While the Internet is rapidly taking over people’s lives, media and advertisement giants are wondering “When will we take mobile seriously?”.
This prominent topic was discussed at the Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek Interactive Media Conference and Trade Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, where experts, who are not afraid to take a plunge into the future, shed some light on the issues and progress of the medium making its way through time.
Brian Colbert, ESPN Director of Mobile Advertising Sales, Alice Kim, Senior Vice President of MTV Networks Digital Distributions and Partner Relations, and Rama Sadasivan, Business Development Director at the Wall Street Journal Digital Network shared their experiences and expertise as mobile players. They also talked about media’s position today and the inevitable importance of the mobile web tomorrow .
Mike Shields, Senior Editor of Mediaweek and moderator for the conference panel, opened the discussion with the question many may have already been asking for some time now, “What is holding up the industry?”
Kim elaborated on the fact that because of certain technical issues with some mobile carriers, many are still uncertain about the technology and its application. Yet although mobile is slowly taking over, there is still scepticism which is slowing down the convergence process, according to Kim.
“Mobile technology is a different experience than the net,” said Kim, “it’s about content providers embracing mobile media.”
As she explained further, mobile content must be created much differently then content for the web and it should more specifically be focusing on the devices and their functionality.
Kim also discussed that it was iPhone that started the transformation process for many.
“It has changed the dynamic of the field and has created awareness,” said Kim. “Content providers need to start taking the risk and create content for mobile,” she added.
As Kim elaborated further, the expenses of running free content for users are paid by advertisers who want their ads to run along with videos and messages.
Colbert added that ESPN is in the process of measuring mobile usage in order to provide advertisers with relevant information and enable them to target the appropriate markets.
Although Colbert admitted that ESPN has not done the best job promoting mobile on air, he noted its importance.
“From a sports stand point, mobile is huge,” said Colbert,” It’s about the immediacy of the events.”
He further noted that ESPN is in the process of launching the popular SportsCenter program into a compressed 10-minute-top-news version on mobile, which will enable consumers to get the most important updates from the day on the spot and on the go.
On the other hand, as Kim discussed MTV Networks practices, she said in several occasions content which was created specifically for mobile has actually migrated on air as a result of its popularity.
“It’s about testing,” said Kim. “Test on mobile and then move to a larger platform on air.”
Mobile is about time, convenience and portability. Traffic is directed to consumers and with new mobile devices offering live streaming video, like some of Nokia’s newest products, mobile will enable consumers to become more involved, to interact easier and to create their own content and mash-ups, according to Kim.
Mobile today and tomorrow is about committing some serious citizen journalism.
