s New York headquarters, at 116 East 27 Street.

The formation of the Mobile Center of Excellence is the latest addition to the IAB?s ongoing work to educate the marketing and media ecosystem about mobile advertising.

Together, the IAB and the Mobile Marketing Association recently released ?Mobile Web Advertising Measurement Guidelines? that provide a framework for governing ad impressions through mobile devices (see story).

?Mobile today is something that most companies are looking at as interesting but it may not be a big part of the budget, but rather experimental mobile campaigns, but in the future I think it will be more and more important to reach both consumers and enterprise users,? Ms. Bager said. ?Mobile can address all different segments

?Mobile should definitely be part of the overall strategy,? she said. ?It is something all organizations should think about.

?In 2011 the mobile space will see a major breakthrough, and I hope the IAB will be a part of that.?

Final Take
The IAB's Randall Rothenberg, Tyra Banks and Joanne Bradford