Mobile Commerce Daily, the world’s leading publishing franchise covering mobile-influenced retail and commerce, has named Mark Hamstra as content director, overseeing the publication’s editorial operations as well as allied conferences, webinars and awards.

Mr. Hamstra, who was previously content director on Penton Media’s Supermarket News, is also charged with running the editorial and events operations of Mobile Marketer, the largest publishing franchise covering mobile-influenced advertising, marketing and media. He is based in the New York headquarters.

“Mobile Commerce Daily takes the lead in covering the future of retail, commerce and financial services, while Mobile Marketer is the marketer’s No. 1 source for where multichannel advertising, marketing and media are heading,” said Mickey Alam Khan, chairman of New York-based Napean, which owns Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer.

“Mark’s mandate is to take the two franchises a few knotches up, and expand the editorial operations with new ideas, products and partnerships,” he said. “Not only will he further sharpen the editorial coverage of the publications, but he’s also expected to vastly grow the conference and webinar business.”

Mr. Hamstra ([email protected]) will report directly to Mr. Alam Khan, who will remain editor in chief of Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer.

Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer and their allied properties constitute the Mobile Group of Napean, a content company with diversified interests.

In addition to his experience at Supermarket News, Mr. Hamstra also served stints as senior editor on DM News and Nation’s Restaurant News. He is a veteran journalist with more than two decades’ experience of reporting as well as managing reporters and editors.

Meanwhile, associate editor Chantal Tode has been promoted to senior editor on Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer, reporting to Mr. Hamstra. Ms. Tode specializes in covering retail, legal/privacy and platform issues.

New details for retail
Launched in 2009, Mobile Commerce Daily is the world’s leading retail title covering mobile. The publication has spawned Classic Guides, webinars and conferences such as the Mcommerce Summit in May, Mobile Research Summit: Data & Insights in June and Nonprofit Mobile Day in July.

The summits attract senior executives from leading retailers, brands, nonprofits and financial services firms. Content includes deep-dives into client-side experiences in mobile as part of the multichannel retail mix as well as research and analysis that will help make smarter marketing and retail decisions.

Recognizing retailer and bank efforts in mobile is another focus of Mobile Commerce Daily. Not surprisingly, the Mobile Commerce Awards – 10 prizes in all – are highly vied-for honors that cement the winners’ status as retailers, banks and marketers that push the envelope to make their retail consumer outreach more mobile-friendly.

Of all the prizes, the Mobile Retailer of the Year award is the most prestigious honor awarded to retailers for outstanding 360-degree integration of mobile within the company and its inbound and outbound outreach.

Mobile is the future of marketing
Mobile Commerce Daily’s sister publication, Mobile Marketer, is also patterned on similar lines.

Founded in 2007, Mobile Marketer is a daily publication that focuses on how marketers run their marketing efforts with mobile as part of the advertising, marketing and media mix.

Upon launch, the title quickly became the world’s leading editorial source for news on mobile advertising, marketing and media.

The publication soon spawned conferences such as Mobile FirstLook in January, Mobile Marketing Day in March, Mobile Marketing Summit: Holiday Focus in September and Mobile Women to Watch Summit in November.

The summits attract attendees and sponsors from around the world, winning acclaim for featuring speakers who are senior executives from respected brands, retailers, ad agencies, publishers, banks and analysts.

The conferences are known for sessions that deep-dive into brand and retailer case studies as well as the latest research and analysis – all focused on where marketers and retailers need to go.

Mobile Marketer also publishes its Classic Guides on topics such as mobile advertising, mobile commerce, mobile creative and the outlook for the year ahead.

A key Mobile Marketer franchise is Mobile Women to Watch, which honors 25 women executives in marketing, retail and financial services who are set to make a difference in mobile in the year ahead.

The special edition honoring these executives is complemented by a conference called Mobile Women to Watch Summit that has solely women speakers discussing mobile issues and topics that focus on women in the working environment and tips for their careers.

Another top honor is the Mobile Marketer Awards, which recognizes the best work in 10 categories. A key prize valued by all marketers is the top gong, Mobile Marketer of the Year.

Finally, Mobile Marketer’s highest honor is entry into the Mobile Hall of Fame. So far, only Apple founder Steve Jobs was named to the Mobile Hall of Fame when he was alive for outstanding dedication to the growth of mobile.

Mr. Hamstra will oversee all of these assets and a stellar team of editors, reporters and events executives. He will also spearhead new initiatives and partnerships that take Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer to the next level.

Sponsored Case Study feature debuts
Separately, Mobile Commerce Daily has opened a new franchise called Sponsored Brand Case Study and Sponsored Retailer Case Study. These features will target the publication’s vied-for audience of decision-makers from retailers, financial services firms, brands, publishers, analysts and service providers.

For the sponsored case studies, the sponsor will provide a 500-word case study of a brand or retailer client in a Word document with a separately attached high-res color jpeg logo and two high res color jpeg images capturing the creative. All images should be 200dpi and up. The sponsored case study will run on the publication’s Web site and in the daily newsletter for a week.

The case study sponsor will also be entitled to run a 336×280 banner ad unit featuring the case study on either the newsletter or the publication’s Web site the following week for seven days. For availability and more details, please contact Jodie Solomon at [email protected].

These enhancements are meant to improve the reader’s knowledge base of marketing and retail influenced by mobile.

“Napean’s Mobile Group comprising Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer and their allied conferences and properties not only lead the market but are on a growth trajectory indicative of a singular fact: mobile is reshaping the world of marketing and retail in a way that will soon redefine business models across industry sectors,” Mr. Alam Khan said.