Comcast brings in Midha as CGO of ad division
Pooja Midha has taken up the role of Chief Growth Officer at Comcast Advertising, the division of Comcast which houses Effectv and FreeWheel.

She will oversee global marketing across Comcast Advertising, Effectv and FreeWheel, as well as Effectv’s newly launched sales development function. Midha and her team will build awareness for each company’s differentiated value and accelerate growth for local, regional, and national market opportunities. In addition, she will oversee and expand Comcast Advertising’s brand offerings, with the goal of enhancing products and solutions for the rapidly changing video marketplace.

Midha has over 20 years of experience in the media and advertising sector, most recently serving as President of True[X]. Here, she led the long-term corporate strategy for the company, daily operations, P&L management, and product vision. Prior to True[X], Midha was Senior Vice President of Digital Ad Sales and Operations at ABC Television Network and, before that, held a variety of senior sales and marketing roles at Viacom.

“I’m thrilled to join the Comcast family at such an exciting time for the company and the industry. The work that Comcast Advertising is doing across Effectv and FreeWheel to more effectively connect brands with their audiences and drive measurable results is industry-leading and inspiring,” said Midha. “I look forward to helping to propel this work and the company to the next level.”

Slootman takes seat on board at Instacart
Online grocery platform Instacart has welcomed Frank Slootman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Snowflake, to its Board of Directors.

Slootman, who boasts more than 25 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and executive in the enterprise software industry, joined Snowflake in May 2019. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of ServiceNow, where he helped grow the organisation from around $100m in revenue through an IPO, increasing its annual revenue to $1.4bn. Earlier, he was President of the Backup Recovery Systems Division at EMC and CEO and President at Data Domain.

“Over the past year, Instacart has changed the way our world thinks about ordering groceries. Today, it is a brand with a massive opportunity to build the future of online grocery for millions of consumers,” said Slootman. “I look forward to joining the Board and supporting the Instacart team as they enter the next chapter of growth.”

Deloitte hires Sims as digital CCO
Leslie Sims has joined Deloitte Digital, Deloitte’s creative digital consultancy, as its US Chief Creative Officer. She will also serve as Managing Director of Deloitte Consulting. Sims will work across the entire business to integrate creative capabilities, teaming with Deloitte Digital’s business strategy, design, technology, and data talent to help clients across industries explore the breadth of possibilities and value creative can engender.

Sims started her career as a Copywriter before working her way up to be CCO, first for Y&R, and then for Ogilvy, where she led the national creative vision for both agencies. In these roles, she created award-winning, transformative client work and was also named ‘Advertising Working Mother of the Year’ by She Runs It.

“Im a long-time admirer of Deloitte Digital and feel fortunate to be joining such a purpose-driven, strategic and immensely talented group. The flexibility and richness of Deloitte Digitals business opens the aperture for creativity to have an impact across every aspect of our clients businesses, from supply chain integrity to digital data management to a reimagined consumer experience,” said Sims. “Creatives are always the most excited when working on something thats never been done before — and if theres any place with the capabilities and relationships to do that, its Deloitte Digital.”

Topakas and O’Flanagan join Sitecore leadership team
Sitecore, a digital experience platform, has brought in Nasos Topakas as Chief Engineering Officer and Dave O’Flanagan as Chief Product Officer.

Topakas will oversee all engineering aspects of the company’s current and future products, including development, architecture, quality assurance, cloud engineering and shared services. Prior to Sitecore, he was the CTO at Prosper Marketplace. He also previously served as CTO for Art.com and StubHub and held positions with Kodak and Charles Schwab.

O’Flanagan will transition from his role as CEO of Boxever, following the close of Sitecore’s acquisition of the company. He will be responsible for defining and delivering Sitecore’s product roadmap and optimising user experience.

“Sitecore’s award winning platform along with our definitive agreements to acquire Boxever Ltd. and Four51 announced earlier this month, puts us in a position of great strength to accelerate our growth in the market,” said Steve Tzikakis, Sitecore CEO. “Nasos’ engineering background will position us well to deliver on our ambitious product development goals quickly. This, combined with Dave’s experience in data and personalization, will be essential as we look to accelerate our product roadmap and consolidate recent acquisitions to further enhance our market leading DXP and provide seamless solutions for our customers.”

Ozone hires Cranston to lead client services
Emma Cranston has been appointed Head of Client Services at digital advertising platform The Ozone Project. Effective 23 March, she will take responsibility for Ozone’s client services approach and lead the team who manage ongoing relationships and live campaigns with both media agency and advertiser customers.

Prior to this appointment, Cranston was Head of Display Activation at Manning Gottlieb OMD, one of many senior roles she held – including Head of Publishing and Investment Director – in a near 15-year career at the agency. Before Manning Gottlieb OMD, she worked for Carat.

“Having watched the evolution of Ozone from an agency perspective, I am incredibly excited to be joining a business that offers a really distinct, fully-scaled platform alternative for its customers,” said Cranston. “Ozone has been rightly applauded by the industry for challenging the status quo and I look forward to being part of the team that is creating new and better ways to approach digital advertising.”

