MMA refocuses on marketers rather than technology

The association’s new mission now has four core pillars: inspiring brands to use mobile in more imaginative ways, offering best practice guidelines and selling its ROI capabilities (see below). It has also launched a new website as it looks to get the entire marketing industry to join the MMA and champion mobile.

Mobile has seen a huge increase in use, with ad spend up 95 per cent last year to more than £1bn and mobile expected to remain the fastest growing ad medium through 2015. However, marketers have raised concerns over the limits of mobile marketing, as highlighted in a recent panel debate at Advertising Week Europe in London, where brand marketers said they are yet to be convinced of the engagement opportunities.

As part of the revamp, the MMA has also unveiled a “bold, new and engaging” logo and a new chairman of the board of directors in John Costello, president of global marketing and innovation at Dunkin’ Brands. His appointment supports the MMA relaunch as it looks to “accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile”.

MMA chief executive Greg Stuart says: “No question, mobile is the channel that brings brands closest to their consumers and helping marketers and their agencies capitalise on this to build their business and forge stronger more direct engagement with their customers is the role of the MMA.”

The MMA is a not-for-profit trade association with more than 800 members across nearly 50 countries. Members include brands such as McDonald’s, Mondolez and Unilever, as well as technology companies including Facebook, Google and Microsoft and agencies GroupM, Zenith Optimedia and R/GA.