"Insight into an app audience is that utopian dream for marketeers" MOMA's judge Dan Joseph talks mobile

How can apps be efficiently strategised as an ad platform and what do you make of the current advancements in in-app advertising?

Apps are exciting for advertisers as a potential platform because great apps are 'contextual', meaning they understand who you are, where you are, what you want and meet your needs before you have to lift a finger (or thumb!). This sort of insight into an app audience is that utopian dream for marketeers because they can get closer to serving up that highly personalised, hyper-relevant marketing messages based on a deep real-time understand of you and your needs. Imagine a betting brand understand your real-time sentiment towards a game of football and delivering (and fine tuning) messages based on responses in real-time. Anyway, dreaming aside, we are getting close to this point and this is super exciting for advertising. But there is a BIG but. Audiences don't want to give up this personal data and be spammed with ads right off the bat. They want to understand that for what they give up (privacy) they will get something back that's more than just an ad message. They want to ensure they can trust that brand/ad platform to take care of their personal data. And they've got to be super transparent about what's going on. That makes great experience anyway and means that the advertiser is naturally baked into the product. But it sure as hell will be very easy for lots of brands to get wrong too.

What is the main factor in preventing the mass adoption of mobile wallets at the current time?

Fragmented payment channels. Commerce works when there's agreed currencies and transaction processes people trust in and can use universally. Everyone knows the colour of money. But mobile money? There's NFC, geo-fencing, e-payments, credit card etc. etc. Until this stuff is standard-ised or feels like it's a standard and not like one has to carry a million different currencies in their pockets, then people (and crucially stores) wont be adopting this. We'll get there, and it'll probably be using a technology right under our noses (i.e. location and mobile web tech). But for now, everyone is trying to invent new ways to pay and differentiate and its a bit of a mess.

What phone/tablet do you own and what do you like / not like about it?

iOS. iPhone5, iPad, Mac Air. I love the ecosystem, though I'm a little tired of the lack of innovation. But I wont be a sucker for Android quite yet, just because I want something new. I'll wait to see what Jonny Ive's influence is on the ecosystem through 2013 and how the hardware innovates and then see how bored I am But boredom certainly isn't a reason to turn away from Apple. These things are novelties, their utilities, and there's something important about the devices being reliable, steady and a little too functional.

What is the most exciting development around mobile at the moment?

Definitely wearable computing. Watches, glasses, clothing. The geek inside me says that we are underestimating how fast this is going to hit. I could be wrong, but I hope not. I want The App Business to be making software that people wear. That is going to be useful stuff.

There are 29 MOMA categories covering all aspects of mobile marketing, from apps to innovative use of mobile and user experience to use of video. The awards are open to any UK based individual, agency, company or business producing effective mobile strategies and campaigns. Registrations and entries should be made via the MOMA website by Friday 22 March.