Robinson and Chamberlain promoted at Momentum
Momentum Worldwide, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, has elevated James Robinson to the position of Chief Creative officer and David Chamberlain to Chief Experience Design Officer of its North American organisations.

Robinson will establish a single point of leadership for all North American creative team, with a shared focus and vision to deliver cutting-edge creative and best-in-class work. He joined Momentum New York in 2018 as Executive Creative Director and, since then, has led on creative work for clients including American Express, General Motors, Verizon, and Walmart.

Chamberlain will be responsible for shaping a new era of engagement for consumers and brands through ground-breaking digital experiences. Over the past five years, he has successfully built and elevated the agencys Experience Design (XD) practice. Hes also played an integral role in the creative leadership of the agency, as well as building out Momentums Digital Experience Design practice (DXD).

“James and David bring such a refreshing approach to creative vision, leadership and excellence,” commented Donnalyn Smith, President for North America at Momentum Worldwide. “They continuously create outstanding and award-winning work for our clients, and there is no doubt they will make their mark on the creative teams across North America.”

Opera recruits Hu as fintech EVP
Allen Hu has been named as Executive Vice President of Opera’s fintech arm, Dify. He will lead the Dify business following its recent launch in Europe.

Hu spent nearly 10 years at PayPal, where he was Regional Head of Global Core Payments. He gained expertise in fintech as a Venture Partner in Sequoia Capital China. Prior to that, he was the General Manager of Baidu Pay, the COO of Ping An FinTech, and Deputy General Manager of TenPay, where he launched WeChat Pay.

“I am delighted to join Opera and truly excited about the opportunity Dify has to become a leader in fintech,” said Hu. “Opera’s approach to initially offer its 50m monthly active users in Europe an online in-browser cashback service as well as the Dify wallet app marks the start of many innovative financial services Dify will offer. Just as PayPal captured the fintech world initially with its online payment solutions, I see huge potential for Opera to similarly disrupt financial services and become a key fintech player through Dify.”

Langford to direct strategy at Jaywing
Integrated agency Jaywing has appointed Adrian Langford as Director of Strategy and Planning for its retail offering. He will utilise his experience to head up strategy and planning for the agency’s retail clients such as Asda, Castrol, and Studio.

Langford was formerly Associate Strategy Director at McCann Central, where he successfully led pitches for HSBC Retail and Comic Relief. Alongside leading planning for clients such SC Johnson at Ogilvy & Mather, he has held Director roles at Boase Massimi Pollitt and J. Walter Thompson.

“I’m delighted to be joining such a well-established agency, especially at such an interesting time,” said Langford. “What drew me to Jaywing was the palpable ambition and enthusiasm of everybody I’ve spoken to and I’m looking forward to be able to join the team and help make those ambitions a reality.”

GainShare appoints Kelley as CX SVP
Matt Kelley has been hired as Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at performance marketing agency GainShare. He will lead consumer integration efforts across various digital channels and UX working to optimise client marketing programmes.

Kelley previously held SVP of consumer experience positions at Dentsu’s iProspect and Leapfrog Online.

“GainShare’s legacy in DRTV and video, combined with digital performance marketing underscores GainShare’s holistic understanding of the consumer to provide a truly connected customer journey – which is something many agencies struggle to activate across traditional and digital marketing efforts,” said Kelley. “I’m excited to enhance the work GainShare is already doing and to continue to deliver the integrated results GainShare is known for.”

Bousquet-Chavanne takes to the ESW Americas helm
eShopWorld, a cross-border eCommerce company, has appointed Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne as President and Chief Executive Officer, Americas. He will have overall responsibility for ESW’s Americas business and growth strategy as well as worldwide marketing. In addition, he will lead ESW’s new consulting division, The Reach Advisory.

Prior to joining ESW, Bousquet-Chavanne was CEO of Emaar Malls, owner of The Dubai Mall. He previously served as Executive Director, Customer, Marketing and M&S.com, for Marks & Spencer, helping drive the company’s digital acceleration. Prior to that, Bousquet-Chavanne was Group President at The Estée Lauder Companies, where he oversaw some of the company’s largest brands, including Estée Lauder and MAC, as well as the Designer Fragrances division. Bousquet-Chavanne presently serves as an Independent Director of Brown-Forman Corporation and was previously a member of ESW’s Retail Advisory Council.

“Brands today have unprecedented access to growth outside their home markets, but many don’t have the digital capabilities and local expertise they need to fully leverage international opportunities,” said Bousquet-Chavanne. “As a member of the ESW Advisory Board, I had the opportunity to get to know this skilled leadership team and help enable brands to quickly and cost-effectively scale their businesses. So, I’m very pleased to join ESW at this moment, when we see such substantial opportunity for further growth in the Americas and other regions, particularly in the fashion, luxury and beauty segments.”

Merkle selects Mayor as Salesforce lead
Michel Mayor has been chosen as Salesforce Practice Lead for Merkle EMEA and Dentsu’s CXM service line. He will lead and evolve Merkle’s Salesforce practice to help clients achieve the maximum value from their investment, across implementation, integration with their existing tech stack, and ongoing management to deliver and accelerate their customer experience transformation programmes.

