The latest wave of research, conducted by Warc in association with the Festival of Media Asia Pacific and the Mobile Marketing Association, found that while 91% of marketers appreciate the importance of the mobile marketing channel in Asia Pacific, its full potential is still to be realised, with 71% of agencies admitting that most clients do not have formal mobile strategies in place.

Take a look at the infographic below that highlights some of the key finds. 

Detailed survey findings can be downloaded by clicking here.

Snapchat is the new kid on the block. Everyone’s talking about it. But not only is the app a fun, exciting and ‘snappable’ way for people to exchange visual messages with their friends and family, it’s actually proving to be a fantastic communication resource for brands to engage with consumers.

The problem is that brands are yet to really understand and utilise the platform that Snapchat offers. Take a leaf out of the likes of Taco Bell, Acura and MTV UK’s book and you too can get involved in the “selfie” trend rocking the mobile app world.

“Branding is storytelling, and storytelling is a creative work” - Steve Jobs

The outfit. The restaurant. The conversation. The goodnight kiss. The journey from acquaintances to something more is filled with moments that connect one to another, and while more romantic, it's not much different than the relationship between customers and brands.

While we do love some brands, we ignore most - or at least tune them out. Misguided ads and unoriginal marketing concepts have desensitized us to most brand communications. But those brands that are loved are the ones that were heard. These brands connected with their audience in ways that guided them not just to a sale but also to a relationship. Online or off, the way in which your brand engages its customer along their journey can mean the difference between browsing and brand evangelism.

Facebook really does likes to make an impact and its record-breaking $19bn purchase of the instant messaging service WhatsApp certainly sent the digital world into overdrive as critics speculated over the social networking giant’s plans to make money from it. In a statement released by WhatsApp, founder and chief executive Jan Koum promised users: “You can still count on absolutely no ads interrupting your communication”.

Yet the critics among us will ask just how long it will be before Facebook throws its advertising weight behind the app, just like it did with Instagram when it was bought for $1bn. So what is the big plan? Straight from the horse’s mouth, here’s what Mark Zuckerberg had to say in an official statement:

Google yesterday announced the launch of a new campaign type for Google Shopping. This new update will fundamentally change the way in which Product Listing Ads (PLA) campaigns are managed.

2013 was another challenging year in the world of e-commerce, with mobile taking more than its fair share of column inches. Some of the key issues we hit over the past 12 months included the need to accommodate older forms of tech. No matter how popular newer smartphone models are, it takes time for them to embed into the marketplace – the top operating system last year was the 21-month-old iPhone 4S running iOS 6, whereas the newer iPhone 5 was languishing in 13th place.

Showrooming is another issue that has plagued retailers over the past year and mobile lies at the very centre of that. And let’s not underestimate the underwhelming performance of high-speed networks like 4G. Speed (or lack of it) has been rated as one of the key reasons why people shy away from mobile commerce.

For this reason, and with eBay’s ecommerce app celebrating its fifth birthday and over 160 million downloads last year, some experts were once again raising the question of mobile web vs apps for m-commerce.

Guinness World Records and the Festival of Media Conference and Awards series have made a worldwide partnership.

Guinness World Records will partner with the Festival of Media across its three events and will also see the creation of a new award category within the Festival of Media Awards – The Record-breaking Brand Award.

“Ever since the first computers, there have always been ghosts in the machine.”- Will Smith as Detective Del Spooner, I Robot

Surely, this has happened to you: You checked out a pair of shoes online, and suddenly - there it was in your Facebook news feed. That's programmatic marketing. Or, you're a mom and you bought a new stroller at Babies 'R Us and now you see an ad for birth announcements from a company like Shutterfly. That's programmatic marketing. It's matching your buying and shopping behaviour with relevant content, in real-time. Media buying and advertising may never be the same.

Right message, right place, right time (RMRPRT) is not a new concept, but programmatic marketing is suddenly putting RMRPRT in the bullseye. This ability to target consumers and deliver ultra customised content - in real-time - is the next big thing and its growing rapidly.