IAB appoints Orange marketer as first head of mobile

by Dan Leahul, Brand Republic 05-Nov-08, 11:00

LONDON - The Internet Advertising Bureau has appointed Jonathan Mew, former Orange head of marketing, as its first head of mobile.

Mew will lead the IAB's mission to grow mobile advertising in the UK and to further educate advertisers and agencies on its potential.

The appointment comes a month after the IAB officially widened its remit to serve the mobile advertising industry by creating a mobile steering group.

One of Mew's core responsibilities will be to manage the group, which features senior representation from 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone UK.

He will also head-up the IAB mobile council, which was launched in November last year and comprises major publishers, agencies, advertisers and technology companies.

At Orange, Mew marketed the launch of the company's mobile advertising campaigns, and oversaw the launch of Exposure, a consumer study measuring the acceptability of mobile advertising.

Before Orange, he worked at internet providers Freeserve and Wanadoo in their trade marketing divisions and before that in marketing and media research at Carlton Television.

Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the IAB, said: "Jon Mew is a great catch for the IAB and the mobile industry. With his considerable experience at Orange over the last five years, he's perfectly placed to educate and inspire agencies and advertisers to do more with mobile.

"There's a high degree of interest in the medium, so I'm sure Jon will be in great demand."

Mew said that understanding amongst advertisers and agencies is still relatively low and his first role will be to better connect the two.

Last week, the IAB revealed research results that found mobile advertising is set to become a mainstay of UK marketing plans over the next two years, despite the current disconnect between usage and understanding of the medium.

The IAB's mobile council surveyed 115 agencies, media planners and advertisers and found that 62% of respondents foresee mobile spend growing over the next two years and becoming a standard budget feature by 2010.