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Weather Channel names mobile-ad-sales director
THE AD BUSINESS is mobilizing for mobile.
New York hotshop Anomaly is spinning off a mobile-marketing and -commerce agency called Assembly. Publicis & Hal Riney has hired the former chief marketing officer of MobiTV, Dave Whetstone, to head a mobile-marketing practice as "entrepreneur in residence." And the Weather Channel has established what's believed to be the first dedicated mobilead-sales position, naming Rebecca Barnett director-mobile advertising.
Although mobile advertising is small-Ovum estimates expenditures at $45 million last year-it's on a fast growth trajectory, with outlays expected to soar to $1.3 billion by 2009. "Brands are struggling with the right way to get into mobile," Mr. Whetstone said. "They hear the hype and are having trouble sorting it out and knowing what's real and not."
Shops like Assembly hope to help them sort that out. Mark Kaplan, chief strategy officer, said Anomaly hopes to expand its client base to include other ad agencies as well as marketers who might have conflicts...