NEW YORK -- Case studies from Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, WeatherBug and BlackBerry were trotted out yesterday at the first IAB Leadership Forum: Mobile to make the case for mobile marketing.

Targeting an audience of more than 300 executives -- experts, newbies and agency media buyers -- the panel touted mobile's virtues as a branding and direct response medium. Ansible CEO Vladimir Edelman hit the nail on the head, though.

"Mobile's about conversion," Mr. Edelman told the morning audience at the event organized by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. "It's not necessarily about brand awareness -- it's about conversion and acquisition."

Mr. Edelman's case study was on J&J's BabyCenter information site that targeted pregnant women. The challenge was boiling down the vast amount of information on the computer Web site and distilling it for a mobile device and audience.

Ansible's solution was to repurpose the content for the BabyCenter mobile site into three areas: Is it dangerous? Is it normal? Can I eat it?

"The reality is that there are only certain types of information that's relevant to mobile devices," Mr. Edelman said.

Fellow panelists Erin Wilson, director of mobile advertising at WeatherBug, and Jeff Arbour, vice president of mobile integration at The Hyperfactory, focused on the BlackBerry.

The campaign targeted three types of users: BlackBerry users, non-BlackBerry users and smartphone users. The Hyperfactory created 20-odd units.

So, the unit for the BlackBerry users thanked them for using the phone. The unit for the non-BlackBerry users asked them if they wanted to do more with their phones. And those with smartphones were asked if they would like to know more about the BlackBerry.

The Hyperfactory used a detection engine to deliver units based on the capabilities of the mobile phone. The firm also detected the wireless carrier used.

Average click-through on the campaign was claimed at 2.63 percent. The mobile site received 104,000 visitors. The average time spent on the site was 9.2 minutes. Also, the site averaged 4.2 page views per visit.

WeatherBug, which is the weather service on Verizon Wireless, was The Hyperfactory's strongest performing partner, with a 3.8 percent click-through rate on BlackBerry's smartphone site.

The Hyperfactory claimed it garnered an 8.5 percent click-through rate on some high-performing days.

Eric Bader, managing partner of Brand In Hand Inc., focused on brand metrics. He cited mobile work for several clients, including P&G brands.

The campaign for Vicks DayQuil was linked to weather. Weather raises consumer awareness of cold and cough medications.

For another pet-focused client, Eukanuba, the idea was to develop a loyalty CRM program. Hence the dog bark ringtones that people may find fun.

Brand In Hand's Cover Girl initiative was also a loyalty play to get consumers to join a text club through participation with other channels such as television.

Outdoor media was used for the Secret deodorant. Visitors to Times Square could send personal secrets through text and those vetted would appear on the NASDAQ screen right there.

The mobile solution for P&G's Tide Stain Detector was how to treat stains and how to use the Tide stick. The interactions help P&G with data capture as well.

Another P&G brand, the Crest toothpaste, runs mobile quizzes. The idea is to place the brand where mobile would not be natural.

The work for P&G's Pringles potato chip brand is to ask consumers to sign up for shopping lists. The idea is to get mobile consumers to add Pringles to their shopping lists. Thus the campaign's theme: Remember the Pringles.

Ansible's Mr. Edelman perhaps had the best piece of advice for the delegates. Be realistic, say no to work that does not translate well to mobile and find budgets that make sense.

"This industry cannot afford bad case studies," Mr. Edelman said. "Brands can sit this out and not worry about missing anything."