Harald Neidhardt CMO Smaato on how OPEN Mobile Advertising is the future

My heart skipped a step as I started my interview with Harald Niedhardt the CMO from Smaato in the private VIP area of one of Barcelona´s most exclusive bars.

 
Why?
Because I started off the interview with a question asking Harald how it was in the in device application space?  He smiled and said that I was so last year and in application was good but Smaato had developed into an open mobile platform.

I said, everyone is claiming to be a broker!

He responded, “we were first and we are doing it the best”. (He told me to check out the website and the number of clients that Smaato had … see picture)

I laughed and said, “OK. Give me the pitch”.

What followed was an eloquent account of the state of the advertising market and the trouble with mobile ad inventory.  Harald explained that early on Smaato realized that to actually offer the most relevant in-application advertising partnering with the best of breed and quality advertisers was paramount. He said that we are now putting the focus on OPEN as we know that in order to cut above the rest and the competition we need to have a killer ad inventory that will cater to all of our developer needs.

In the past the advertisers have focused too much on just serving ads and praying the user clicks. We don’t do this and never will. By making our platform open we attract a greater market that means that when we serve mobile advertising we cater to demand and not just inventory fill.

I agreed about the quality of mobile advertising and the current state of the mobile advertising market. Harald was bullish on the market. He said, I am trying to remain realistic in an economic decline but with our killer partnerships and networks we have built bridges that are extraordinary. We know the market and we are a solid early mover advantage business.

I changed my tune slightly and suggested that perhaps Smaato had to become more OPEN because the in application market wasn’t strong enough with new competitors coming in and undercutting the market quickly.

Harald said, “that competition had increased but people would pay for quality”.

Harald and I then spoke in details on Smaato and how its applications or the core initial business was still the backbone of the company. But he said that education remains a desperate need in the market and mentioned how ad control was vital as developers were upset when their own games were tarnished with the wrong quality of advert.

I thought about that and agreed that applications could be very personal and serving bad adverts on them might kill the whole experience.

What we think?
Harald is a lovely personable and honest guy that doesn´t beat around the bush. I appreciated his honesty and he sure knows how to through a great party!