TORONTO, ONTARIO -- Don't get Phil Barrett started on the WAP versus app debate. Or else sit through a well-reasoned dissertation on the merits and demerits of each mobile channel.

That's what happened yesterday at "Mobile Marketing 2.0," a twice-yearly, half-day event that debuted at the Park Hyatt Toronto hotel. Organized by Canada's Marketing trade magazine, the event offered Mr. Barrett, vice president of digital and mobile at Toronto brand marketing firm BStreet, an opportunity to demystify mobile site and apps.

"There are clear advantages to doing both," Mr. Barrett told an audience of 300 Canadian agency, brand and publishing executives in the room. "Do both -- they can get along, they can hold hands."

Mr. Barrett recommended starting with a mobile Web site. Then graduate to an app that meets the targeted audience's needs.

Any discussion of the mobile Web or apps leads to Apple's iPhone. Mr. Barrett told the delegates that 60 percentage of mobile Web traffic worldwide comes from iPhones.

This over-indexing on the mobile Web, coupled with the 50,000-plus apps in the Apple App Store, helps the iPhone punch above its weight despite its overall 10 percent penetration of all mobile handsets.

What also sets the iPhone apart is its typical user base: younger, richer and mostly single, Mr. Barrett said.

Mr. Barrett expects the iPhone to continue posting a sales growth, especially as Apple adjusts the phone's pricing to $99 for the smaller-memory 3G model in response to new rival handsets from RIM's BlackBerry, Nokia, Samsung and Palm.

"It's not about the technology," he said. "The iPhone is not the most advanced phone, but it's the most user-friendly."

Five advantages to having an app
1. Allows brand to build a richer experience without affecting data speeds
2. App takes advantage of native phone features such as GPS, camera and voice
3. Features can work offline when consumer is not connected to mobile Web
4. Integrates with other services such as Facebook Connect
5. Can become an extension of brand attributes

Six advantages of having a mobile Web site
1. Mobile site can work on 100 percent of devices that have browsers
2. Experience can be optimized to highlight common denominator
3. Brands can publish when they want -- no approval from manufacturer app store is necessary
4. IPhone and new BlackBerry, Palm and Android phones have same Safari open source app framework Web kit
5. Easier to drive to mobile Web versus drive to mobile apps from mobile advertising networks
6. Content from mobile Web is searchable and search-friendly

Ten tips for designing a mobile Web site
1. Define specific purpose for experiences
2. Make the most important information instantly findable
3. Ensure that there is relevance to users
4. Don't try to create wired Web experience
5. Have intuitive navigation
6. Think about leverage location-based services and other social tools in overall experience
7. Avoid frames, Flash, heavy graphics and horizontal tool
8. Leverage free online tools to check for mobile readiness
9. Design for high common denominator
10. Optimize for creative excellence

Canadians talk up mobile
Mr. Barrett's comments and pointers come just as Canadian marketers -- like their U.S. counterparts "understand the potential as well as the challenges of effective mobile marketing.

While a smaller market, Canada shares some of the same mobile tendencies as the United States.

Per data shared by Mr. Barrett, 72 percent of the Canadian population has mobile phones.

At the high end are subscribers in Alberta with 82 percent penetration and Ontario with 78 percent, while other provinces such as British Columbia and Saskatchewan are each at 72 percent. The Atlantic region has a 71 percentage mobile penetration, while Quebec has a 61 percentage mobile share.

Not surprisingly, usage of services other than voice has increased. More than 20 billion text messages were exchanged last year in Canada, a number expected to double this year.

Of the text messages sent last year, 1 billion were commercial messages from brands.

Such is the popularity of mobile phones that 6 percent of Canadian consumers have discarded their landline home phones, Mr. Barrett pointed out. Another 19 percent are expected to discard their landline home phones this year.

"A quarter of Canadians are discarding their home phones," Mr. Barrett said.

Canada's rapid move to mobile is similar to trends in other developed telecoms markets. And the move is not just from landline to mobile, but from basic, feature phones to smartphones.

While global sales of mobile phones across category are down by 9.6 percent, smartphone sales are up 12.7 percent.

Overall, Finland's Nokia commands a 42.1percent worldwide share of mobile phones, followed by Research In Motion's 19.9 percent and Apple's 10.8 percent.

An estimated 25 percent of all Canadians have smartphones, Mr. Barrett said. So it is not surprising to learn that 4 million Canadians are accessing the Web through their mobile phone.

Traffic from Canada and other countries has encouraged more brands to launch mobile sites.

Per Mr. Barrett, mobile sites have grown seven-fold in the last 12 months. And there is plenty of room for growth.

"Only 0.8 percent of all domains are mobile-friendly," Mr. Barrett said.