Last week an estimated 80,000 makers, thinkers and innovators gathered for Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona, to experience the newest technologies and mobile products from around the world. Exhibitors showcased the next wave in wearables, smartphones, tablets, as well as the connected home and car. There were some exciting announcements centred around high speed data access, digital payments and infrastructure elements which all have the potential to impact the role of mobility in brand communication. We create 5 key takeaways about this year's MWC.

2. EVERY YEAR, AN ESTIMATED 80,000 MAKERS,
THINKERS AND INNOVATORS GATHER FOR
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, TO EXPERIENCE THE
NEWEST TECHNOLOGIES AND MOBILE PRODUCTS
FROM AROUND THE WORLD.
MWC has become the world’s biggest and only truly
global mobile event. This year, 1900 exhibitors
convened in Barcelona to showcase the next wave in
wearables, smartphones, and tablets, as well as the
connected home and car.
But MWC 2015 doesn’t just focus on hardware, the truly
exciting announcements centred around high speed
data access, digital payments, and a host of other
infrastructure elements. All of which have the potential
to change how we live, work, and play, all over again.

3. Previous years have focused on smartphones, but this
year was different. New form factors and technologies
are emerging; from smartwatches and VR goggles, to
smart toothbrushes and smart bikes. Yet the
smartphone remained front and centre as the
ubiquitous device at the heart of everything.
MWC 2015 underscored this point - not only is the
smartphone here to stay, but it’s now more important
than ever. It is far more than just a phone, it is the key
connector, and remote control, for every future digital
service.
Our verdict? It’s still vitally important to ensure all
digital experiences are optimised for mobile, but it is
even more important to understand the disruption that
smartphones are causing to consumer behaviours, and
to their expectations of how they interact with brands.
OVERALL, ONE THEME STOOD OUT
THIS YEAR AT MWC…

5. Wearables. Sensors. The Connected Car and Home. All
of these hold infinite promise to make our lives more
enjoyable and efficient.
The hardware is more or less here, but the connectivity
is still patchy, as are the standards and protocols that
will link your smartwatch, home, and car together into
one holistic ecosystem.
This year’s Mobile World Congress saw a focus on the
issue of connectivity and egalitarian worldwide access
to data - the key to bringing the future to fruition.

6. Thanks to Google and Facebook’s mission to bring data
to the masses, many new consumers will experience
the internet for the first time via a mobile connection -
and this connection may be the only internet
experience they ever have.
For the rest of the world, the faster devices and data
transmission technologies on show at MWC mean that
more and more consumers will begin to rely on their
mobile devices by default.
For brands everywhere, a mobile-first strategy isn’t just
important, it’s now essential.

7. Mark Zuckerberg
delivered a keynote,
in which he discussed
Internet.org,
Facebook’s plan to
bring Internet
connectivity to
underserved areas, in
partnership with
wireless carriers
Broadcom’s new
chipset promises to
deliver the speediest
Wi-Fi to your
smartphone and
turn your device into
a hub for the
Internet ofThings
Google’s SVP of Product, Sundar
Pichai, revealed plans to launch its own
MVNO (MobileVirtual Network
Operator) in the United States, with
the goal of shaking up innovation in the
wireless carrier industry

8. This year’s show had no shortage of new devices - from
sleek smartphones and smartwatches to super thin
tablets.
Today, however, the real differentiators are the cloud-
based services that sit behind the glass, think Facebook,
Uber, Nest.
Thanks to the fast evolution and adoption of these
cloud based services, the mobile OS is becoming less
relevant and the hardware itself, no matter how flashy,
simply becomes Dumb Glass.
No matter what the OEMs would have us think, any
hardware differentiators are disappearing, to be
replaced by differentiating software.

9. With handsets becoming less exciting, consumer focus
is switching to their experience of services that they use
across any device
For brands, this means that the focus today must be
less on the actual devices, and more on how customer
data and web services can be linked and supercharged
to offer users cross-screen, real-time utility.
Remove customer pain points, by offering a frictionless
utility, and you will have a legion of loyal, brand
advocates as customers.

10. LEXIFONE offers
users of its
international
calling app the
option to have
their conversation
translated into
another language
in real-time via the
cloud.
VOLVO BRINGS
DRIVER SAFETYTO
THE CLOUD: road
status data is
collected from
connected cars,
shared to the cloud
and turned into real-
time notifications
for drivers.
GOOGLE, MOBILE,ANDTHE CLOUD:
ProductTsar Sundar Pichai is betting big
on his company’s machine learning and
cloud computing expertise to power the
next generation of mobile services.

11. Samsung launched Samsung Pay, a direct competitor
to Apple Pay, whilst Google launched Android Pay, an
underlying infrastructure layer that 3rd party developers
can use to enable mobile payments.
There were also new offerings from PayPal, Wirecard,
LG, Visa, various banks, and other ad tech providers –
meaning MWC 2015 was awash in mobile payment
tech.
The idea of mobile payments isn’t exactly new, but this
year was different, because it felt like the infrastructure
to support them had finally arrived.

12. Mobile payments have been waiting in the wings for
quite some time. Now, with the adoption of NFC by
Apple, and the steady rollout of NFC point of sale
systems in stores, they’re ready to take centre stage.
Just like plastic supplanted paper money, mobile
initiated payments will become the new status quo in
very short time. Brands will need to understand the
new behavioural patterns, and opportunities that arise,
once it becomes possible to initiate payments across
new points of contact.
The focus now needs to be on understanding how to
integrate these new payment opportunities into
physical and digital spaces - making the process as
inviting and seamless as possible for consumers.

