Ypulse Interview: Allison Mooney, Senior Director, Fleishman-Hillard
Posted by casey on 10-22-2008
Allison Mooney is the senior director of trends and research at Next Great Thing, the youth mobile marketing division of Fleishman-Hillard. There, she tracks mobile trends and innovations with an emphasis on teens. In addition to regularly contributing to NGT’s blog, Allison has also written for publications like PSFK, Radar, and Glamour. She will be the moderator on the “Make Your Message Mobile” panel at next month’s Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup East in Boston.
Ypulse: Can you tell us a little bit about your role at Fleishman-Hillard?
Allison Mooney: Sure. Well, we’re actually just launching a new Omnicom Group company, managed by FH, called Mobile Behavior that I’m working on. My role there will be Director of Behavioral Planning. I’ll still be keeping an eye on youth, but with a focus on their mobile behavior, as well as trends in the mobile space. So for instance, how young people are using their phones, what services they like, what they want on mobile, etc. Then I’ll work on creative strategy and how brands should behave, in turn.
YP: What are the five websites that you never go a day without reading?
AM: There are tons and tons of great sites on my Google Reader, but it intimidates me…. To cut back on information overload, I’ll subscribe to select newsletters. Those include (in no particular order): mobilemarketer.com, mobile content today, TrendCentral, Ypulse (obviously), and CTIA Smartbrief. I read PSFK.com religiously (and write for them as well.) To get the rest of my news, I go on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr and see what friends are talking about. Their status updates are my new RSS feeds.
YP: How has your previous magazine experience prepared you for a career based around trendspotting?
AM: Magazine writers and editors are essentially trendspotters, just look at the front of any popular magazine–it’s all trends, new products and emerging talents. One key thing I learned was the Rule of Three, i.e. that three makes a trend. So a lot of what I did entailed reading blogs, talking to people, staying current, and waiting for that third thing to happen so I could pitch it:). It also taught me how to write quickly and succinctly, which has been invaluable for me as a blogger on our site www.nextgreatthing.com.
YP: What can Ypulse Mashup attendees expect to learn from your panel in November?
AM: That they have a lot to learn about mobile. There’s a lot of curiosity around it because it’s new and ripe with opportunity, especially for youth marketers, but this is leading to many missteps and misconceptions. I’m hoping to address these with the panelists and hear their take on youth mobile culture, new technologies and practical applications, as well as marketing approaches and best practices. Expect some heated debates!
YP: What are the top three mobile trends we should be looking for in ’09?
AM: Funny you should ask… I actually have a series going on our site called Top Mobile Trends, so every Monday I post a new one. Out of those, I would say Location Curation, Multimedia Microblogging, and Interactive Media are the three that will most define the future of mobile marketing.
Categorized under: 2008 Mashup East, Mobile