MMA Forum: opportunities for US mobile marketers

In a debate about opportunities for mobile marketers and advertisers in the US market at this week's Mobile Marketing Association Forum in New York City, the notion that it seems like every year is going to be the "year of mobile" got some chuckles from the audience. But panelists maintained that 2008 has seen some excellent indicators so far. "By the metrics that we took, the 1st quarter of 2008 was [like all of] 2007 for us," said Jeff Sellinger, EVP mobile for CBS Corp. And Steen Anderson, Co-founder and VP marketing for mobile agency 5th Finger, insisted that the buzzword should be that this is the "decade" of mobile. "We're in a time of educational growth in the marketplace," he explained. Richard Ting, executive creative director of agency R/GA, added that if one compared this year to last year, every one of the agency's top clients is asking for mobile. "Whether they are willing to set aside a large budget is another question," he admitted, pointing out that most clients are looking to integrate mobile campaigns across TV, Web and print.