iMedia's news editor reports on a discussion with industry experts who addressed the question, "Mobile: What is Reality and What is Science Fiction?"

Jupiter Research predicts that wireless ad spending will reach $2.1 billion by 2011. The research company also speculates that mobile display advertising will grow from $56 million in 2006 to $224 million in 2011.

In Asia, mobile penetration is massive, but are consumers in North America ready for mobile? Is mobile marketing here, around the bend or in the very distant future?

Jocelyn L. Griffing, SVP, director of online media, ICON international, moderated the roundtable discussion and gave some background about her mobile marketing experience.

"Clients come to us and want to do something edgy and mobile is often on their list," said Griffing. "When you drill down sometimes mobile is appropriate for the client and sometimes it's not."

Griffing explained that many clients say they want to create a mobile campaign, but are not too knowledgeable about the platform. The clients are excited about mobile because of the buzz, but often they are lacking proper information.

"You have to at times back up and walk the client through it," said Griffing. "And then occasionally the clients get spooked about the current actual reach and logistics."

Stephanie E. Bauer, manager, mobile web and mobile advertising, Verizon Wireless, shared her perspective on the current mobile landscape.

"We did a branding study with IAG research and the brand recall with mobile is on par with TV," said Bauer. "You can get really creative with mobile and put a lot of thought into it. And now you see a lot of brands starting to build out their own WAP sites."

Last month, Verizon announced a deal with YouTube to place portions of YouTube content on Verizon's VCast service.

A shared thought at the roundtable was that mobile is a personal device and marketers must be careful approaching it.

"Mobile now is like the first days of interactive advertising," said Griffing.

Marc Kiven, COO, Centro noted, "The quality of mobile devices is improving each year while everybody is trying to figure [mobile marketing] out now."

Kiven added that it seems natural for social media and mobile to work together but "marketers are still working to figure out the social media too."

According to an IDC report, "Asia/Pacific Wireless Gaming 2004-2008 Analysis and Forecast: Ready to Play?," the wireless gaming market in Asia/Pacific (ex Japan) is expected to reach US$1.3 billion in 2008.

Griffing asked, "Will the United States catch up with Asia in terms of mobile marketing and consumption?"

"I think it's going to take a few years to catch up," replied Kiven.

The topic of social media, user-generated content and their relation to mobile was brought to the discussion.

"As a carrier we have a huge responsibility to establish guidelines and make sure some of the mobile content is sent to the appropriate consumer; for example, making sure the content is suitable for children who are mobile phone users," said Bauer.

Bauer explained that this could be done with age verification when signing up for a phone.

She also said that brands are sometimes weary about having their brand displayed next to user-generated content that may not be appropriate. Overall, the carriers are taking a cautious approach to social media when it applies to mobile.

Another question was asked, "Is it the client or the agency driving mobile?"

"I think it's the agency's responsibility to learn about mobile," said Patrick Hanavan, VP, MADX, Third Screen Media. "I got into mobile because I was reading about it and now my job is to give people the mobile 101 talk, to inform companies what is happening in mobile today."

Griffing suggested that, "Maybe we shouldn't be so coveted with our clients. If they want to learn about mobile and nobody at the agency is an expert, why not bring a mobile expert in to educate them about mobile marketing?"

Roger Park is iMedia's news editor. Read full bio.