MWC's most interesting exhibitors are those making mobile the enabler for something bigger

Without realising it, the topic of personalisation seems particularly relevant given the shift I’ve seen at MWC this year. In years gone by the focus and excitement of MWC has, to a large extent, been about the ‘bones and brains’ of mobile: devices and operating systems. And though there have been a bit of fanfare about a few new handsets, the innovation is mainly advancing existing technology. We’re approaching something like ‘peak spec’ in handsets. They’re mostly all pretty good pocket computers now.

The shift at MWC I’ve seen this year is a greater degree of new services and connected pieces of hardware that are enabled by a smartphone or a sim card. This is the ‘muscle’ of mobile: how it is starting to shape financial services, transport, the home, leisure – and of course our experience of brands and marketing. So the really interesting exhibitors at MWC are those that make the mobile a remote control or enabler for something else.

Initiatives that stand out are those that are creating entirely new products or services rooted in mobile. Ford, which has long been involved in the development of connected cars, is starting to build mobile services that shape transport more broadly, such as car-sharing platforms or connected bicycles that communicate with connected cars to improve road safety for both sets of users. Incidentally, the UK seems to be a step behind the US in the development and roll-out of connected car services – a space that I feel is genuinely promising for end users, service providers and brands.

Peel, originally a remote control app for TVs, is extending the platform so that it becomes a remote control for connected technology across the home – solving the obvious problem that end users might not want half a dozen separate apps for half a dozen separate connected in-home pieces of technology.

In the service sector, Starwood Hotels is building a set of companion mobile tools (integrated into one app) that make it easier to find the right room in each hotel, to check-in, unlock room doors, connect to local services, and reward loyal users for repeat custom. This is no mean feat: it has had to build a new inventory of 100,000 hotel rooms worldwide to make it work. But the end result is a better service, and a genuine competitive advantage, enabled by mobile.

At the operator level AT&T is taking a proactive approach to cementing its role across connected devices, by tying the sim connections for separate elements (phones, smartwatches, cars, payments) back to one individual number. Users will effectively have one ‘mobility’ data plan across devices, and their sim becomes their unifying identity across those devices.

There is still excitement in the hardware space, but it’s centred on new kinds of devices. Possibly the most noteworthy new products on show I’ve seen are from Pebble. It has designed its latest wearables to be great watches first and foremost, and then to become really useful when they’re connected to third party apps (again the mobile is a remote control) or used with custom straps embedded with specific kinds of sensors. It’s also noteworthy that Pebble continues to launch through Kickstarter – not surprisingly this latest range was the fastest (30 seconds) to reach $1m on Kickstarter.

These developments all point towards the future of marketing personalisation enabled by mobile technology: rooted in mobile beyond growing it into new devices, new services, integrated with payments and designed around the needs of individuals.

For brands thinking about the future of mobile platforms, personalisation and devices, there is a guiding principle to take from Barcelona this year: think about how mobile enables the development of new brand services that make customer experiences better, and therefore create more valuable customers – not just how we take marketing messages to people.

Mark Holden is head of futures at Arena Media