The demand for mobile expertise – strategic, creative and technical – from brands, publishers, operators and creative agencies has never been stronger. But selecting the right partner for your mobile site, campaign, service or application is compounded by lack of real information about the capabilities, size and geographical coverage of mobile agencies. Anyone can claim to be a ‘full-service mobile agency with global coverage’, but clients don’t want a jack of all trades, they’re usually looking for an agency with a proven expertise in specific disciplines for their target markets.
- This is the only place where you will find in-depth profiles of the top agencies. As all the data is supplied directly by the agencies you can be sure it’s accurate.
- Massive thanks to all the agencies that submitted a profile. Most have gone to considerable effort – even creating a special video montage of the best case studies – and giving us unbridled insight into their businesses. Some were a little coyer than others. Some agencies refused altogether (though we suspect they’ll come round quickly when they see their competitors profiled).
- Mobile is a vast and diverse business. When you’re vetting agencies, these are the details you need to know to help pick the agency that will give you the right advice and has the ability to deliver from creation to implementation: size, geographical coverage, specialties, business partners, financial status, clients, industry accolades, case studies, memberships of associations and vision.
The mobile agencies at a glance
(Click on each agency for an in-depth profile)
| mobiThinking guide to mobile agencies: ranked by revenue | ||||||
| Data sourced from direct from agencies, July 2010 to July 2013 | ||||||
| Agency | Revenue band | Main countries | Staff in mobile | Top mobile activities | ||
| Hungama | F >$20m | India 96%; UAE 3% | 500 | mobile content 50%; mobile Web 20%; Short/QR codes 10% | ||
| 2ergo | F >$20m | N/A | 200 | N/A | ||
| The Hyperfactory | E $10-20m | United States: 77.5%; New Zealand/Australia: 12.5%; Canada: 5%; Europe: 5% | 140 | Mobile Web: 30%; mobile apps: 30%; m-commerce: 15% | ||
| Mobext | E $10-20m | Spain 20%; UK 20%; USA 20%; France 15% | 40 | media buying 35%; mobile ads 25%; mobile apps 15% | ||
| Mobile2Win (M2W) | E $10-20m | India 100% | 375 | messaging 30%; Social/UGC apps 30%; mobile Web 20% | ||
| Grupo.Mobi (Pontomobi) | D $10-20m | Brazil 100% | 160 | mobile advertising 20%; media buying 20%; mobile apps 25% | ||
| Golden Gekko | D $5-10m | UK 60%; US 15%; Sweden 10%; Spain 5% | 130 | Mobile apps 65%; mobile Web 15%; mobile games: 5% | ||
| Mobiento | D $5-10m | Scandinavia 65%; USA/UK/others 35% | over 50 | Mobile web 20%; apps 20%; messaging 15%; mobile ads 15% | ||
| Mobile Dreams Factory | D $5-10m | Spain; USA; Latin America | 25 | Messaging 30%; apps 30%; mobile web 20%; media buying 20% | ||
| Mobilera | D $5-10m | Turkey; Kazakhstan; Portugal; Jordan | 75 | messaging 25%; mobile Web 15%; mobile ads 15% | ||
| Sponge | D $5-10m | UK 70%; Nigeria 20%; Germany 5%; Spain 5% | 24 | messaging; mobile Web; mobile apps | ||
| Ogilvy & Mather | D $5-10m | US 20%; APAC 40%; EMEA 30%; LATAM 10% | 250 | mobile apps 20%; mobile Web 15%; mobile content 15% | ||
| BBH | C $2.5-5m | n/a | 1-15 | mobile ads 35%; mobile content 25%; mobile apps 25% | ||
| XS2 | B $1-2.5 million | Netherlands 50%; UK 20%; Singapore 10% ; Italy 10%; Brazil 10% | 36 + freelancers | mobile apps; 40%; mobile Web; 20%; mobile ads; 15%; media buying; 15% | ||
| Phonevalley | unclassified | n/a | 150 | n/a | ||
| CLANMO | unclassified | Germany 90% | 30 (+5) | mobile Web 30%; m-commerce 30%; mobile apps 30% | ||
| Source: mobiThinking | ||||||
Method:
- mobiThinking asked the experts (see the thanks section below) we respect to nominate the most important mobile agencies around the globe in terms of size, respect, influence etc.
- The agencies with the most nominations were then invited to answer a probing Q&A about the business.
- We will continue to add more profiles as more agencies are recommended and/or they feel sufficiently confident about their businesses to share the data publicly.
Thanks to all those who helped with this guide, including:
- Barney Loehnis, OgilvyOne, AsiaPac – See this interview.
- Tom Eslinger, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide – See this interview.
- Paul Berney, mCordis (formally MMA) – See this interview.
- Rohit Dadwal, MMA Asia – See this interview.
- Noah Elkin, eMarketer.
- Tomi Ahonen – See this interview.
- Mack McKelvey, Millennial Media – See this profile of Millennial.
- Lars Mobikyo, Wireless Watch Japan.
- Ben Tatton-Brown, Amobee.
- Jeremy Steinberg, Foxnews.mobi.
- Jon Mew, Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).
- Mark Hawkins, The Mobile Data Association (MDA).
- David Murphy, Mobile Marketing Magazine.
- João Guilherme Franco, Hands – See this profile of Hands.
Don’t miss:
- Mobile SEO best practices for 2014
- Guide to mobile industry awards – Check out the latest video case studies.
- The insiders’ guides to world’s greatest mobile markets – Latest: Germany
- Guide to mobile agencies – Latest profile: XS2
- Guide to mobile ad networks – Latest profiles: DMG – Twinpine
- Mobile events 2013 – best conferences, great discounts and free tickets
- The big compendium of global mobile stats
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