[Posted by Peter Kim]

As you may know, my research coverage at Forrester has shifted into
mobile marketing.  Last night, I moderated a panel discussion last
night for MITX  and we talked about
the industry for a couple hours with The Weather Channel, ESPN, Carat,
g8wave, and Ringleader Digital.  The three biggest points that came up
in discussion:

  1. Measurement.  It just isn’t there today.  There wasn’t a lot of
    discussion of platforms, but it seems like marketers must broker deals
    with all kinds of players that operate many different systems.
  2. Standards.  Like the rise of online ads – lack of formats and
    standards.  IAB?  MMA?  Marketers, agencies, publishers, platforms,
    manufacturers, and carriers need to put their heads together to make
    mobile ad formats work.
  3. Education.  Do you want to learn something new today?  Figure out
    the difference between on- and off-deck, what is WAP, or why does 3G
    matter.  Learning about this environment sounds strangely like learning
    about how the web works a decade ago.

Good crowd and good panel.  Lots of iPhone fans.  Lots of Blackberry
users.  And lots of great services, products, and ideas out there – but
I think some of the technical complexity and immaturity of the current
business opportunity keep mainstream media attention away from the
space.

I’ll be thinking more about this in the future – next month I’ll
publish a document outlining how interactive marketers can take what
they already know and apply to mobile.