Mobile web adoption is growing eight times faster than desktop web adoption did in the 1990s and early 2000s. And this just goes to show how important it is to consider mobile experience when providing online content. Having a mobile optimised website therefore, is no longer an option - unless of course you want to lose a high percentage of your consumer base. In fact, a recent study showed that 57% of mobile users were found to abandon a website if it took more than 3 seconds to load.

So, if having a mobile optimised website is so important, why bother with an app? Well, we think that websites and apps offer different things to users. But rather than tell you what we think, why not read through this article, have a think about the questions we pose and decide for yourself.

It’s all about your audience

Where are your audience coming from? How do they want to consume your content and how would you like them to engage with it? These questions are key to deciding whether you should develop an app. If your audience is large and transient an optimised mobile website could be the answer. On the other hand, if you’re trying to attract a smaller (potentially more valuable) audience, or wanting to have your content available offline, an app would be a better fit. But it’s not all up to you - if developing an app, Newsstands and app stores can help to promote your content to new audiences and ultimately build your customer base. Combine this with engagement features like deep-linking push notifications, ‘Today’ widgets, badges and background loading, you can increase the chances that your audience keep checking the app and coming back for more.

There’s nothing worse than leaving home in a rush to get to work, getting to the bus stop and realising you’ve forgotten your headphones!

Well for commuters in Iasi, Romania – that’s not a problem at all. And it’s all thanks to a new installation at two bus stop locations in the city which have been transformed into a giant jukebox.

Programmatic is arguably one of the biggest developments in the digital advertising space. When it comes to video advertising, programmatic is beginning to take off, with programmatic video ad sales in EU-5 reaching €226m in 2014, according to eMarketer, and expected to soar 63.5% this year to reach €369m by the end of 2015.

Advertisers and agencies are adopting programmatic quickly. Yet, despite being the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) marketing word of the year in 2014, more than half of marketers still don’t understand programmatic well enough to implement it.

So, to put a clearer lens on programmatic advertising, let’s explain what it is and discuss some of the key benefits it delivers to advertisers.   

Simply put, programmatic refers to the use of software to automate the purchase of digital advertising. Fundamentally, programmatic advertising lets advertisers make their video advertising investments work harder for them by allowing them to work smarter, faster and more efficiently. Efficiency and efficacy are why programmatic advertising is so effective. Programmatic advertising helps marketers reach the precise audiences they seek across screens as efficiently as possible.

Mindshare MENA took centre stage at the inaugural Festival of Media MENA Awards (FOM MENA) this week, walking away with both Agency Network of the Year and Campaign of the Year trophies.

The ceremony took place at the Music Hall, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray in Dubai, following a one-day conference with speakers from Facebook, Google, Aston Martin and Twitter. The conference was hosted by AOL Digital Forecaster David Shing.

Mindshare MENA’s winning Campaign of the Year, ‘Keep our Beaches Clean’, was the star campaign of the night, having also been awarded in the Best Use of Digital Media, The Creative Use of Media Award, The Effectiveness Award, and The Utility/Public Service Award categories.

Initiative UAE walked away with the final of the third grand Prix, for Agency Office of the Year along with three gold, three silver, and two bronze trophies.

Starcom MediaVest Group picked up two gold awards for its ‘Mr Monopoly Invades Dubai’ and ‘Bollywood on Wheels’ campaigns. OMD, MEC, and PHD received one gold each.

Havas Media Middle East was awarded three silver trophies for its ‘Emirates Stars of Tomorrow’ and ‘Emirates’ #AllTimeGreats’ campaigns.

Check out all the winners below:

The growing ROPO phenomenon, where customers research online using their mobiles and buy offline, makes it vital for retailers to be more than just mobile-friendly. Kevin Sparks, Commercial Director at FACT-Finder shares the mobile search essentials that every retailer needs to know.

"Customers coming into a store today are better informed than the sales staff."

So says Jörg Geilgens, Client Solution Manager at IBM.

This isn’t down to poor training by retailers, but because the vast majority of people with a smartphone (88% to be precise) use it to carry out research before even entering a physical store.

This new form of retail therapy means customers visit stores on a mission to buy, having already done their browsing online. This means they are more likely to buy, making this mobile habit – called ROPO – vital to retailers.

The downside is that if your online shop isn’t mobile friendly, these ROPO-ers won’t be heading your way. And that’s pretty much everyone with a mobile – do you know anyone in the UK and Europe without a smartphone?

If you want to become a real ROPO magnet, you need to be more than just mobile-friendly – you need to be mobile-optimised. This means making it as easy as possible to search for your products with a smartphone. So where do you start?

Imagine a world where billboards start distributing free stuff?

Well thanks to Carlsberg, we need not imagine anymore. The drinks giant erected a giant poster in London, UK this week - one which dispensed free ice cold beers to passers-by to enjoy in the sunshine.

The installation was created by Fold7, in collaboration with Mission Media. Apparently this is just the first stunt in a new campaign drive – we can’t wait to see what’s next!

Projection mapping allows 3D objects to be turned into a display surface for a video projection, anything from small objects to cars, buildings and even people. Using specialist software, objects are mapped so that a projector can fit any desired image onto the surface of that object. This can add the impression of extra depth, optical illusions, and movement onto static objects.

Iconic landmarks like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Tokyo Station, the Astronomical Clock in Prague, and Manhattan Bridge in New York have been used in campaigns. There’s even the International Mapping Festival of Girona, including large-scale projections on the façades of Girona’s famous buildings.

As well as being projected onto buildings, the process is being used in a number of other ways, including British Airways projecting onto a model of an A380 for a video celebrating its inaugural flight from London to Singapore.

Here are 5 recent, creative examples of projection mapping used in campaigns around the world.

Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station’s iconic towers on the banks of the Thames have been used before for projection displays, including the impressive Bombay Sapphire campaign in 2011. But in 2014, it was used as the backdrop for a breath-taking display raising awareness of the building’s redevelopment. Thousands of guests wearing headphones watched 360,000 lumens of light transform the Power Station, celebrating the past, present and future of a London icon.

MediaCom leads the charge for this year’s Festival of Media Global Awards with the highest number of nominations, while Coca-Cola is the brand with the most appearances on the shortlist.

Festival of Media Global 2015 takes place at the Rome Cavalieri next month, with the gala awards dinner taking place on Tuesday 12 May.

It has been announced that MediaCom has topped the shortlist with 35 entries, with Starcom MediaVest Group in second place with 30 nominations. OMD is in third place with 27, and PHD in fourth with 23.

Coke has topped the list for brands with 11 nominations, followed by Procter & Gamble’s Always, whose #likeagirl is listed on six occasions, the same number as Luxottica’s ‘Penny the Pirate’ and Samsung’s infamous ‘Oscars Selfie’ stunt.

Some 30 countries are represented among the 207 entries, with big increases from China, Germany and New Zealand, and Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Tunisia making the shortlist for the first time.

A series of new categories have also been introduced to reflect the changing nature of the media industry, including Best Use of Programmatic, Best Use of Native Advertising and Best Use of Video categories.

We’re working away to try and get all the shortlisted case studies up on Cream, so keep checking our latest case studies section to see all the work.

VIEW THE FULL SHORTLIST HERE