By the MMA’s own admission, the organization has seen “significant membership momentum in recent months, as companies across the mobile marketing ecosystem increasingly recognize the opportunity to help shape the future of the modern marketer by being part of the global mobile movement.”

The uniquely all-encompassing membership of the MMA brings brands and agencies together with media sellers and technology enablers to collaboratively help marketing teams be more successful with mobile.

“We’re thrilled to see our membership continue to grow at such a fast and consistent pace,” said Greg Stuart, CEO at the MMA. “The new members come from companies that have demonstrated strong mobile leadership within their respective industries and understand mobile’s potential to garner a competitive advantage and seriously impact their long-term business goals. We’re excited to facilitate the alliance of these leading organizations as they work together to accelerate their own transformation through mobile, and we invite others to come forward to do the same. The MMA team stands ready to help.”

According to the MMA’s formal announcement, the new MMA members include:

Marketers
Central Garden & Pet
Chiquita
ConAgra Foods
E*TRADE
Johnson & Johnson
Kohl’s
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
Mars
Papa Murphy’s International
Safe Auto Insurance
The Hershey Company
The Wendy’s Company
Trulia

Media Sellers
Coupons.com Inc.
Ensequence
Forbes Media
Foursquare
PadSquad
Pinterest
Quantcast
Tego Media
The Trade Desk
VEVO

Agencies
inMarket
Starcom Worldwide
Razorfish

Technology Enablers
Beintoo
Bidtellect
Blue Bite
Frankly Co
Gimbal
Immersion Corporation
Instantly
PubNative
Quaero
RealityMine

Associates
Greco Associates
Loeb Enterprises, LLC
Ropes & Gray

The post MMA Touts Diverse Array of New Members appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“A stellar showcase of marketer, media, technology and agency excellence from around the world” was presented at this year’s Gala at the Highline Stages in New York City.

According to the MMA, the winners of the Smarties represent those who are blazing new trails, exhibiting bravery and innovation across the sizzling and competitive mobile marketing ecosystem.

This year’s most prestigious “Best in Show” was awarded to Hindustan Unilever and PHD for their “Kan Khajura Tesan” campaign in Bihar, India.

This campaign leveraged the uniqueness of mobile by creating a new media channel to reach a rural population of 137 million who suffer from daily power cuts, but where 86 percent of the population owns a mobile phone. By delivering “free, on-demand and always-on” entertainment, Unilever was able to build a new loyal consumer base for a number of products to what has been an unreachable audience.

The Industry Awards were also handed to an impressive group of companies including:

• Marketer to Watch: Ford Motor Company
• Media Company of the Year: Facebook
• Agency of the Year: Razorfish

You can check out all the winning campaigns and trends from those campaigns in a report published by the MMA immediately following this year’s awards presentation. To download the report, click here.

The post MMA Touts Winners of 2014 Global Smarties appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The MMA says this effort comes in response to the Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) new ‘marketer first’ mission and aligns with its commitment to help marketers around the world leverage the power of mobile.

“The charter for MM25 is to work collaboratively with the MMA and the industry at large to identify areas of opportunity; initiatives and research that will allow marketers to more effectively and efficiently integrate mobile as core to their marketing strategies,” a provided statement from the organization reads.
The MM25 Board members include:

1. Victor Bayata, Head of Mobile Solutions, IKEA Group
2. B. Bonin Bough, Vice President, Global Media and Consumer Engagement, Mondelēz International
3. Andy Chu, Divisional Vice President, Mobile & Community Experiences, Sears Holdings Corporation
4. Tom Daly, Head of Mobile & Search, The Coca-Cola Company
5. Michael Donnelly, SVP, Group Head Global Digital Marketing, MasterCard Worldwide
6. George S. Felix, Mobile Strategy and Innovation, Procter & Gamble
7. Karie Ford, Vice President, Media, Subway
8. Jennifer Gardner, Director of Media Investment and Partnerships, NA, Unilever
9. Elyssa Gray, Director, Head of Creative and Media, NA Marketing, Global Consumer Marketing & Internet Office (GCMIO), Citi
10. Jack J. Haber, Vice President, Global Advertising and Digital, Colgate Palmolive
11. Mike Hibbison, Vice President, Media, Home Depot
12. Scott Hudler, VP, Consumer Engagement, Dunkin Brands
13. Andy Kauffman, VP, Digital Direct & Marriott.com, Marriott International
14. Mahender Nathan, Vice President, Mobile, Toys’R’Us
15. Yin Rani, Vice President, Integrated Marketing, Campbell Soup Company
16. Brandon Rhoten, Vice President, Digital and Social Media, Wendy’s International
17. Shiv Singh, SVP Global Brand and Marketing Transformation, Visa
18. Francie Staub, Director of Digital Marketing, TD Ameritrade
19. Jon Suarez-Davis, Vice President, Global Media & Digital Strategy, Kellogg Company
20. Virginia Suliman, Vice President, Digital Design and Development, Hilton Worldwide
21. Stacey Warwick, Head of Content Strategy & Operations, Digital Marketing Group, JPMorgan Chase
22. Rachel Weiss, Vice President, Digital Innovation, Content, and New Business Ventures, L’Oréal USA
23. Michelle Wirth, Marketing Communications, Mercedes-Benz USA
24. Wanda Young, Vice President, Media and Digital Marketing, Walmart
25. Tatyana Zlotsky, VP, Digital Marketing, American Express

In short, we’re told, the MM25 will drive against tangible goals and take on specific programs from start to finish, while also providing a platform for marketers to learn from and debate with their peers.

