Television still tops ad agencies? list of priorities, but it is fast losing ground to digital media such as mobile, according to Strata Marketing Inc.?s second-quarter Agency Forecast Survey.

The survey found that mobile is growing quickly and that mobile continues to get more attention as a sub-media focus?in fact, 33 percent say that mobile is a focus of their interactive spend, which is up 107 percent over last quarter.

Apple?s iPhone is the mobile device that agencies say their clients are most interested in (86.9 percent of respondents), followed by Research In Motion?s BlackBerry (55.7 percent) and Droid devices (45.9 percent), which are based on Google?s Android OS.

Mobile Marketer?s Dan Butcher interviewed John Shelton, president/CEO of Strata, Chicago. Here is what he had to say:

What is the key finding of the survey?
The increase in popularity of smartphones, and in particular, Apple's iPhone, has lead advertisers to make major investments in mobile advertising.

Nearly one-third of advertisers say that mobile advertising is the focus of their interactive spend.

That is up 107 percent over the first quarter of this year and marks a major increase in spending for the relatively new platform.

What is the most surprising finding, and why? 
The fact that digital advertising, which includes the subsets of mobile, along with online ads, SEO, etcetera, is now encroaching on television as the advertising medium of choice was surprising.

Television is still top, but only 6 percent separate TV and digital.

When asked what areas their clients are most focused on, television was the No. 1 answer, with 35 percent of the respondents, and digital was second at 29 percent.

What is driving the growth of mobile advertising?
Advertising on mobile devices is a new frontier that advertisers are rushing to explore.

Advertisers are ?going where their consumers are? and utilizing the popularity of smartphones to reach their target markets.      

How can mobile help agencies achieve their clients? goals? 
In the Strata survey, agencies list client spending as their top challenge this year.

With that in mind, implementing integrated media campaigns are essential and having the ability to target their audience with mobile advertising is becoming increasingly important for agencies.

Final Take
Dan Butcher, associate editor, Mobile Marketer

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