Mayor moves to Merkle from his role as Chief Marketing Technology Officer for Dentsu across EMEA. In this role, he was responsible for advising clients on deriving value from martech business practices and technical solutions, and for accelerating Dentsu’s martech and CRM readiness across the region. Prior to this, he built digital transformation and CRM practices at Dentsu agencies Blue Infinity and Isobar Switzerland. He previously spent eight years at DuPont in CRM and Salesforce Practice Lead roles.

“It is an incredibly exciting time to be leading Merkle’s Salesforce practice in EMEA, which now has 500 consultants in one regional team,” Mayor commented. “We’re uniquely positioned to help clients get the most value from Salesforce’s cloud capabilities, across Marketing, Commerce, and Core Cloud for both well-known B2C brands and B2B leaders.”

Bowman to head up TV at Altair
Altair Media, a digitally-led media agency, has hired Phil Bowman as AV Director to head up its new TV department, which is aimed at brands which are new to TV or feel poorly served by what’s currently available to them.

Bowman joins Altair from Publicis-owned Spark Foundry, where he was Senior Group Trading Director.

“There has never been a more exciting time to launch a TV/AV offer to the market. Disruption and upheaval such as we have seen over the last 12 months, always bring major opportunity and that’s why we believe there is scope to redefine how TV media planning and buying is done,” said Bowman.

“Many brands are including TV in their ad plans for the first time. That includes a wide range of B2B brands who have seized the opportunity to target business customers working from home. And in our newly health-obsessed society, healthcare brands are increasingly eyeing up TV. These new entrants to the market require a different kind of offer. The trading approach that’s typical of many of the incumbents is unlikely to suit these first-time advertisers.”

Rokt adds Yaw as CPO
Hunter Yaw has been brought in as Chief Product Officer at eCommerce technology firm Rokt. He will lead Rokt’s product development and play a central role in Rokt’s product strategy and roadmap evolution.

Prior to Rokt, Yaw built and led the product and partnerships teams at Loadsmart and held several positions in the product team at Shapeways. He entered the tech space at a travel startup in Moscow where he ran their partnership with Airbnb, and subsequently built and sold his own startup providing data for restuarants.

“I am thrilled to be at Rokt and to be driving a cutting-edge, disruptive e-commerce product,” said Yaw. “The culture at Rokt is clearly focused on solving clients problems with versatile technology solutions. My passion for, and deep experience in, product development will allow me to enhance Rokts already strong product portfolio. I am looking forward to working with the team to help drive the company to the next stage of growth.”

Greenberg takes charge of sales at Audioburst
Audioburst, an audio search and delivery platform, has announced Andrew Greenberg as its Head of Publisher Sales. He will enable publishers to tap into talk-audio content.

Greenberg joins the company with 15 years of experience in digital advertising and publisher sales. He previously served as the Director of Publisher Development at Ogury and held prior leadership positions at companies like Content.ad and InterClick, which was later acquired by Yahoo! For $270m.

Audience Town turns to Green on sales
Andrew Green has been appointed Vice President of Sales at Audience Town, an advertising platform for real estate, moving, and home. He will spearhead Audience Town’s business development as the company prepares for a busy real estate season and broad economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Green joins Audience Town after serving in business development leadership roles at both PubMatic and Rubicon Project, where he worked with Fortune 500 advertising brands and major agencies on digital marketing strategies.

“There’s no place I’d rather be than Audience Town as the advertising and real estate markets continue to rebound from the disruption of 2020,” Green said. “The real estate industry has never fully embraced what’s possible with digital advertising, and Audience Town is poised to capitalize on an exciting market at a very exciting time.”

Sale joins P&P client services team
Page & Page and Partners, a communications agency specialising in health, wellness, and lifestyle, has hired Charlotte Sale as Senior Account Director. She will join a growing client services team to lead and manage continued delivery across both new and existing clients including Align Technology, Novartis, L&R, and Boston Scientific.

Sale has worked for both major pharmaceutical and dental manufacturers for over 14 years, including launching two world-leading products to the UK and Ireland. Her experience also includes Clinical Affairs, a role in which she deepened her knowledge of clinical research and created content for educational programmes.

“We are thrilled to welcome Charlotte to the Page & Page team,” said Lisa Lishman, Partner and Commercial Director at Page & Page and Partners. “With her enthusiasm and experience, we are sure she will be a real asset to the team. We know Charlotte is excited to help us further support healthcare professionals and patients through Page & Page’s work with our clients. Page & Page has had a successful six months in terms of growth and we’re pleased to be continuing this momentum with Charlotte’s appointment.”  

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Deloitte analysed the smartphone habits of 4,150 people aged between 16 and 75 in the UK and found that mobile gamers spend an average of £3.59 a month – or £43.08 a year – on in-app purchases. Among the 25 to 34 age bracket, this average leaps to £123.72 a year.

This spending will drive the UK mobile gaming market to surpass £1bn this year, Deloitte forecasts. However, only 31 per cent of mobile gamers say they have made an in-app purchase, with just six per cent spending more than £10 a month on in-app purchases. This means that just 10 per cent of mobile gamers generate 90 per cent of total mobile gaming spend.