“The amazing group of individuals and brands that we have been able to bring together for MM25 is a testament to the dedication of marketers as a whole to learn more about and progress the transformational opportunity mobile presents for all,” says Sheryl Daija, Chief Strategy Officer for the MMA. “Our goal is to eventually have a number of MM25 groups that are non-competitive in nature and focused on driving against core issues for all marketers to leverage in their mobile efforts. We applaud the leadership of this first group and invite others to join and follow in their footsteps.”

The post Mobile Marketing Association Unveils MM25 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The study, commissioned by the MMA, and its Mobile Video Committee, sought to provide mobile video performance insights to advertisers, agencies, publishers and third party video servers.

And it did exactly that based on the insights gleaned in the new report summary.

“This collaboration of MMA members to produce a ‘first of its kind’ Mobile Video Benchmarking Study validates that mobile video is beyond the tipping point. We are seeing new behaviors and attitudes develop as mobile becomes validated as the real first screen,” says Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA. “It’s becoming clearer to us daily that Mobile Video is proving to be a very powerful tool for marketers to tap into the biggest transformation marketing has ever experienced.”

All told, the study revealed four key insights about mobile video:

• Mobile video engagement: Using CTR as an initial proxy for engagement for mobile video is very strong, with CTR ranging from 1.41% to 2.66% depending on the ad format. Results are robust even for skippable video advertising despite the option for viewers to bypass ads.

• Mobile video ad length: Click rates for ads longer than 30 seconds tend to be lower than shorter-length units. This is true for both skippable and non-skippable ads.

• Mobile video at midnight: There is a high-engagement, late night window among a certain group of consumers. Completion rates peak during those hours, and the same holds for phone CTRs, suggesting a much deeper engagement.

• Ad frequency engagement: The study reveals that mobile video ad engagement, like other forms of advertising, declines with excessive ad frequency.

The MMA says it will continue producing this study as they “seek to learn how these initial metrics perform over time, as well as to evaluate new metrics that inform the vitality of mobile video.”

To download the full study, click here.

The post MMA Shares Results of First Ever Mobile Video Benchmark Study appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The MMA named Tony Chen from GroupM Interaction China and KF Lee from Aegis Media China as co-chairs.

A statement from the global trade association for the mobile marketing industry confirms that the ten-member board was recently elected by 71 members of Association in China.

Chen, however, assumes the post of co-chair for a second term.

The new board comprises of four committees that will be the main drivers for all of MMA China’s initiatives, identifying their own priorities in conjunction with the MMA’s regional initiatives.

“China is no longer an emerging market – it has arrived,” says Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director of MMA APAC. “It is currently the world’s largest mobile phone market and mobile marketing in the country will become increasingly significant to brands. The Board of Directors provide valuable insight that will be critical in the development of the MMA’s initiatives and the mobile marketing space in China. I look forward to working with them to drive the growth of our industry.”

The post MMA Taps New Board Of Directors For China appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

This latets news follows the recent announcement at the MMA’s SM2 conference, which revealed that Paul Palmieri, CEO and Co-Founder of Millennial Media, was appointed by the board to serve as Global Chair.

Palmieri succeeds Cameron Clayton, President of The Weather Company, who held the position for the past two years.

The new and reappointed board members will serve a two-year term. They include:

• John Costello, President, Global Marketing & Innovation, Dunkin’ Brands
• Jack Haber, VP Global Advertising & Digital, Colgate-Palmolive Company
• Marc Speichert, CMO, L’Oréal USA
• Robert Tas, Managing Director, Head of Digital Marketing, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
• Wanda Young, VP, Media & Digital Marketing, Walmart

“With marketing’s seismic shift to mobile, marketers have become increasingly active with the MMA’s mission to evolve mobile as an indispensable component of the marketing mix. Executives realize the importance of mobile to the future health of their businesses,” says Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA. “I am pleased to welcome the new board members and look forward to working shoulder-to-shoulder as we advance the mobile marketing industry worldwide.”

