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Stop worrying if it’s the year of mobile and just get on with winning it, says Google’s Matt Brittin

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By Natalie Mortimer, N/A

April 3, 2014 | 3 min read

Google Europe’s VP of business and operations Matt Brittin has said the industry should stop worrying if this is the year of mobile and just get on with winning it.

Talking about the need for businesses to adapt to the new consumer at Advertising Week Europe, Brittin said that the “language” around whether 2014 is the “year of mobile” often gets in the way. “We all know we are on mobile devices and we all can see the way the world is going. We’ve been saying at Google for a long time ‘mobile first’ and I think there’s a question now which is ‘should you just be mobile only?’”

He shared the view that delivering across multiple platforms can “really slow you down” and companies should consider starting out on mobile only. “It will be fast, it will scale more quickly, you will get loads of feedback and then you can build up fatter services for other devices.

“I would stop worrying about whether this is the year of mobile I would get on with it and make next year the year that you really win mobile.”

Brittin added that the challenge for large organisations in mobile is that it is hard for them to move fast and noted a shift from the 20th century that saw big companies meeting “markets of millions” to today where small companies are moving faster.

“If big can get fast, then big can really win, because big brands that have got real resonance with consumers can deliver on a promise consistently in lots of different settings and can be really, really successful; we are starting to see more of that.”

Discussing the opportunities online within the UK, Brittin stated that he thinks the nation is the “most creative globally” in terms of editorial, music and gaming content, and that the UK has a “huge opportunity” in front of it.

“Do we want to stand on this platform that we built for ourselves, [the internet] look down at the view and slowly drift off into irrelevance? Or do we want to stand on that platform and say, ‘oh look there’s China, and jump in with both feet?’

“That’s the challenge for us in the UK – if not now, when are we going to do that? And if it’s not you in this room who’s going to do that, who is going to lead that change?”

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