The OMMA Mobile Summit coincided precisely with the launch of the Apple iPhone but the caution sounded from the podium was to wait for 3G technology to become ubiquitous before investing in that splendid device. For an interesting article on the difficulty some early purchasers of the iPhone had activating this new technology with AT&T, read a series of articles at CNETs news.com (Full disclosure: the articles were written by my son Declan McCullagh who works at CNET).

The Summit was intended to offer a marketing manifesto for mobile and answer the question; is mobile ready for its proper place in the media mix? Not surprisingly, the answers came often and loudly in the affirmative. Bob DeSena, MD, North America, iO Global Ltd, started on the right side of hyperbole by promising to be the Yahoo! of mobile. He noted there are 2 billion mobile devices in the world but, in the marketing sense, this technology has not gotten a lot of traction. He asked, rhetorically: what do marketers want from mobile? Answering his own question, he remarked mobile is not about being coola reference to Paris Hilton with an iPhone--and it was not about technology. In DeSenas opinion mobile marketing was about creating a deeper, personal relationship with our customers.

He observed that EuropeSpain and Italy in particularwas ahead of the US in mobile marketing and the use of SMS ads and code scanning at checkout. In a graphic he poked small fun of magazines, showing an issue of People magazine strapped to the hips of consumers. Such is mobiles potential: to be available anywhere, anytime. This will not happen if the industry is not completely customer centric.

Bob DeSena said there is too much technological testosterone; data is the currency. And engagement and accountability are the necessary metrics. The key is to put the consumer first and identify the value created by mobile.  Location marketing might be the killer application for mobile. 

If DeSena attempted to downplay technology, Keynoter Richard Williams, Executive Director, Digital Media Operations,Verizon, reminded attendees of his companys 3G technology and 60 million subscribers. His challenge: are advertisers ready to engage mobile which is effective, useful, scalable, and different. Mobile is indeed ready for the media mix.

Williams offered a brief history of technology, concluding that only with 3G service are we really ready for mobile. Wireless broadband is transforming mobile.  Statistic tumbled from the podium; one billion camera phones worldwide by 2007; ringtones are valued at $7 billion; and there are 100 million mobile games worldwide.

Williams advised us to learn from the Internets experience and beware the dancing monkey. The industry should decide early on standard advertising sizes and develop defenses against spyware and adware.

Verizons research suggests mobile applications are 10 times more effective than the Web in generating responses. Brand recall for mobile is on par with that of television. Ideally the screen is not cluttered; he recommends one ad per page with the customer in control. Verizon, which has just started selling ads on mobile, is finding that ticketing and couponing ideal mobile applications.

Since mobile is a relatively new marketing platform, the conference addressed this reality, offering a number of views on where mobile fits into the broad marketing goals of agencies and planners.

Angela Steele, Mobile Activation Director, Starcom Worldwide, argued that mobile cant live in a silo; its a part of a broader campaign. Nihal Mehta, CEO, IPSH, suggested mobile should be an extension to every other platform. Dan Rosner, Director, Innovations, Initiative North America, said that mobile expands other media.

Steele, calling on Starcom research, said the power of mobile is in its portability. She noted that mobile also serves as a kind of boredom relief; people cannot be idle. We insist on the power and opportunity to use mobile at our choice of place and time.

Andrea Kerr Redniss, SVP, Managing Director, Optimedia, remarked that it was important to define how mobile interacts with other media. At the moment budgets for mobile are coming from everywhere. She also noted that marketers remain hesitant because many are not conversant with mobile and are not savvy about its applications. In this world SMS is the lowest common denominator and probably the best way to start. Marketers understand the application of short code for asking permission or prompting offers.

Metrics for mobile are under scrutiny. Agencies are overhauling reach, frequency, and click-through-rates. Redniss said Starcom is focusing on cost per impact for the right message at the right time. Research has shown that consumers responding to mobile ads have twice the recall rate compared to those watching video banners.

Nijal Mehta emphasized that mobile is a perfect way to encourage coupon redemption, especially for pharmaceuticals. Mehtas cited research that showed a 50% redemption rate that was prompted by an ad seen in a doctors office. Mobile, through SMS, can serve as a perfect and reliable reminder for a patient to take medication.

Mobile has a level of built in protection, including a double-opt-in. Since mobile is a closed network, every program must be approved by the carrier which can take up to twelve weeks. Mehta said that mobile works particularly well with television, as American Idol proves.

ISPH has conducted 2,000 mobile campaigns, many focused in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors. Mehta said that the iPhone legitimizes the mobile Internet. And that the Apple product will normalize the mobile banner.

