Face to Face with… David Gwozdz

David Gwozdz is CEO of Mojiva, an independent mobile ad network, which reaches more than one billion devices globally and represents 3,000 mobile publishers and apps.

Tomorrow, Gwozdz will present a mobile workshop in the Palais, Balancing the Mobile Idea & Creative: Laying the Foundation for Success”. The session is intended to give agency creatives and brand marketers a step-by-step tutorial on how to develop a strong mobile creative brief, will be quite interactive and include a live demonstration (we can’t tell you everything, just yet). But there will be plenty of tips, takeaways and insights to help brands and their agencies get their mobile advertising campaigns right.

Below shots catches up with Gwozdz to hear more about his thoughts on mobile in an interview from the Carlton terrace in Cannes.

Tell us a bit about Mojiva and your role within the company

Since our launch in 2008, we have been developing unique, cutting-edge mobile advertising campaigns and monetization strategies for agencies, brand advertisers and publishers around the world.  To give you an idea of how much influence we have, we reach over 1 billion unique devices worldwide on a monthly basis, with 270 million of those devices coming from the US.

We have a number of partnerships with experts in mobile rich media to ensure that creative executions can run across every device, tablet, launch and app.  Our ad-serving platform Mocean Mobile works with global brands such as AT&T, Vodafone, Microsoft, Time, RIM, and NBC; and we currently represent over 3,000 publishers and apps, to deliver every imaginable “big idea” execution you got. 

I have spent my entire career in the emerging media space, and can’t get enough of the mobile game.  Prior to Mojiva, I was a founding member of DoubleClick, which was acquired by Google for $3bn in 2008, and also founded one of the first online ad networks, Hot Link Media. 

At Mojiva, my initial ambition was to drive growth faster than any other advertising platform.  I think it’s safe to say we’ve achieved this!

Why did you decide to hold a workshop during Cannes Lions and what do you hope to achieve with the session?

Cannes is undoubtedly one of the advertising calendar’s high points.  It is such a hotbed for creativity, collaboration and new ideas – I’ve spoken at a number of events the last year and I’ve found it fascinating to see the evolving debate around mobile.  Things I’ve been saying for years, and that were originally met with great scepticism, are finally starting to become wider industry conversations. 

We get piles of creative briefs for mobile and we see firsthand that the agency world struggles with the questions to ask at times and they are not always aware of what kind of ad types are available on mobile. We aim to shed light on mobile ad options and help speed up the process of mobile adoption.

Naturally, mobile will be a big talking point and theme during festival week; do you think people are starting to understand the medium more and how important is it that brands and marketers embrace mobile strategies within their businesses?

It is a very emotive issue. Brands and consumers are in different stages of integrating mobile as a core aspect for their strategies but the understanding and the appreciation of it is a core element throughout all communications.

What else do your target audiences have attached to their hand for the majority of the day?  If I hear that ‘mobile has arrived’ one more time – it has been here for a significant length of time, brands should be more confident in integrating it with rich media partners and be braver with creative to achieve much higher impact experiences.   

Yes, mobile has come a long way. Virtually every media plan I’ve seen within the last year has mobile included.  Although more prominent, I would still like mobile to be the plan’s core. Hopefully by next year, we will move closer in that direction.

What can people expect to take away from your workshop and why should they come?

Despite the rapid growth in sales and use of mobile devices worldwide, smartphones and tablets aren’t created equal.  Instead of allowing the creative ad "experience" to be dictated (and hindered) by the size of the screen, the success of mobile ad campaigns must be directly tied to (and influenced by) both the idea and creative execution. Campaigns can no longer claim to integrate digital if mobile is overlooked or badly executed.

People should take away good creative executions to generate ideas, and understanding of the various opportunities in mobile and there is great air conditioning.

We’ll be on stage on tomorrow (Wednesday 19 June) at 12.30pm and again at 5pm so no excuse to miss out if you’ve had a heavy night before! 

And it’s been previewed as a “hands on” session; can you tell us any more about what it is you have in store for attendees?

We’ll be looking to arm delegates with the tools needed for mobile success, and how to approach creating a mobile campaign that reaches the right audiences and uses rich media to tell a compelling brand story.  We will aim to give delegates the change to hone the skills needed to successfully balance the data and creative, and integrate mobile into existing campaigns as well as how to position mobile at the core of activity. The rest is a surprise...

Why do you think mobile is overlooked by brands and companies? Do you think the amount of companies who still aren’t mobile savvy is surprising?

I don’t think it’s necessarily overlooked. Many marketers have made significant strides integrating mobile into the mediums where they feel comfortable in strategy, creative execution and measurement. But we still need to get to a place where all brands are at that comfort level and integrate mobile as a central component of their larger, multi-channel advertising mix. 

I think that with mobile, brands are still too data-led and not enough creative-led.  I’ve said before, at AdWeek earlier this year, that in advertising, the ability to tell a compelling story that evokes emotions (humour, suspense, fear or compassion), engages audiences, pushes the boundaries of creativity and innovates through the use of technology often distinguishes a successful campaign from a "flop."  And I think that it’s the creative aspect of a campaign that achieves this, and that is something that is too often over-looked in mobile. 

What are your own personal expectations/plans for the week and will you do anything different from last year in terms of how you went about it?

I am fascinated by how much the mobile debate has evolved in the last year.  I spoke at Cannes last year on mobile strategy, and was one of the few that were talking about future innovation.  This year, at a number of events I’ve attended, mobile hasn’t just been a bigger talking point – it’s been centre stage.  It’s an incredibly exciting time for the industry and I’m looking forward to.

Not to mention, Mojiva has been involved in a plethora of cool new creative ads and I’m excited to share the insight we’ve garnered for mobile and tablet. I also expect to get more sleep

If you had to give one tip to a Cannes virgin, what would you tell them?

Cannes is full of inspiring and creative people! Make sure you get see as many seminars as you can and network, network, network!

Personally, I am especially excited to check out the Grey Music seminar with Lou Reed. The “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” inductee (1996) is a music icon who knows that any craft – be it music or advertising – is only as good as it is creative.

Oh and don’t forget to stop by the Mojiva workshop then take time to visit Mougons for lunch. If all else fails, visit the Gutter Bar!

What’s the best mobile marketing campaign/piece of mobile content you’ve seen recently and why? What do you think will do well in the awards category?

Land Rover iAD is incredible! It does a fantastic job of positioning Land Rover Evoque as premium, upscale, luxury brand.  It also offers the most compelling use of accelerometer technology that I’ve seen to date. Hold your iPhone up and move around to see a 360 view of the cockpit and interior design…soaking up the luxurious appointments while truly sensing what this ride is like from the driver’s seat. It has a very sleek and simple dynamic wheel feature lets you "steer" to explore features and highlights of The Evoque. "Build Your Own" section functions very well allowing easy customization. 

And finally, what do you see for the future of mobile sector?

More people will get mobile. There will be impactful creative that looks cool, full length movies and films within ads; improved functionalities... The possibilities are endless.