‘Mobile First’ A Misnomer, Says mCordis’s Berney

Managing partner Paul Berney also has strong views on how marketers are missing the point in their digital strategy–especially in cohort segmentation. “I absolutely hate it when brands tell me that their target market is Millennials,” he said.

Mobile. It’s an unavoidable channel to reach target audiences and has become the most dominant aspect of digital strategy. But is current practice still best practice?

With more than 30 years’ experience, including five years spearheading the Mobile Marketing Association, Paul Berney is a juggernaut in the mobile space, bringing learned wisdom and a new perspective to a much-discussed subject.

As managing partner of mobile marketing education and adviser service mCordis, Berney is providing clients with guidance that goes against the common grain of mobile strategy.

“For me the term ‘mobile first’ is a misnomer. It suggests that you have to do everything via the mobile channel and everything has to be pushed toward it,” he said. “Mobile has to play its part as part of a marketing mix.”

Berney also has strong views on how marketers are missing the point in their digital strategy–especially in cohort segmentation.

“I absolutely hate it when brands tell me that their target market is Millennials. It just drives me crazy! There is no similarity whatsoever between a 35-year-old Millennial that’s married with three kids compared to a 23-year-old who just left university,” he said. “Although they both fit in the same bracket, it’s just lazy, sloppy marketing.”

Tune in as Berney, with hosts JV Douglas and Mark Jones, breaks down the new era of the connected consumer, how we’re getting it wrong with audience segmentation, and why Google knows more about you than Facebook does.

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The CMO Show is a podcast about brand storytelling and the future of marketing. To listen to previous episodes, visit the website or follow along on iTunes or SoundCloud.