Overall, 53 per cent of smartphone owners – equal to 21m UK adults – play games on their devices.

“It’s impossible to sit on a train or bus, or indeed in your living room, and fail to be in the company of people avidly playing games on mobile phones. We’re a nation hooked to our smartphones, and ever since Snake, mobile gaming has been one of the key pastimes for the population,” said Paul Lee, global head of technology, media and telecoms research at Deloitte.

“As mobile gaming this year breaks the billion-pound mark, new gaming subscription packages and franchises are lining up to launch into the market. This will undoubtedly mean that mobile gaming will reach the next level in 2020, bringing fresh opportunities for advertisers and app developers.”

When it comes to gender, men and women play games in equal numbers – but that’s about as far as the similarities go.

29 per cent of women play mobile games just before going to bed, compared to 20 per cent of men, while men are almost twice as likely (19 per cent versus 11 per cent) to play games at school, university, or work. 61 per cent of women and 43 per cent of men play casual or puzzle games, with 24 per cent of men and nine per cent of women playing strategy games.

49 per cent of male mobile gamers spend money on in-app purchases, spending an average of £5.30 a month, compared to 37 per cent of women, who spend an average of £1.93 a month.

“The vitality of the mobile games market is down to its variety: there is a genre for everyone, regardless of gender, age or culture. This is a key part of mobile games’ commercial success. Use of games consoles is, by contrast, fair narrower, with young men far more likely to be the key players,” said Lee.

Comparing different age groups, 47 per cent of people aged between 45 and 54 – and 29 per cent aged between 55 and 75 – play games on their phones. The oldest age group are the most likely to spend money in order to remove time limitations to continue playing, with 26 per cent having paid to do so in the past, compared to an average of 17 per cent among all mobile gamers.

Despite their willingness to spend money to continue playing games, just 13 per cent of older smartphone users think they use their phone too much, compared to 62 per cent of those aged between 16 and 24. Overall, 68 per cent of mobile gamers think they use their devices too much, compare to the national average of 37 per cent.

“Across the generations, mobile gaming continues to grow and older users are significant market opportunity for mobile puzzle, card and board games in particular. As phones never leave our side, games will continue to matter to a wide range of age groups, and the quality of mobile games will continue to evolve for every generation to enjoy,” Lee concluded.

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According to a survey of 4,150 UK consumers aged between 16 and 75, the number of people willing to switch to 5G grows to 9.2m – or 19 per cent – of smartphone users once they begin hearing good things about it.

The research highlights frustrations around 4G networks, with just 21 per cent of respondents saying that they get a reasonable enough reception when using mobile data to use the web at their place of work or study. Meanwhile, only 13 per cent agree that the service is good enough for them to use throughout their commute.

“The addressable market demand for upgrading to 5G is plain to see, with at least 15 million people ready to switch as soon as it’s available and working properly,” said Paul Lee, head of research for technology, media and telecoms at Deloitte. “However, the adoption rate for 5G in the UK is likely to be slower than for 4G, largely as the UK may be amongst the first countries to see 5G launched across all operators. By contrast, the first 4G launch was in 2009, but it was not until 2013 that all UK operators had launched their networks.

“Data-hungry consumers are naturally craving the data speeds 5G will offer, which are likely to be between ten and one-hundred times faster than current connections.”

Deloitte expects there will be around 50,000 5G smartphones sold in the UK this year out of the 1m it predicts to be sold worldwide. The number of shipments in the UK is forecasted to grow to between 2m and 3m by 2020.

Consumer demand for faster and more reliable network connectivity links directly to the amount of content that people now consume on their mobile devices.

According to the research, 36 per cent of smartphone owners read the news on their device daily and 55 per cent weekly, making it the most people media content consumed via the small screen. At the same time 11 per cent of UK smartphone users now watch live TV on their smartphones at least once a day and six per cent stream films or TV series daily.

“Media has been a key driver for the adoption of the smartphone and the increasing demand for fast, stable network speeds,” said Lee. “With younger consumers’ showing even greater usage of their handsets, networks will need to react quickly to ensure that appetite for mobile data on the networks is not left unfulfilled.” 

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On average, UK children receive £11.20 in pocket money each week, while pay TV subscriptions tend to start at around £5 per month. Due to this, Deloitte expects more and more teenagers will become responsible for their own subscription video on-demand (SVOD) services.

“The relative affordability of a huge wealth of streamed content is incredibly attractive for media consumers of all ages,” said Dan Ison, partner and head of media and entertainment at Deloitte.

“As no single person may be paying or overseeing all subscriptions paid for by each member of the household, the aggregate number of subscriptions may proliferate invisibly.

“This means that households will increasingly have multiple media subscriptions that cater for individuals’ needs, whether you’re a sports-nut, history-buff or movie fan. Teenagers’ pocket money, once spent on comic books and magazines, will go towards SVOD subscriptions.”

In addition to the increasing number of teenagers with their own subscriptions, Deloitte predicts that viewers aged 50 and over will watch 15 per cent of all TV content on-demand by 2023.

