Saying that Apple's iPhone has had a tremendous impact on the mobile marketing and advertising industry is an understatement, according to industry executives.

Let us start with the facts: In just a little over two years, Apple has sold 30 million iPhones. There are 75,000 applications in the iTunes store and consumers have downloaded more than 1.8 billion of them, creating an excellent platform for marketers and advertisers.

?One of the interesting things the iPhone has done for itself and for the industry, there?s a lot more interest, a lot more education and the realization that software matters on a mobile phone,? said Kevin Burden, Boston-based practice director of mobile devices at ABI Research.

?The iPhone is one of the first handsets to come out that educated consumers that the phone is more than just a phone, that there things such as the mobile Web and applications,? he said. ?Apple didn?t pioneer this, but with the number of applications that have been downloaded, it?s significant."

Apple ads are very different from all other ads promoting mobile phones.

The manufacturer pointed out all the different things users can do with the handset: Web browsing, downloading applications, send emails and it is a phone too. 

While 30 million iPhones is still a fraction of the total number of handsets out there, the fact that Apple has been able to capture the consumer imagination is an invaluable tool to raise awareness about the mobile Web and applications, both indispensible platforms for brand advertisers.

These milestones are significant in seeing that more people are buying phones with the realization that there is an operating system on the phone.

As per Mr. Burden, it is a small portion of people that buy smartphones, but it is growing and it was all started by Apple and the iPhone.

Apple's biggest technical innovation was finding out how to get a capacitive touchscreen to that small of a form factor and the multitouch was the next innovation.

Mr. Burden said Apple's biggest innovation was bringing simplicity to a mobile phone ? the company simplified the marketing message.

?The daring thing was the way they marketed the phone, which was unusual,? Mr. Burden said.

Other industry members agreed that Apple's iPhone certainly has had a tremendous impact on mobile marketing and advertising.

?I don?t think it can be understated the impact that the iPhone has had in terms of mobile marketing," said Dave Gwozdz, CEO of Mojiva, New York. "It woke up a lot of consumers and competitors too. There was a resounding 'Whoa!'"

All of a sudden the mobile Web is here, whereas before a lot of people didn?t know they had access, and the experience was nothing to write home about.

With the iPhone, people began to understand that they could browse the Internet in the fashion they are accustomed to, and all the other players immediately scrambled to make their interface and mobile Web browsing more user-friendly.

?It?s great, because not only is the iPhone and apps a great place for advertisers to start making money, it also really made guys like BlackBerry step up and make their browsing experience several notches up from what it was," Mr. Gwozdz said.

The popularity of iPhone has lead to huge increases in the adoption of other smartphones.

Many people upgrade who maybe would not have done so if not for a jealous look at the iPhone.

That means more platforms and more sophisticated smartphones for marketers to launch campaigns on.

?At Mojiva we?re definitely seeing more of a demand for advertising within iPhone apps, which we?re able to sell at a pretty high premium," Mr. Gwozdz said.

There is a high demand from marketers because they see better response rates, and they can do a lot more with iPhone advertising: rich-media and pull-down banners, expandable units and video.

Marketers are taking advantage of the functionality to engage customers, not just a text ad that says click here to go to a WAP site.

?This is just the tip of the iceberg, because there?s a lot of creative stuff that can be executed on these devices," Mr. Gwozdz said.

Fundamentally, mobile Internet usage is becoming a cultural phenomenon similar to broadband or WiFi as a must-have for consumers and the iPhone is the key driver of this transformation.

?It has been the catalyst for changing the way people communicate, engage with brands, make decisions and transact purchases ? forever reshaping the entire advertising landscape," said Paran Johar, New York-based chief marketing officer at Jumptap.

The iPhone has bridged brand and performance advertising, building not just recall but loyalty and enabling a powerful relationship between consumers and advertisers.

Combine the current economic environment together with the explosive growth in mobile user adoption and that is evidence of further shifts in mobile advertising.

Dollars are shifting across advertising models and technologies are advancing to support advertiser objectives.

Additionally, new players in the value chain are emerging to help navigate through this new medium

?I am excited about Apple?s progress evangelizing the power of location through applications that use the GPS on the iPhone," said Alistair Goodman, CEO of 1020 Placecast, San Francisco.

?The next step in GPS applications needs to be run-in-background support, which is already supported on all smartphone platforms except iPhone," he said.

1020 Placecast and Alcatel-Lucent use this functionality to offer marketers geotriggered marketing and CRM programs, like the ability to reach an interested consumer with a tailored promotion when they are near a favorite store.

Mr. Goodman sad this is the next step in mobile marketing ? opt-in, relevant content delivered based on location.

The enthusiastic consumer adoption of the iPhone and the iPod touch has provided marketers with a responsive, engaged audience for advertising messages.

The unique capabilities of the operating system, combined with the robust application marketplace, have led many marketers to invest in their first mobile campaigns.

This is evidence that Apple has really been a great driver of growth for the overall mobile advertising market.

?Frankly, the fact that many creatives and marketing managers have an iPhone or iTouch has been a big contributing factor in their interest in the medium," said Steven Rosenblatt, New York-based senior vice president of advertising sales at Quattro Wireless.  

"The App Store has created an entirely new marketplace, both for advertisers and developers," he said.

Some marketers are building applications and advertising to drive downloads, while even more are advertising in this channel to promote their brand or products.

Developers can join a network like Quattro Wireless to earn revenue and drive their applications to the top of the charts.

Quattro Wireless network data shows that iPhone and iPod touch users are more responsive to advertising than the general mobile audience.

Mobile ad networks partner with major brands and direct marketers on campaigns that include in-ad maps, click-to-download banners and other executions that take advantage of the reach and capabilities of the Apple platform.

"The iPhone is where mobile content consumption is happening, plain and simple," said Michael Chang, CEO of Greystripe, San Francisco. ?This powerful platform blends diverse content and a highly engaged audience, which means it is where advertisers want to be.

"If brands are not already there, then they are soon to follow," he said. "Because Apple got the media consumption experience right, its effect on mobile marketing cannot be understated."

Mobile ad network AdMob is helping developers take advantage of the monetization opportunities available on the 50 million iPhone and iPod touch devices Apple has sold worldwide.

?We?re excited about the success of the App Store over the last year, and expect that the new iPod touch and the latest features that Apple has unveiled will continue the explosive growth of the mobile app ecosystem," said Jason Spero, vice president and managing director of North America at AdMob, San Mateo, CA.

?The new Genius recommendation engine for apps and enhanced organization and sync capabilities will give developers increased discoverability and distribution of their apps, offering more opportunities for monetization and engaging with iPhone and iPod users,? he said.