Mar 12

Mar 12 Four Tech Trends at Mobile World Congress

When I heard I was going to Mobile World Congress (MWC), I was over the moon. MWC is the big leagues - it's the largest mobile conference in the world and showcases many of the top global tech brands.

Located in the Fira Barcelona Gran Fia, the conference spans nine massive exhibitor halls. There were two floors, with all but one exhibitor hall on the bottom level. Eateries and outdoor lounges are spread throughout. If I had to guess, I'd say halls one to four saw the heaviest traffic.

In terms of the media's location, the Media Village was situated on the second floor, in the middle and only accessible with a media badge. Several media sponsors had broadcast capabilities from an on-site set, located on the first floor in one of the earlier halls.

After getting the lay of the land and taking time to walk hall by hall, I noticed four trends emerge at this year's show:

1) Connected Automobiles - It was shocking to see the number of cars on site. Brands that I don't typically associate with cars, such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Nokia and Visa, showed off sexy cars with technology built in. Other companies like Seat fell directly into the automobile space.

2) Robotics - Everyone loves a good robotics show. Next to my client's booth sat Pepper, a robot used in banks to provide customer service. Pepper works like a charm but was almost punted after the 10th time she showed off her dance moves to the "Locomotion." Other robots were rampant.

3) VR - It's still a thing! VR was used by a number of different brands at MWC. Samsung, for example, created a wildly popular (read: super long lines) VR experience in which you could experience alpine skiing. Shout out to our Leo Burnett pals who supported the client's presence there. Another interesting example was Goodix, who paired robotics (I told you that was popular) with VR to show you how the robot works in the field. It was a bit confusing but looked incredibly cool and made me look even cooler with the headset.

4) Men - The lack of diversity in technology is a hot topic that's often discussed in the industry. Never has it been more apparent to me than at Mobile World Congress. If I had to guess, I'd say that the attendees were 80% male. At several moments when I was in a crowded room, I could look around and count on one hand the number of women in my midst.

While disheartening, I've never been more proud to work for MSL, a company that takes diversity seriously. The best example is our tech team. Two fierce women are serving as global and North American tech sector leaders. As if that weren't enough, our team out of Boston is 95% women. That's pretty kickass, if you ask me.

Overall, Mobile World Congress was a complete whirlwind. Yes, it snowed for the first time in 30 years and my feet went numb on several occasions. That was easily negated by the fascinating tech and great opportunity I found in Barcelona at the show. If you can go, do it and thank me later.