The rise of on-demand viewing in older age groups is expected to be driven by ease of use, improvements to connectivity, and influence from younger consumers within their families.

“Older age groups will be nudged into on-demand viewing by their own peer group and the behaviours of younger generations in their family,” said Ed Shedd, partner and head of technology, media and telecommunications at Deloitte.

“As such, on-demand services, from broadcasters and subscription services, need to be as easy to use as traditional TV. Design and testing should be done by people who represent the target audience, and not just younger age groups. User interfaces should not be intelligence tests; font size selection should not replicate an optician’s test.”

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Those in the 16 to 24-year-old age bracket are most concerned about their usage with 61 per cent, or 4.3m young people, thinking they are on their devices too much.

Of the 39 per cent who admit to overusing their phones, 83 per cent said they would like to do something about. Of these people, 21 per cent make an effort to limit their usage and usually succeed in doing so, 35 per cent try and fail, and 27 per cent would like to try.

Concerns surrounding smartphone usage aren’t just reflected on a personal level with those around us also worried. 56 per cent of parents think their children are on their phone too much, while 43 per cent of people thinking their partner is on their mobile device too often.

“The smartphone has been altering our lives, mostly for the better, for eleven years.  It is now an integral digital tool for work and play but users, particularly younger consumers, are becoming increasingly wary of overindulgence,” said Paul Lee, head of research for technology, media and telecoms at Deloitte.

“Over the next 12 months, the latest mobile operating software upgrades will enable tens of millions of smartphone users in the UK to start measuring their usage levels.  Whilst this will be a significant step forward in the maturing relationship between people and their favourite device, smartphone usage is likely to remain key part of the national conversation for years to come.”

Deloitte derived the figures from a survey of 4,150 people between the ages of 16 and 75 in the UK. Of these participants, 87 per cent now own or have access to a smartphone, up from 62 per cent in 2012.

55 per cent of respondents also said they use their smartphones for personal purposes during work hours – 23 per cent of these feeling ‘often’ distracted at work because of it.

The research also found that, of those that believe they use their phone too much, 44 per cent feel more distracted when trying to complete a task and 46 per cent feel the need to constantly check their device. Moreover, 27 per cent experience fear of missing out when not on their phone and, worryingly, 12 per cent experience physical pain from their overuse of their smartphones.

Elsewhere, away from the doom and gloom of smartphone usage figures, Deloitte found that 32 per cent of phones are now on SIM-only contracts, up from 19 per cent in 2015, and 59 per cent of respondents saying they had acquired their device within the past 18 months, down from 62 per cent last year.

“The popularity of SIM-only contracts is one of a number of reasons that have contributed to the slowing of the smartphone replacement cycle. Other factors, such as a burgeoning second-hand smartphone market, improving refurbishment and the lack of visual differentiation in recent iterations of smartphones, may encourage people to settle for a three-year old hand-me-down rather than a brand-new device,” said Dan Adams, head of telecommunications at Deloitte.

“Smartphone innovation remains unrelenting, however, and consumers will soon realise that forthcoming invisible upgrades, such as 5G, artificial intelligence and machine learning, will ultimately trump changes to physical appearances.”

On the note of artificial intelligence, the research also look at smartphone and smart speaker voice assistants – finding that smart speaker ownership has more than doubled from last year, rising from five per cent to 12 per cent. Perhaps surprisingly, amongst older consumers aged between 55 and 75-years-old, adoption of smart speakers has trebled from three per cent last year to nine per cent this year. And the highest smart speaker usage is amongst 45 to 75-year olds, with 63 per cent opting to utilise voice assistance on a daily basis compared to just 40 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds.

“Voice assistants are appealing to older generations who are less inclined to swipe and type than their younger peers,” said Lee.

“Whereas Millennials and Generation Z users have grown up using digital devices to type, tap and swipe, older users are much more comfortable speaking a request to a machine, avoiding the need to find reading glasses, or navigate to an on-screen menu.”

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With more than half of retail traffic now taking place on mobile and opportunities constantly evolving, the importance of having an effective mobile strategy in place and maintaining it cannot be overlooked. Our summit gives brands the opportunity to the pick the brains of their peers and a range of technology experts, while looking the latest trends, ideas, and practical examples in the space.

If you weren’t able to attend the conference, here is a selection of the best gems of wisdom shared during the event.

“We take the idea that ‘your employees are people’, and I know that sounds really crass to say. But they are not resources, they are not a robot that comes in and presses buttons on a till. They are people who care about selling the goods that you want them to sell and they care about the service they give their customers.”

“It’s to work the way that we live. It’s time to use that fantastic mobile technology to deliver an experience at work using mobile technology to actually deliver experiences for employees, not just for consumers, that really make them enjoy their work.”

The day kicked off with Ilicco Elia, head of mobile at Deloitte  speaking about how mobile technology can be used to create apps that help employees to do their jobs more easily and efficiently.

“Mobile should be your friend, and I feel like we’re getting to a point where it could well be, especially as you release a branded retail app.”