13. SAMSUNG
PAY: an NFC
based point of
sale solution
that also
supports
magnetic strip
payments.
ZTE’s GRAND S3 integrates EyeVerify’s Eye
Print ID bringing biometric identification to
smartphones.
ANDROID PAY:
an underlying
infrastructure
solution with
supporting
APIs to enable
new innovative
payment
services.

14. Whilst the smartwatch has been a staple of Sci-Fi and
nerd-chic for decades, timing (no pun intended) is
everything, and the smartwatch is evolving from a
gimmick to a wearable contender.
Smartwatches were everywhere at MWC, not just from
the big manufacturers, such as Huawei, LG & Samsung,
but also from independent manufacturers focussing on
fashion and affordability. For example, My Kronoz had
an entry level smartwatch for $99.
Now the real conundrum has to be tackled. What do
people really want to do with smartwatches? It’s too
early to tell, but some of the devices that debuted at
MWC 2015 presented a good case for the smartwatch
to become a staple item in our multiscreen world.

15. Smartwatches have high potential for uptake, but they
won’t supplant the smartphone. Rather, they promise
to augment the other screens, and nodes, in our
increasingly connected lives, providing us with new and
highly valuable utility. e.g. acting as keys, health
monitors, sensors etc.
There will be a certain amount of cross over in services
like payments and digital locks, but it is likely that users
will allocate different tasks and behaviours to
smartphones and smartwatches.
For brands, it’s essential to closely monitor the
behavioural patterns that will emerge from
smartwatches and integrate them into a holistic
mobility strategy.

16. THE LG
URBANE:
combines
smartwatch
functionality
with the charm
of a classic
watch, as well as
the ability to
start your car.
THE PEBBLE
TIMESTEEL:
precursor to a
modular model
allowing 3rd
parties to add-on
additional
functionality.
THE HUAWEITALKBAND B2: a
refreshing departure from the
initially gigantic form factors with a
lightweight frame that still
incorporates the usual smartwatch
features.

17. VR demos were in evidence throughout MWC 2015.
KoreaTelecom were using it to showcase their vision
for 5G video streaming, whilst AT&T allowed you to
walk round a virtual connected home.
However, the real news was happening in a backroom,
and only experienced by select journalists, where HTC
demoed theirViveVR headset. Apparently the
experience is “indescribable”, but incredibly realistic.
Along with Facebook already having launched an in-
house Oculus RiftVR movie studio, and what was on
show at MWC, it’s clear to seeVR is hear to stay.
However, it will be some time before we see
widespread brand and consumer usage.

18. Imagine how much more powerful it might be to
virtually walk around a hotel in Bali, than simply look at
photos or a corporate video. 360 degree visuals are just
the beginning.The next generation technology, seen at
MWC 2015, will engage all our senses to create truly
immersive experiences - no form of technology has
been able to accomplish this before.
It’s easy to dismissVR as a shiny new toy, but keep in
mind nobody predicted the transformation the iPhone
would bring.That said, we should not rush to createVR
content just yet - instead we should carefully watch this
space to see what use cases start to drive mass
consumer adoption.

19. THE HTCVIVE:
adds physical
freedom to the
VR experience,
enabling users to
see and truly
explore virtual
objects and
spaces.
SAMSUNG
GEARVR:
a more
lightweight,
smartphone-
powered
approach.
THE ROTOVR CHAIR: VR isn’t just
about what you see, but also about
what you feel. Roto designsVR
chairs that enable "gravitational
presence” - the ability to feel your
physical self in the virtual space.

20. Richard Firminger,VPYahoo,
opened our event with an inspiring
session on the changes in
consumer mobile behaviour, the
emerging trends and how brands
can adapt.
Jonathan Milne, GM of Celtra,
spoke on what brands can achieve
with rich media and what global
trends are driving brand
advertising.
MEC@MWC, OUR CURATED
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
EXPERIENCE, FEATURED
EXPERTS FROMACROSS
INDUSTRIES, SHARINGTHEIR
VIEWSOF HOW MOBILITY SITS
ATTHE HEART OF BRAND
COMMUNICATION.
Sarah Personette, Head of Global
Business Marketing at Facebook,
explored the evolving consumer
behaviours of mobile users, as well
as how Facebook is connecting the
next 1bn users to the Internet.

21. "The 5G infrastructure is
expected to become the
nervous system of the
digital society and
digital economy.”
Günther Oettinger,The
European Commission
“These apps drive data usage. People want
to use these different services, so I think
people are going to pay, but I think it is what
specific things do you charge for? I think over
time it will be data and other services."
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
“When we look at mobile, we don't just see
phones, we see powerful computing devices.
They are devices that connect to the cloud,
which is where Google comes in.”
Sundar Pichai, Google
"5G has the power to kick start
innovation and new services to improve
lives in ways we can only imagine."
Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang, chairman &
CEO of KTCorp
“In the future we see a
world where
everything that can be
connected, will be
connected.And that is
virtually everything.”
Sara Mazur, Ericsson

22. Rachel Pasqua
Head of Mobile, US
rachel.pasqua@mecglobal.com
@rachelpasqua
Ben Rickard
Head of Mobile, EMEA
ben.rickard@mecglobal.com
@justsomobile
Jide Sobo
Head of Mobile, UK
jide.sobo@mecglobal.com
@jidesobo
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