Mobile media is changing:

As we head into 2015, brands and marketers must begin to take advantage of the rapidly maturing mobile advertising opportunity. Mobile media represents one of the most unique communication paradigms ever and we have reached an exciting juncture: for the first time ever, brands and marketers have a compelling, immediate and personal way to connect with consumers in moments that matter to them.

However, mobile media is a mess:

Despite its ubiquity, there is an acute lack of cohesive data standards, key performance indicators, recognized creative specifications and a common mobile vocabulary in mobile. The result is that there remains a significant delta between the time consumers spend with mobile devices and the amount of high quality advertising allocated to the channel. As such, mobile marketing remains largely untapped and relegated to the experimental category.

As an industry we need to become mobile-first: our media must become more personal, real-time and based on moments. In essence, we need to target people not populations.

Mobile media meet MediaBrands:

To address these issues, MB companies UM and Ansible worked with industry leaders to create the Mobile-First Consortium (“MFC”). A multi-disciplinary group designed to advance mobile marketing, the MFC is dedicated to the notion that mobile media is not distinct from but an integral part of the media and marketing practice. The group meets regularly to address such issues, publish recommendations, and move the medium to the center of marketing.

Meet the MFC members:

We gathered together representatives from leading companies in mobile. This team comprises leaders from brand, publishing, agency, product, data, social media, ad tech, engineering and innovation. Charter members for the MFC include the following:

Share the MFC mission:

Stimulate the adoption of change by creating a new mobile lexicon, establishing new operating standards and ensuring the acceleration of product innovation.

Endorse the MFC solutions:

The group has been focused on creating a uniform mobile lexicon. We will announce the following conclusions / solutions at the Mobile Media Summit in Miami, December 3rd 2014:

• • Mobile Certification: A scorecard that can assess if a company is truly mobile-first by ranking brands, publishers and agencies based on quantitative and qualitative data.

• • MFC Media Manual: A glossary of mobile marketing terms that provides simple definitions in 140 characters or less and recommends a new set of commonly accepted KPIs.

• • Translation Engine: An application that enables marketers to translate traditional marketing concepts into a mobile lexicon and vice versa.

• • Mobile Solutions: A formal codification of MFC recommendations for superior creative units that every publisher can and should embrace.

Embrace the future of mobile:

There is certainly much work to be done and we will not get there overnight. That said, we have made great strides and feel confident that the building blocks have been established for a transformative year in mobile advertising. The MFC will only succeed with the support of our peers so please keep an eye out for news updates, white papers and certifications. And, please help us carry the message into the mobile-first future.