“Branded retail apps are potentially a massive untapped goldmine. If not anything, it’s because you’re reaching consumers who may well have demonstrated brand affinity by organically installing your app. They may well have installed your app at the point of purchase, demonstrating that they’ve actually bought your product before.”

William Melzler, VP of business development at YouAppi discussed the how retailers can develop brand affinity and loyalty via branded retail apps.

“Do you know where your data comes from? When you’re planning campaigns, and you’re executing and measuring those campaigns, do you truly know where you’re getting that data from? When you’re working with partners are they being really clear and transparent with you?”

Valid questions that retailers need to be asking themselves with GDPR on the horizon from Warren Mills, client partner at Weve.

“A lot of people talk about location being a core signal, and it is, but we believe when it’s combined with other signals as well – things like bank-verified data – that’s where the power really comes with the data. Building that holistic audience together is really important”

Mills continued by looking at how location data can be used in combination with other forms of mobile data in the planning process for retail campaigns.

“Session times are coming down because we’re becoming better at mobile. It’s starting to become part of recognising what apps are about and it should be more frequent, lower timed session. There’s a really important point about KPIs with this and tracking the right things. It’s much better and more successful to have a higher frequency of lower timed sessions in retail than it is to have less frequent, longer sessions.”

“Apps aren’t just another digital channel, they’re the glue that brings together digital and store.”

Paul Barnes, Northern Europe territory director at App Annie looked at the power of the app market and challenges facing retailers within the space.

“Why are we still thinking that consumers move according to the media we buy? You can’t afford to be top-down planning anymore because that power has shifted. It has to be from the ground up, it has to be consumer-led.”

Retailers have to shift the way they look at consumer behaviours in order to target people, according to Alex Wright, head of insight at Blis.

“We’re launching a fitness boutique, and we’re calling it Sw3at. If you’re in Malaysia, Mumbai, North London, or Manchester, you can come and watch the close live or delayed. And we’ve developed a bit of kit where we can then track your fitness, so we can send you push notifications… It’s beginning to understand how we can use these modern developments to support our core product.”

As part of his presentation, Daniel Herman, CEO of Bio-Synergy, gave the audience an insight into how his sports nutrition brand is targeting audiences and keeping them motivated to exercise through mobile and social.

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A report from Deloitte, which includes responses from 51 organisations with a combined market value of £229bn, found that more than half of respondents expect to invest more than £10m by 2020 in digital technologies such as AI, cloud, robotics, blockchain, analytics, the IoT, and VR and AR. 73 per cent of those will invest in robotics, 63 per cent in VR and AR, 62 per cent in wearables, 54 per cent in biometrics, and 43 per cent in blockchain.

Those surveyed believe AI will have the biggest impact on their business in the future. Although, investment still remains low as only 22 per cent are already investing in it, and of those only 33 per cent expect to spend more than £1m this year.

“Few UK businesses are successfully exploiting digital technologies and ways of working,” said Paul Thompson, UK digital transformation leader at Deloitte. “Strategies are not coherent, investment levels are modest and the relevant skills are in short supply. As a result, the UK isn’t living up to its digital potential.”

The research also found that 77 per cent of respondents expect AI to disrupt their industries, while just under half expect their workforce to decrease in size once they implement AI. Although, only eight per cent said that they think AI will directly replace humans, and more than a third believe AI will actually complement humans and aide their decision making.

“AI will have a profound impact on the future of work. Our view is that human and machine intelligence complement each other, and that AI should not simply be seen as a substitute,” said Thompson. “Humans working with AI will achieve better outcomes than AI alone, and UK businesses need to get this careful balance right.”

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The acquisition, which closed on 15 August, will see Deloitte Digital hire around 80 employees across northwest Europe, 40 of which will be based in the UK, doubling the size of Acne’s team. In addition to those hires, Deloitte Digital has appointed former Havas London executive creative director Andy Sandoz as a partner and chief creative officer to lead Deloitte’s UK creative services.

“The acquisition of Acne is an important move towards Deloitte Digital offering a full range of digital and creative services, with clients increasingly looking for a partner with multidisciplinary skills,” said Paul Thompson, head of Deloitte Digital for EMEA. “We aim to deliver our clients’ ambitions, whether that be launching a new strategy, product or service.  By combining Deloitte’s deep data and technological expertise, with Acne’s exceptional creative experience, together we will help build brands for the digital age.”

Acne, founded in 1996, had about $32m in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, according to Deloitte. It has worked with clients including Ikea, Spotify and H&M – gaining attention this summer when it created an ad comparing a $2,145 Balenciaga bag to Ikea’s famous blue reusable bags.

According to Acne executive chairman Victor Press, Acne had been approached by several companies over the years but found Deloitte to be the perfect match to bring more technology and data analysis to its creative capabilities.

Don’t forget to enter the Effective Mobile Marketing Awards. Weve extended the final deadline to 18 August, but times running out. More details here.

