The gloves came off at the Mobile Marketing Forum as ad networks squared off to take a hard look at who is delivering and who is falling short in terms of return on investment.

A panel of speakers at the conference, which was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, talked about ROI and how its definition differs according to the campaign. The session titled, "Advertising Panel: What is my ROI," gave attendees insight into what metrics work best with which types of campaigns.

"It is imperative to understand that mobile is different than other channels," said Steve Rosenblatt, senior vice president of advertising sales at Quattro Wireless. "Mobile needs to fit into other advertising."

Mr. Rosenblatt cited MGM Grand Hotel and Casino's mobile initiatives as a campaign that illustrates integration into other advertising.

Digital metrics such as engagement are important. So is focusing on influenced consumers' mindset.

According to Tony Nethercutt, vice president of sales for AdMob, San Mateo, CA, the type of advertising determines ROI.

He suggested that Dynamic Logic and Insight Express can be used to track brand metrics.

Campaigns using mobile have 4-10 times higher brand lift than any other channel, Mr. Nethercutt said.

"If your campaign's goal is direct response you'll be using ROI metrics such as CTR, click-to-call, Click-to-WAP and CPC," Mr. Nethercutt said. "Again, the advertising determines the ROI."

According to Paran Johar, chief marketing officer at JumpTap, brands need to reinvent metrics for mobile ROI.

"It's different," he said. "Mobile moves brands towards engagement, driven by relevancy. The cell phone is a different experience."

According to Erica Chriss, vice president of strategy and business development for Greystripe, mobile campaign results are different too.

"I agree that it is important to work with ad partners in order to think of the success of mobile in terms of engagement," Mr. Chriss said.

It is important to pay close attention to what the user does with the ad, how long the user interacts with it, where and when they click and who's clicking.

Lance Johnson, global head of sales and marketing for Nokia Interactive Advertising, said that it is going to take time for brands to really spend in mobile.

"Direct response is of lifetime value to advertisers," Mr. Johar said.

As brands and agencies move into mobile they need to count all possible costs, as this impacts ROI.

"Every mobile initiative has a different objective," Mr. Rosenblatt said. "If your building an app that no one's using, utilizing mobile banners to drive foot traffic to it may be the answer."

Mr. Nethercutt said that marketers should try registration-based sites for demographics targeting. Or brands can use comScore to find sites with scale, he said.

He cited Adidas' "Basketball is a Brotherhood" mobile initiative as a campaign that really nailed it.

Adidas launched the integrated campaign "Basketball is a Brotherhood" to coincide with the kickoff of the 2007-08 NBA season, and the arrival of Adidas' Team Signature footwear and apparel in stores.

The campaign, which featured some of the biggest NBA stars teaching young players the value of playing as a team, included TV, in-store, print, online and mobile components.

Adidas wanted to empower consumers to spread the brand message by providing an interactive experience where the consumer becomes a part of the conversation (see story).

The goal was to create an awareness of brotherhood through mobile and involve consumers in the creation of that content.

According to Mr. Nethercutt imobile was given half a percent of the budget and drove 20 percent of opt-ins.

Ms. Chriss said that she really liked the Kia Soul Boxing Sheep campaign, which she claims 21 percent of users interacted with Kia's in-game ad. In fact, users interacted for 10.4 seconds.

For his part, JumpTap's Mr. Johar liked the "Mall Cop" mobile campaign built around the film's release.

Mobile Marketer's Mickey Alam Khan moderated the session.