USA lags on cellphones' marketing potential

Despite a drumbeat about mobile phones being the new frontier in the ad world, marketers have been slow to dial it up, particularly in the USA. That's in part because creating a mobile strategy and message remain a challenge. Advertisers are working hard to master mobile, not least because its potential as a medium far outstrips the Web on PCs. Mobile tops 3 billion users worldwide, while PC use is at 1.2 billion, and each of the increasingly Web-enabled digital handsets is a personal connection to an individual. Being both direct and mass is advertising's holy grail. And mobile offers direct access to users wherever they go, including points of purchase — not just when they're in front of a TV or PC screen. Important for global marketers, mobile handsets are the dominant way people access the Web in many emerging markets, as it is far cheaper, says John Gauntt, senior analyst at digital ad tracker eMarketer. With a computer, "The cost of entry to get Internet access is about $1,200 for the PC and broadband; a mobile is less than half the cost."
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20080619/cannesnews19.art.htm