Mobile World Congress was bigger then ever this year and although mobile manufacturers are moving their PR focus away from MWC and launching their flagship devices at their own purpose-built events, there was plenty of big brand activity and emerging trends to catch the eye of the global marketers in attendance. Here’s my top five takeaways from the event.
MWC: Shazam is looking to double the size of its global ad sales team to meet increased advertiser demand, a move that comes shortly after the launch of the company’s new tablet app.
The mobile world descended on Barcelona this week where tens of thousands of delegates discussed how mobile is disrupting multiple industry sectors. However, there is still one glaring barrier to total world domination – the industry’s failiure to crack big ticket purchases on mobile.
MWC: The world’s biggest operators are set to unveil a new mobile marketing and payments joint venture outside of Europe following the launch of Weve in the UK.
MWC: InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is exploring how it can integrate its existing loyalty programme with mobile for guests to redeem physical goods with points while they stay at its hotels.
MWC: Mobile companies are looking to forge more partnerships with brands to help make their marketing messages about technology more consumer-centric in the hope of boosting revenue as handsets and phone contracts become increasingly commoditised.
MWC: BlackBerry is stepping up the “real time marketing” strategy it embarked on when it launched its make or break BB10 operating system earlier this month to base its advertising and digital efforts around live conversations and analytics.
MWC: Ford is launching a European-wide initiative offering groups of influential women the chance to test drive its cars and trial its technology as it looks to refine its messaging to female consumers.
MWC: Coca-Cola is aiming to use mobile techniques to reach the estimated 6 billion phone owners as it looks to achieve its aggressive growth target of doubling the size of its business by 2020.
MWC: Nokia has extended its Lumia range with more “affordable” handsets as it looks to boost its market share by making its smartphones accessible to new audiences and new regions.
MWC: Chinese smartphone maker Huawei unveiled its ambitions to become a ‘top 100 global brand’ by boosting consumer recognition outside its home market with the launch of what it claims is the ‘world’s fastest smartphone’.