The returning members of the MMA Global Board of Directors include:

• Cameron Clayton, President, Digital, The Weather Company
• Jennifer Creegan, GM Brand Advertising, Online Services Division, Microsoft
• Tom Daly, Group Director, Global Connections, The Coca-Cola Company
• Carolyn Everson, VP Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook
• Scott Ferber, Chairman & CEO, Videology
• Joe Kennedy, CEO & President, Pandora
• Simon Khalaf, President & CEO, Flurry
• Scott Kveton, Co-Founder & CEO, Urban Airship
• Perley McBride, EVP & CFO, Leap Wireless International
• Neal Mohan, VP Display Advertising Products, Google
• Alex Moukas, CEO, Velti
• Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer, GroupM Global
• Paul Palmieri, Co-Founder, President & CEO, Millennial Media
• Jack Philbin, Co-Founder, President & CEO, Vibes Media
• Dipanshu Sharma, Founder & CEO, xAd
• Rich Stalzer, CEO, Voltari
• Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO, InMobi
• Alan Yan, Founder & CEO, AdChina

The post MMA Announces New Global Board Members appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

On Wednesday, the Mobile Marketing Association announced this year’s winners of the Smarties.

Presented at the 2013 Global Smarties Gala, the MMA honored a number of the mobile industry’s best and brightest. Among the night’s biggest winners were:

• Industry Service Award: Cameron Clayton
• Global Agency of the Year in Mobile: R/GA
• Global Enabling Technology Company of the Year in Mobile: xAd
• Global Marketer of the Year in Mobile: Mondelēz International
• Global Publisher / Media Company of the Year in Mobile: WeChat
• Global Operator of the Year in Mobile: Telefónica

“Between launching initiatives such as Mobile Futures and increasing investments across mobile platforms, Mondelēz is a paragon of how mobile is business transformational and a dynamic canvas to connect with consumers,” said Greg Stuart, CEO of the MMA. “The Smarties serve as a barometer to define what great work looks like in the mobile arena and recognize the companies that are taking risks by pushing the boundaries of mobile innovation. The biggest creative revolution of our times is happening on mobile devices.”

To review the complete list of winners, check out the MMA’s website here.

The post MMA Trumpets 2013 Smarties Global Award Winners appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The annual awards extravaganza recognizes the best of innovation, creativity and leadership in mobile marketing.

Stand up and be counted with best-of-the-best worldwide and submit your award winning work by Friday July 19, 2013. Now in its 9th year, the Smarties has a full range of 20 categories focusing on marketing strategy, channel/media strategy and enabling technologies.

Once again, The Smarties this year will honor both regional winners (Asia Pacific; Europe, Africa & Middle East; Central & Latin America and North America) as well as global winners.

The Smarties 2013 winners will be recognized for excellence at MMA’s awards ceremony in New York City on Wednesday September 25, 2013 during the Advertising Week event.

To make your submission, click here.

The post MMA Issues ‘Last Call’ appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

In 2012, for example, mobile marketing is estimated to have generated approximately $139 billion in U.S. sales. Projected to climb 52% in the next two years, sales driven by mobile marketing may exceed $400 billion by 2015.

On Monday, Small Business Trends reported that the latest available data suggests that retailers and marketers spent $6.7 billion to reach customers via mobile last year.

That’s considerably less than the amount generated by mobile sales, but still represents a huge opportunity for businesses providing mobile marketing services.

The MMA projects this amount will inch closer to $20 billion by 2015. According to Monday’s report, the MMA study “demonstrates the importance of mobile technology for growing your business too.”

“For many small businesses,” writes Joshua Sophy, “this could include focusing on making sure you have a mobile friendly presence. It could also include focusing more attention on social media marketing, much of which is accessed via mobile devices by your customers. You could also focus on developing mobile apps for your business. And, of course, if you provide marketing services to other business clients, it also means you should consider including mobile marketing services among your other offerings.”

The post Mobile Marketing Projected to Drive $400B in Sales by 2015 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The release comes as mobile video consumption “continues to surge and prove its effectiveness as a marketing vehicle,” the organization says.

Consequently, the MMA believes there is a demand for a clear, actionable framework that unifies the ecosystem.

The Lexicon Task Force, a subgroup formed from the MMA Mobile Video Committee, created the recommended lexical framework to progress mobile video as a viable marketing platform for marketers, advertisers and publishers.

The MMA asserts that this new framework provides a foundation to develop a common language and framework to categorize mobile video ad units for simplified communication and transaction.

The framework is meant to properly classify mobile video within the context of other ad unit types, distinguishing mobile video from mobile rich media, among other platforms.

“The industry is clamoring for direction and uniformity when it comes to burgeoning platforms such as mobile video, which why a lexical framework is vital to its continued growth,” explains Michael Becker, Managing Director of the MMA. “The lexicon serves as a launching pad for mobile video advertising so that the platform can continue to evolve without industry friction weighing down progress. Mobile converts every object into medium and every place into an opportunity—and mobile video is one of the strongest and dynamic tools for marketers to connect with consumers while they are captivated by their mobile device.”

The “MMA Mobile Video Lexical Framework” is available here.

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