When top creative agencies tell clients to skill-up in mobile, brands will react, but where will they find the skills?
Submitted by Editors Desk on 4 February, 2010 - 15:52.
You know change is afoot when the movers and shakers from the most respected advertising and marketing agencies are preaching mobile.
It has been a point of frustration for pure-play mobile agencies that a) they can't get near the decision makers at the top brands, and b) the creative agencies that have the ear of the big brands haven't been pushing mobile. That's changing fast as mobile evangelists, such as Saatchi & Saatchi's Tom Eslinger (latest interview), rise rapidly through the ranks at the big agencies and those already at the top, such as Ogilvy's Rory Sutherland (previous interview) become converts to the cause.
Eslinger's pitch to clients is interesting: he doesn't sell mobile per se, he packages it as part of an integrated outdoor [billboard] campaign. He admits the pitch raises eyebrows, but it works. But then when the results get international acclaim – as with the UN Voices campaign – is anyone going to argue?
The part of this interview that really made mobiThinking sit up and listen, however, was Eslinger's message to clients (as well as to the internal teams at Saatchi & Saatchi): "to train and skill-up in mobile". He advocates recruiting people who not only understand, but are also excited by mobile.
Now that's fantastic, but it begs two questions:
1) Do we face a skills crisis in mobile marketing as more and more brands (and agencies) seek to appoint experienced mobile strategists and technologists? (It's noteworthy that Eslinger describes mobile skills as "precious").
2) And what's to be done about it?
Initiatives such as the MMA's newly launched Certified mobile marketer program will surely help, but to what extent can courses make up for lack of practical experience?
What do you think – is it a double-edged sword? Are there enough skills to go round? Comment below or email editor (at) mobiThinking.com.
P.S. (09-02-10) Thanks to Martin Wilson from Indigo102 for including this post in the latest Carnival of the Mobilists, a weekly roundup of the very best in mobile and wireless blogs.
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Good topic, and something that a lot of folks will have a problem with in the time to come.
For question #1: base marketing skills don't change, the technology does. Finding those who are successful means simply getting around those mobile events where mobile marketers will congregate. Of course, the person looking to hire has to have a "goal" of the mobile marketing effort in mind when going to these events or social networks. Simply, putting a request out there for mobile knowledge in this area just isn't sufficient since its too new to many who'd like mobile-enabled persons to assist with these efforts.
For question #2: certifications are great when there's a well established body of knowledge towards what works. Mobile is too personal, communal, regional, and political for such a certification to have been developed. There's very little consistent governance towards mobile as a whole, and therefore a person looking to get certified in something relating to mobile usually will want to have a mosaic of certifications or skills which may not be exactly mobile-relevant. Give it 5 years and we'll see the need for certification as many base rules of use and adoption will have been established, and much of the research towards trends and health will have more backing for these certifications.
Lastly, if persons are mobile marketing-enabled, they should be ready to pitch themselves to the larger marketing and PR houses. They want your/our knowledge, and frankly speaking, you've got a blank slate (for a while) to get things in order. These companies will need to exercise a good deal more freedom though than what they are used to. Mobile marketing while sharing some characteristics with other marketing efforts, requires speedier and more versatile planning and process development.
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