Repositioning creates new member benefits and redefines the MMA’s role in promoting and enabling the global mobile marketing opportunity

New York, London, UK, Singapore & Sao Paulo: Sept. 1, 2010 – The MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) (www.mmaglobal.com) today announced a repositioning to enhance the MMA’s effectiveness at the global, regional and national levels, and to create additional membership benefits. The repositioning is based on feedback from a survey of members and non-member companies, across four regions, representing all players in the mobile marketing value chain; on a global market assessment, its challenges and its opportunities; and the expanded MMA global presence.  The objective was to identify ways that the organization could evolve to better meet members’ needs and provide greater visibility for the mobile marketing opportunity.

The repositioning also acknowledges the changing face of mobile marketing. “In its formative years, the MMA placed great emphasis on helping build a global industry, creating standards and guidelines to support the growth of a new industry,” said Federico Pisani Massamormile, the MMA’s Global Board Chairman and Interim CEO. “In many ways, the need to act as evangelists for the mobile channel has evolved into to a need to get brands and agencies to increase spend on a channel they’re now aware of. Marketers understand the need to include mobile in their plans, but still need support to find the right role for mobile in the marketing mix. We aim to make mobile an indispensable part of the marketing mix.”

The repositioned MMA will concentrate its efforts on what it believes to be the five building blocks of the industry. The MMA will:

• Promote the channel, the industry and individual member companies to brands and agencies in order to create more commercial opportunities for its members, demonstrating that membership creates a competitive advantage for companies.
• Educate brands, agencies and consumers about the full scale and scope of the mobile marketing channel, highlighting its advantages and benefits.
• Measure by creating and developing authoritative measurement, metrics and insight into the size, growth, trends and effectiveness of mobile marketing.
• Guide by continuing to create and develop guidelines, best practices and standards designed to ease the planning, purchase and implementation of mobile marketing.
• Protect the opportunity by representing the industry before regulators and legislators and by managing industry self-regulatory programs to maximize public and industry confidence in mobile marketing, lower barriers to entry and minimize non-economic costs of doing business.

“The MMA recognizes that the mobile marketing industry has evolved and therefore have refocused our efforts to meet member demands,” said Paul Berney, MMA CMO and managing director for EMEA.  “This refocus on the five building blocks gives us greater clarity around the products and services we need to provide members to support them and to provide even more benefits.”

To support this new positioning the MMA has also unveiled its new visual identity at the MMA Forum in Sao Paulo, which is taking place today at the Blue Tree Hotel and includes speakers from Alcatel-Lucent, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever Brasil,  Turner Latin America, Turkcell and more. “We wanted a new brand that reflects the theme of building blocks and with a new, sharp, modern and dynamic look that reflects the new personality and positioning of the MMA,” Pisani said. “The MMA Forum is an important moment for our members and we wanted to give them a more complete and engaging experience”.

Follow live what is happening via our tweets @mmaforum or visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com.

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association representing all players in the mobile marketing value chain. With more than 700 member companies, the MMA is an action-oriented organization with global focus, regional actions and local relevance.  The MMA’s primary focus is to establish mobile as an indispensible part of the marketing mix.   The MMA works to promote, educate, measure, guide and protect the mobile marketing industry worldwide.  The MMA’s global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Valerie Christopherson
Global Results Comm. (GRC)
P:+1 949 608 0276
E: [email protected]