Analysts have touted “it’s the year of mobile” for years. And in many ways it’s indeed here. According to comScore data released recently, mobile overall is now the leading digital platform, with total activity on smartphones and tablets accounting for two-thirds of digital media time spent.

But there’s another lens in which to confirm that we’ve arrived.

As the market matures and consolidates within platforms like Facebook, Google and Apple, business-at-large is still in its infancy in using mobile as a transformational, creative tool.

So in that way, a big gap exists between understanding the shift and going all-in. We see two simple reasons for that:

1. Speed — Taking small, incremental steps in the context of dynamic, rapidly evolving platforms.

2. Attachment — The impulse to emulate or extend what is already known, like treating mobile as a smaller version of desktop.

Look at media and advertising in this context. To a large extent, marketers consider mobile simply as another medium to drive awareness-building, advertising-minded tactics onto smaller screen.

If typical industry conversations are any indication, the new marketing agenda still centers around optimizing prepackaged content, media spending and programmatic placements.

Done right, it’s all unquestionably part of the new deal. But we can do better.

Leaders in the space use the smartphone’s functionality to create all-new, mobile-native experiences, utilities and media. The opportunity to build and extend real brand value — versus exclusively communicate it — is huge.

We at Weber Shandwick continue to strongly believe that every company must now be a media company, and more than ever, make mobile products central to communications and customer engagement strategies going forward.

Stewart Brand, the famed author of The Whole Earth Catalogue and respected ecologist, said once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road. It’s unquestionably clear what’s driving tech forward. It’s time we use mobile’s force and creative potential to our best advantage.

By Chris Perry, chief digital officer, Weber Shandwick

This article was updated and adapted from a Media Decoded Medium piece.