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MMA North America chief talks to Millennial Media?s McKelvey about Mobile World Congress

In between customer and analyst meetings last week at the GSM Association?s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Mack McKelvey, senior vice president of marketing at mobile ad network Millennial Media sat down with Michael Becker, North America managing director of the Mobile Marketing Association, to get his opinion on this year?s show.

In this Q&A with Ms. McKelvey, Mr. Becker discusses what brought him this year to the Mobile World Congress, the largest gathering of mobile executives globally, and how attendance helps shape MMA conferences. The interview:

You are the managing director of MMA North America. What brought you to Barcelona this year?
The Mobile Marketing Association is a global organization with wildly different markets. I attend Mobile World Congress because it has global reach and we get exposure to some of the constituencies, but mostly the differences in numerous markets. 

We take the global learning from this show, and we can apply them at our regional MMA forums for local relevance. There are differences in legal and regulatory, tariffs and devices across the world. But you can?t get the local relevance in a structured way at this show.

That brings up a good question then. What role does Mobile World Congress seem to play in the industry, particularly with mobile advertising?
The leaders in mobile enablement are here.

As a broad mobile industry, we come together here to discuss how we deliver the mobile experience. 

I?m seeing mobile advertising here, but, it?s specific around enablement, tech prowess and capability. The consumer isn?t represented here. 

A major trade show can?t be everything for all people at all times. Mobile World Congress has great educational forums, but you need to know how to put the pieces together.

So what are the major benefits of the show for the MMA?
I come here to learn from those that control the pieces that can create a frictionless global marketplace.

I take it back to the MMA forums so that brands can understand that mobile spend can be frictionless. It?s not based on not technical connectivity or barriers and that the return on investment is clear.

What was your feeling on the tone in Barcelona this year?
There?s a true sense of calmness, consistency and common threads.

What is an example of a common thread?
This show revolves around the connected engaged consumer.

When Samsung talks about the personal cloud, it?s not about the ad, the network, or the device ? it?s about the experience. That?s an incredibly powerful message.

Did you see any mobile demo or application that was particularly interesting?
At the Qualcomm booth, they were showcasing augmented reality developer APIs. 

Imagine a sheet of paper that is transformed via a mobile device into product packaging that will show a demo of that product. At that point, it becomes a rich media advertising experience that flows through to point of sale.

So what did you do next?
A lot of seeing, listening and talking ? in that order. This was the only global event, from a mobile perspective, where you can touch and feel the future of mobile.