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Deloitte Digital Scotland Finds New Leadership Team
Business advisory firm Deloitte is strengthening its digital presence in Scotland by adding two new members to its leadership team, Gareth Edwards and Debbi McLean, both of whom join the firm from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Gareth, who has more than 16 years’ experience in digital, will lead the expansion of Deloitte’s Edinburgh studio, following the company’s acquisition of proposition design consultancy Market Gravity in June. He was digital solution design lead at RBS, and has also served as head of digital, media & production at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and head of online marketing at Bank of Scotland.

Debbi will be responsible for shaping and leading Deloitte Digital’s service design capacity in Edinburgh, and brings over 14 years’ experience in the financial service industry, having worked across a range of technology, design and innovation programmes including the creation and delivery of RBS’ customer-facing AI solution.

“Deloitte is committed to growing its digital presence in Scotland,” said Rich Hurley, technology consulting partner at Deloitte. “The appointments of Gareth and Debbi significantly help us boost this side of our practice. Coupled with the recent acquisition of Market Gravity, these hires put us in a strong position to expand Deloitte Digital and make a real difference to our clients’ digital strategies – in Scotland, the UK and further afield.”

Upstream Reshuffles Executive Team with New CEO, CTO and Chairman of the Board
Mobile commerce platform Upstream has named Guy Krief as the company’s new CEO, with current chief executive Marco Veremis moving on to the role of executive chairman of the board. The firm has also promoted Natalia Mila to the role of chief technology officer.

Krief, who previously held the role of chief innovation officer at Upstream, joined the company in 2004 and has held a number of product and innovation positions. He also co-founded Upstream spin-off Persado, which has developed into a leading provider of AI-generated cognitive marketing content. Mila, who joined Upstream in 2008, has served as head of engineering and chief architect at the company, and has more than 17 years of experience in enterprise software development.

“I am honoured to take on the role of CEO and continue to build on the amazing success Upstream has enjoyed over the years,” said Krief. “Upstream has always been a strong partner for mobile operators, now seeking to seize the digital opportunity in emerging markets. I am looking forward to working with the team to take the company to new heights, built on the solid foundation put in place by Marco.”

Chirryl-Lee Ryan Names as Head of Experience Design at Isobar
Digital agency Isobar has hired Chirryl-Lee Ryan, formerly of Fjord, as its new head of experience design for Hong Kong and Australia. Ryan will report to David Jessop, managing director of Isobar Hong Kong, and will seek to drive creative excellence and innovation in experience design in the region, as well as working with the global experience design community at Isobar.

Ryan most recently worked at Fjord, Accenture’s global design and innovation consultancy, and has over two decades of industry experience spanning visual, digital, motion, spatial, industrial and strategic design, with a specific focus on human-centred design. Her appointment reflects Isobar’s goal of establishing its Hong Kong office as a hub for design in the region.

“I’m excited to be part of a leading global agency with a vision as ambitious as my own,” said Ryan. “Our goal at Isobar is to transform businesses, brands and people’s lives through creative use of digital – and experience design not only offers new and innovative ways of building the future digital economy, but also builds meaningful partnerships with clients by creating better business value and ultimately, making people’s lives better.”

Just Eat Appoints New CEO
Peter Plumb, former chief executive of Moneysupermarket.com, has been unveiled as the new CEO of food delivery marketplace Just Eat. Plumb will join the firm as both chief executive officer and an executive director from 18 September, replacing Paul Harrison, who has been fulfilling the role on an interim basis and will return to his permanent position as chief financial officer.

“I’m delighted to be joining Just Eat at such an exciting time,” said Plumb. “The talented team has built an innovative service into a truly international platform with clear leadership positions in many markets around the world. I look forward to working with the Just Eat family of employees and restaurant owners to help more people around the world enjoy the food they love, wherever they are and whenever they want.”

As CEO of Moneysupermarket.com Group, Plumb guided the business to a market leadership position, led the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.com and oversaw a six-fold increase in its share price. Prior to joining Moneysupermarket.com in 2009, he held leadership roles at Dunnhumby Ltd, Disney Consumer Products and Dyson Appliances.

New Offices and New Staff for AnyClip
AnyClip, the AI-based video content data monetisation firm, has opened a new corporate headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, as well as establishing new offices in New York and appointing Sascha Weis to serve as vice president of sales for North America as the company continues to expand. The company now takes up an entire floor in Hashachar Tower, Israel’s third tallest building.

“Our recent exponential growth has been driven by the market’s overwhelming response to our AI-driven video analysis and monetisation solutions,” said Gil Becker, president and CEO of AnyClip. “Sascha is a proven leader across a variety of global businesses and brings AnyClip the ability to both strengthen strategic partnerships and develop new opportunities.”

Weis will be responsible for increasing the company’s market share in North America, and will be an integral part of the firm’s growing New York team. Prior to his role at AnyClip, Weis led the global sales organisation of Branded Entertainment Network, and has held senior management roles at Corbis and Getty Images.

Altify Picks Up Two Former Salesforce Executives
Sales transformation firm Altify has appointed two new executives, Patrick Morrissey and Mike Fenn, who join the company as chief marketing officer and vice president of sales, west, respectively. The two new hires come as the firm opens a new headquarters in San Jose, California and seeks to expand its sales and marketing teams to match.

