Brands are now operating in the “age of context”, and must adopt a new, mobile-centric creative approach to reach consumers, according to Telefonica’s Dan Rosen.

Speaking at the Festival of Media LatAm 2015 in Miami, Rosen – Telefonica’s global director of advertising – offered a three-step guide for brands operating in today’s mobile-first environment.

First up, playing on the idea of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, he argued that “connectivity is the new need” for consumers. “Streaming is skyrocketing, people have never been so hungry for data. Connectivity can be the next universal consumer need,” he said.

The second rule is to “get closer [to consumers] with high quality data”, said Rosen.

“Contextual used to be placing a press ad next to suitable editorial. All of that now needs to be underpinned by great data. Brands buy data from all sorts of third-party sources, often unauthenticated, which can lead you to deliver the wrong message, based on the wrong insights. The best kind is authenticated data.”

The third of Rosen’s rules is an urge for the next generation of advertising creatives to embrace the unique capabilities of mobile: “There is still a lot of desktop thinking going into mobile creativity. Context unlocks creativity. There is a whole new generation of creatives who are yet to truly express themselves using contextuality.”

Concluding that mobile remains an area where “consumers are ahead of brands”, Rosen called for greater education and more sophisticated measurement.