The next panel addressed the convergence of mobile, entertainments and advertising. For Alice Kim, SVP. Digital Distribution, MTV, mobile seems like an established business. MTV boasts 35 mobile video channels which are well monetized through sponsorship, mid-roll, post-roll, and long-form or media flow advertising. According to Kim video-to-phone services have scale and ROI; this service simply needs more adoption. She observed that it is difficult to have a platform unique to mobile and we are not there yet. She also said that mobile is no longer a separate entity at her company; it has become part of everything. With every marketing program there is a mobile application.

No mobile summit is worthy of its name if there isnt an ad network shootout allowing players to show their wares. Roger Wood, SVP and General Manager, Amobee, which manages and creates mobile inventory, cited his companys use of new sharper ad sizes, the ability to marry ads to content, and their targeted ad placement. For example, a certain ad might be sent to people only with $200 phones. Amobee also offers ads for in-game play. The ads are dynamically served to the mobile device; and the ad changes with your score. Wood added that his company can insert instream ads dynamically.

Jeremy Wright, CMO, EnPocket, offered a more international focus, claiming to serve ads anywhere, using behavioral targeting, and a kind of direct response modelclick-to-convert. His company serves more than 500 millions ads a month.

Eric Eller, VP Marketing, Millennial Media, reported that 30% of the business is in the U.S., 70% international. His company develops rich media for mobile: animation, user interaction, video and sound, and even game logic.

Adam Schneider, Senior Director Sales, AdMob, said his company, among other things serves ads in games of a consumers choice.  This process is very transparent. A consumer selects a game through a double opt-in. Ad sizes are standard and only two are served in a row. AdMob serves one billion ads a month to 1800 mobile sites in 160 countries. The company employs an algorithm technology to match ad to consumer.

Trevor Hamilton, Director, National Advertising Sales, Ad infuse, said his company can personalize on a global scale ads on all platforms, inserting ads at the site of the content query. Advertising is personalized by utilizing social networking research and behavioral targeting. This way the right ad is delivered at the right time. Ad infuse can change, target, and serve ads in a dynamic environment. One drawback, noted by a number of panelists, is that sometimes marketers have to go across carriers to execute their campaigns (Amobee won the shootout and an iPhone).

The challenge for mobile, as with video, is to find a set of commonly agreed on metrics. In short metrics must validate the medium. A key question posed by a metrics panel is whether 3G behaviors are different from regular mobile behavior which shows relatively few people use text messaging or access the Web.

With better mobile technology the expectation is that mobile application will become more ubiquitous. Research about how consumers respond to mobile is filling in some of the gaps. Those who watch mobile video watch about 25% less commercial television. The same consumers are drawn to cable; the smaller cable networks do well with mobile video.

Evan Neufeld, VP and Senior Advisor, M:Metrics is experimenting with the idea of exchanging information for ads; consumers want compensation. Neufeld noted that users are 5 times more likely to remember seeing mobile than the same ad on the Web. He said that mobile is 10 times more effective than the Web in influencing purchase intent.

Emily Riley, Analyst, Jupiter Research, cited Japan and South Korea as places where mobile application is very well developed. Customers are browsing for details on their mobile at location. Mobile serves as the end-point e-commerce platform. Riley indicated that in the states about 90% of shoppers have phones with them in stores. She suggested mobile can have an important role in the purchase cycle, especially in direct response applications, and banking and everything local. The mobile carriers are sitting on a great deal of information that, even with privacy considerations, might be better used to market the medium.  Riley reiterated what other speakers have mentioned: offshore markets have better service, better devices, and better gaming. Eighty-two percent of mobile in Italy are used for text messaging. Mobile television is well established in Japan, where ownership of multiple phones and frequent handset turnover helps fuel the market.

The mobile conference was a very useful overview of where the business is. Mobile, of course, is still in its infancy. Advertising in the sector might reach $200 million in 2007. Theres a lot of heat in the sector; and a little less light.  Some of the research and case studies presented seemed more suggestive than final, which is perhaps inevitable at this early stage.  The business needs metrics. And the mobile is not likely to become a serious factor if markets have to prepare five different versions of ads for five different carriers. As Steve Smith noted in Media Post, So many of the cases our panelists cited were very intriguing examples of how mobile can work. But I dont recall anyone mentioning how it played a consistent, predictable and valuable component in a grand brand of ad strategy.

On the other hand the investment community seems bullish on mobile because its such a personal devise. Magna Global sees promise in mobile because of its CRM (Customer Relations Management) and relationship building features. As we are discovering with the iPhone, mobile devices are only as good as the backbone provided by the carriers.

Charles McCullagh