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The biggest mobile marketing wins and losses of 2014

While mobile marketing took several big steps forwards in 2014 thanks to iBeacons, the iPhone 6, Apple Pay and advances in attention-based metrics, marketers dropped the ball on several fronts, such as privacy, personalization, meager mobile budgets and moving beyond banner ads.

As a still relatively new and quickly evolving space, mobile marketing continues to deliver exciting and unique ways to engage with consumers. While marketers were quick to grab onto these shiny new objects in 2014, many still did not allocate enough budget to these efforts or consider how mobile fits into their overall brand strategy, steps that are necessary for mobile to reach its full potential. 

Below, mobile executives across a range of areas of expertise weigh in on what they believe were the biggest mobile marketing wins and losses of 2014.

Mobile wins
Brennan Hayden, chief operating officer of WDA, East Lansing, MI
The biggest win by far is the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 plus, which has opened the iPhone to dramatically more appealing and engaging visual ad experiences, due to their larger screens.

Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis, Atlanta
I would say one of the biggest wins in mobile marketing in 2014 is the implementation of the iBeacon technology, in the retail environment, with some of the largest retailers leading the way. The iBeacon implementation opens up mobile marketing capabilities in bricks and mortar that before were hampered by lack of connectivity and interaction within the stores. As this continues to be refined, with privacy concerns being addressed, this technology will grow through the next few years opening up the ability to market via wireless much more consistently.

Dirk R. Rients, vice president of brand solutions at The Mobile Majority, Los Angeles
Two thousand and fourteen?s biggest win in mobile marketing was the launch of Apple Pay.  The combination of Apple Pay, Touch ID, iBeacon, iAd and a forthcoming loyalty platform, Apple will allow marketers the ability to deliver personalized, contextualized offers that can be conveniently purchased with just one touch.  We will continue to see brands scale some of these technologies in 2015 due to successful trials this year.

Neal Modi, vice president of revenue and operations at Kargo, New York
One of the biggest wins for mobile marketing this past year was the increased importance placed on viewability and other attention-based metrics from both buyers and sellers. Mobile marketing has nuances that desktop has never had to consider, and because of these characteristics, measurement and ROI have been tricky to nail down.

As those in the advertising ecosystem consider how to prove mobile?s value to the bottom line, the industry has to evolve metrics that fit mobile?s DNA. That starts with viewability, which more industry organizations and vendors are taking a harder look at unlike ever before. There is still much work left to be done, but 2014 was a step forward.

Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile, Teaneck, NJ
MLB Major League Baseball had beacons installed throughout Fenway Park in Boston, AT&T Park in San Francisco and about 20 other stadiums in time for opening day this year. This has enabled MLB to engage enthusiastic fans throughout the game going experience - building further interest in teams, players, and increasing revenues for stadiums. 

Mobile losses
Gary Schwartz, CEO of Impact Mobile Inc., Toronto, Canada
The perennial mistake we make as mobile marketers is advocate for the technology of the moment. Mobile engagement is a more challenging formula then selling a mobile advertising CPMs. We latch onto QR codes, NFC tags, and now iBeacons in succession without setting KPIs and wondering why they do not deliver. 

The strategic goal of 2014 was understanding our customer?s proximity and driving relevant engagement. Our 2014 challenge was an overly tactical focus on iPhone beacons without understanding our app strategy; without leveraging more universal beacons such as Wi-Fi or Samsung Proximity that does not require an app.

Brennan Hayden, chief operating officer of WDA, East Lansing, MI
The biggest loss is the sad state of privacy and personalization from the user's perspective with regard to the ads they see and the data used to target them. It's a badly neglected space from a technology perspective, and ultimately will hurt marketers ability to connect with audiences if left unaddressed.

Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis, Atlanta
One of the biggest losses in 2014, in my opinion, would be that, clearly with nearly 85 percent of consumers viewing media on their tablets and smartphones, mobile has officially taken the lead in the desktop vs. mobile game.

This very obvious lead did not, in fact, motivate the brands to match the growth with the proper amount of media ad spend, which still is only at about 10 percent with most brands. The brands need to focus in 2015, and realize that if you don't represent on mobile, the data won't be there to aggregate, therefore, the media ad spend won't grow as CFO's want to see the growth in data, charts, and traffic.

Mobile will continue to ramp and grow, until it becomes the first screen for all consumer media consumption - when that shift takes place; those that were too afraid to make the leap into mobile content and data collection will be left behind.

Dirk R. Rients, vice president of brand solutions at The Mobile Majority, Los Angeles
Although we continue to see growth, the biggest loss of 2014 was the mobile advertising ecosystem. Many marketers still have questions around targeting, creative opportunities, scale, fraud, viewability, programmatic, and overall transparency.  In order to get brands to invest their advertising dollars in mobile, the industry needs to continue to set specific standards around these issues, and advertisers have to demand more clarity from their agencies and partners.

Neal Modi, vice president of revenue and operations at Kargo, New York
Something missing from 2014 was more advertisers and their partners drawing a line in the sand with respect to innovation beyond simple mobile banner ads. 

Part of mobile?s overall challenge is a perceived lack of creative prowess, but that?s just not right. We at Kargo continuously challenge ourselves to get away from banners ? to the point where in 2015, we are going to aim for not creating any new banner products. It?s that kind of thinking that?s needed more throughout the entire mobile world in order for the medium to tap into the potential it has based on consumers? obsession with their phones.

Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile, Teaneck, NJ
Probably the biggest fail was when Titan, an outdoor advertising company, quietly installed 500 beacons into payphones throughout New York City. The move was approved by city agency the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications but was not disclosed to the public. Within days of the undercover Buzzfeed report that discovered the beacons, city hall and Mayor Bill de Belasio had the beacons removed.
 
Beacon technology allows operaters to send noticeable messages and get detailed insights regarding consumer?s whereabouts. In order for it to properly grow the use of the beacon technology by all involved parties must always carry complete transparency.

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