The future of mobile…

With so many terms flying around the mobile advertising space – NFC, QR Codes, AR – Simon Andrews, chair and founder of Addictive!, closed MediaTel’s fourth Media Playground conference by asking “what will be the single most important thing in mobile in the next 12 months?”

For Tamsin Hussey, group account director at Joule, m-commerce is the “story of the year”, though she complained that “retailers are holding it back at the moment”. However, she also commented that NFC (near field communication) “will be huge, I am just not sure how quickly… it depends on lots of factors – hardware, persuading consumers etc”.

Hussey’s views mirrored those at the IAB Mobile Engage event yesterday. After the ‘Dragons’ Den – Mastering New Mobile Technologies’ session, Google’s NFC pitch won the most votes hands down, “winning investment” over QR Codes and Augmented Reality as ‘the future of mobile’.

At Media Playground, Gary Cole, commercial director at O2 Media, said NFC is “absolutely coming” but warned that it will take time to penetrate the market – “it is a big behavioural change for consumers”.

Cole said m-commerce is the big thing this year, but brands need to concentrate on building apps and mobile sites that work for users. “Using your mobile as a wallet, direct to bill will drive m-commerce now… it is all about one-click payments,” he added.

Meanwhile, Will Smyth, head of digital at OMD UK, said “m-commerce is already happening – most people buy products and services on their handsets already, even if it is just apps and music. It’s just going to grow now”.

For Will King, head of product development at Unanimis, the unique mobile offerings – personalisation, payment and location – will be the “real ticking points” in 2011.