Alex Kozloff is currently the acting marketing and communications director at the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), the trade body that represents digital advertising in the UK. She was named the eighth most influential person in mobile for the Drum’s 2014 Mobile Top 50, and featured in Media Week’s 30 under 30 2011.
What can you tell us about your role at the IAB?
The IAB is the trade body for digital advertising in the UK. Our overall aim is to create the right environment for digital advertising to thrive. My role focuses on mobile. I also work with the industry to produce events, research and work on white papers that will help educate advertisers about digital and grow the value of mobile marketing in the UK.
What are the biggest differences in mobile advertising between the US and UK/Europe?
The most obvious difference would be the scale of the market. Recent figures from the US Ad Revenue report showed that mobile was worth $12.5bn (£7.98bn) in 2014, compared to the UK’s £1.6bn mobile spend, as reported by IAB/PwC Digital Adspend. But the trends are the same. We saw in the UK that mobile made up 23% of digital spend, compared with 25% in the US. This makes a lot of sense; mobile is global medium and most changes are happening at an international level.
How do you feel about Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm, termed “mobilegeddon”?
I think Google’s changes to its algorithm really benefits the consumer and will help to ensure the sites people visit on a mobile phone are optimised to the device. This will prompt brands to think seriously about their mobile experience, although encouragingly, it does seem to be a relatively small group of laggards who need to change.
The IAB Mobile Top 250 Audit showed that 84% of the top 250 spending advertisers in the UK already have mobile-optimised sites, so this will hopefully provide the final push for those who have not yet invested in a mobile experience.
What is the strangest thing you have experienced or heard in your business?
Our flagship conferences Mobile Engage and Engage do stand out. We invite celebrities to share their experiences of mobile with the audience at the end of the day. Briefing English actor Brian Blessed on the phone prior to his appearance at Mobile Engage 2014 started with him singing for the first minute or so … quite loudly.
Explain in one sentence what location advertising means to you?
In one sentence: location advertising is the USP of mobile.
The benefit of location advertising to the everyday consumer is the relevancy it can offer. Advertising always works better when it’s about something we’re interested in, and location data offers a unique way to make ads more personalised.
Understanding someone’s habits from location data, for example the shops they like or the commute they make, means that brands can serve them ads or offers that suit those particular needs.
Alex Kozloff is acting marketing and communications director at the IAB
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