AKQA's Duan Evans Discusses the Mobile Lions

How would you define the Mobile Lions category in 2017?

Hopefully inspiring and of ever increasing influence. The mobile category should really be the touchstone for recognising and rewarding innovative and effective work as we are all permanently connected via our devices.

What developments have you seen emerge in this category in the last year?

Mobile platforms are integral to so many aspects of how brands exist and communicate – from social and chatbots to location services and mixed reality – and rapidly rising content consumption. The little devices we carry and obsessively interact with are at the heart of almost every brand relationship we have. If your brand doesn’t exist in some meaningful form on mobile it isn’t as strong as it could be.

What has most impressed you in mobile advertising in 2017 and what do you think the jury will be looking for in this year’s entries?

It’s always hard to get past great services that use the power of mobile to help people do things more easily or with more enjoyment. The mobile phone is becoming more of a personal assistant, and this trend is set to continue apace in 2017 with the increased developments in voice recognition technology and AI.

Virtual reality/augmented reality and gaming will see some great work – Pokémon Go will no doubt feature strongly. Also work that has a powerful social or wellbeing cause will succeed. Australia’s National Acoustic Laboratories’ Sound Storm [an iPad auditory training game that helps children who are suffering from spatial processing disorder, which makes it hard for them to hear in the classroom] is a good example of this. I would also love work such as our The Snow Fox app, which is a pioneering use of Siri to help young children read along to a story, to win. And also Nike Pro Genius, a suite of mental training games and audio tools that helps young footballers to think, predict and react as fast as the professionals.

What are the most important things for brands and agencies to consider when thinking about mobile advertising?

Relevance, ease of use and craft of execution. People’s expectations are higher than ever, and if you don’t hit these three aspects, your work will likely not get noticed or engaged with.

How do you think the category might evolve in the future?

The actual devices themselves are evolving so fast – in form, power and capabilities. They’re moving onto the wrist and into other wearables such as headsets. With the developments in voice activation tech and AI, I see this category changing radically in the coming years: both the type of work that will be recognised, but also the importance of the work and its core role in the existence of successful brands.

Will you be attending Cannes Lions this year and if so, what are you most looking forward to?

Yes, I’ll definitely be there – and the three things I am most looking forward to are, in no particular order: meeting up with AKQA-ers past and present – I have met and worked with so many truly great people at this company over the last 17 years; attending Future Lions and seeing all the amazing work coming from the next generation of innovators and creators; catching at least one talk from a non-industry person – Marilyn Manson and Iggy Pop have been personal highlights in the past.