Morrissey comes to Altify from social intranet firm Simppl, where he served as chief revenue officer. Prior to Simpplr, he was vice president of both marketing and alliances at Salesforce, where he led the global industry marketing and ISV sales teams, driving strategic partner relationships. He will be responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies to support the next phase of the company’s growth.

Fenn joins Altify after five years serving as an area vice president at Salesforce and as vice president of sales for the west region at FAST Search and Transfer, a Microsoft subsidiary. He brings a wealth of experience building and retaining high-performing sales teams, and will be supporting the firm as it continues to transform the sales industry with its performance management platform.

Don’t forget to enter the Effective Mobile Marketing Awards. The Early Bird deadline for submissions is 22 July. More details here.

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Industry Veteran Ilicco Elia Joins Deloitte Digital
Deloitte Digital has hired mobile ad industry veteran Ilicco Elia away from his position at DigitasLBi to serve as head of mobile for the management consultancy, as it continues to strengthen its marketing services offering and expand its presence in the advertising and media sectors.

Elia joins Deloitte Digital after nearly six years serving as head of mobile at DigitasLBi, where he served as one of the UK marketing industry’s key mobile advocates. Prior to DigitasLBi, he held a number of roles at Thomas Reuters including global head of mobile for Reuters Media, and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the industry by Media Guardian.

At Deloitte Digital, he will work alongside Olivier Binse, UK head of products and apps at the firm, to build on the company’s existing mobile offering and further connect its engineering, design and advisory services with a greater focus on mobile and cross-channel.

Deloitte is rumoured to be interested in expanding its digital division to include more traditional marketing services, leveraging its access to rich data and ability to work at scale to provide clients with a wider range of services. In 2016, Deloitte Digital purchased award-winning ad agency Heat, and it is reportedly exploring an acquisition of the Engine Group, which owns marketing service agencies including Mischief, WCRS and Partners Andrew Aldridge.

New President of Advertising Named at King
King, the leading interactive entertainment firm and creator of mobile game franchises including Candy Crush, Bubble Witch and Farm Heroes has poached Brian Ames, former director of revenue product strategy and analytics at Snapchat, to serve as the company’s new president of advertising.

Ames will help develop and scale the company’s advertising proposition, as well as being responsible for providing strategic leadership with oversight across the entire ad business including product, sales, marketing, strategy and operations. King boasts one of the world’s largest mobile gaming networks, with 342m monthly active users.

“Brian is an experienced and accomplished leader, and we are thrilled to have him join King to lead our advertising business,” said Riccardo Zacconi, CEO of King. “We are committed to attracting the best talent in the industry to deliver an advertising platform which not only enhances our players’ in-game experience, but also delivers significant value to advertisers.”

Desirée Tunstall Named to Senior Position at Inneractive
Independent global mobile ad exchange Inneractive has promoted Desirée Tunstall to serve as vice president and general manager of North America, responsible for growing the team in the region, developing strategic partnerships and revenue opportunities with publishers, demand-side partners and agencies.

Tunstall was previously director of publisher development in North America for the firm, and has over 10 years of experience in business development, client relationship management and consulting in ad tech, having founded programmatic digital audio marketplace Verto Media and held roles at AppNexus.

“Desirée’s talent for building productive relationships, in-depth digital marketing experience, industry connections and strong leadership skills will help us meet our ambitious growth plans,” said Ziv Elul, CEO and founder at Inneractive. “She has the expertise and passion to take our US business to the next level.”

Sublime Skinz Appoints New EMEA Managing Director
Andrew Buckman is set to become the new managing director for EMEA at skin-based advertising provider Sublime Skinz, as the firm goes through rapid business growth following the launch of multiple ad formats and partnerships with several new publishers.

Buckman joins the firm from OpenX, where he was responsible for accelerating adoption of the advertising platform throughout the EMEA region, and has previously worked high-profile roles at Yahoo and Tradedoubler, building an extensive experience in the ad tech industry and leading multiple large-scale projects across the European market.

“Sublime Skinz takes a fresh approach to digital communication; delivering formats that pique audience attention without intruding on the user experience,” said Buckman. “I’m excited to be joining the company and immersing myself in this innovative ethos, and I look forward to consolidating Sublime Skinz’s current success as well as driving future developments across EMEA.”

Two Senior Appointments Made at Sizmek
Creative optimisation and data activation platform Sizmek has named two new senior hires, with digital ad industry veteran Volker Hatz joining as chief data officer and marketing expert Kees de Jong becoming general manager for Asia Pacific.

Hatz brings over 20 years of experience in IT and advertising technology to the firm. Prior to this role, he was global head of SAP XM DMP Solution at SAP Exchange Media, and he’s previously played key roles in creating ground-breaking technology aimed at bringing structure to data in digital advertising, including the first demand side advertising platform and the first real-time cookie-less targeting.

De Jong will oversee the Asia Pacific region, responsible for customer engagement, sales development and innovation, strategic planning, revenue growth and more. He has experience as a business builder in tech and service-based environments, having held senior management positions at Facilitate Digital (now Adslot) and Xaxis.

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