NEW YORK ? A VivaKi executive at the 2012 IAB Mobile Marketplace said that although the industry is making strides, measurement continues to be an issue when buying mobile.

During the ?What I Buy: Why and How? panel, executives from Carat, Mindshare, VivaKi and R/GA spoke about trends that they are seeing with how mobile media is being bought. The session was moderated by Eric Bader, CEO/founder of Mobilize, New York.

?The big barrier that we are seeing in terms of getting mobile planning and buying to grow is really measurement,? said Roy Chung, director of emerging solutions at VivaKi?s audience on demand, Chicago.

?What we are seeing is a mix of both holistic and siloed strategies across the board,? he said.

Pick your poison
According to Mr. Chung, many clients want to try out multiple areas of mobile when first getting started.

For instance, a brand might be interested in retargeting, cross-channel and using location all at once.

Part of the problem with measurement is that click-through rates and cost per install remain to be main ways with how mobile is measured.

Mobile also makes context an important factor for marketers. For example, a consumer looking at an ad for paper towels while in a grocery store will most likely react differently than a consumer looking at the same content in a movie theater.

With brands unsure of exactly what they can get out of mobile, many may be hesitant to invest in it, per Mr. Chung.

Finding ways to shift budgets is difficult for many brands. However, instead of creating a budget for mobile as a channel, a budget should be split into a what a brand?s objective is.

Rory O?Flaherty, group media director at R/GA, New York, agreed that brands need to be tackling mobile with budgets that can be adjusted and are flexible enough to accommodate the channel in a multichannel strategy.

Strategy first
Brian Decker, managing director of client leadership at Mindshare, New York, said that mobile has a large amount of velocity going right now with both new innovations and growing adoption from consumers.

However, mobile is a unique channel that needs to be treated separately from other digital channels. For example, in some cases, mobile is being treated the same as display.

Mobile has changed the ways that consumers transact.

For example, Square, ISIS and Google Wallet are looking at which ways consumers prefer to buy via mobile.

However, mobile needs to be seen as a strategic part of a marketing mix.

Simply having a mobile application is not a mobile strategy. Instead, mobile needs to be used in a way to achieve a client?s objectives.

?In the concept of doing one-offs, mobile is not something that you check-off to say that you?ve done,? Mr. Decker said.

One of the challenges that mobile offers is making marketing targeted and attributed. However, technologies such as geo-fencing can help marketers.

Mobile specific
According to Jason Newport, senior vice president of mobile strategy, Carat, New York, mobile needs to be used as part of a multichannel strategy.

Additionally, mobile has a built-in payment channel and is an always-on channel for consumers.

As an example of a brand that is using mobile in a multichannel way, Mr. Newport talked about the ways that Home Depot has embraced the medium.

For example, the retailer uses geo-targeting, rich media and apps as a way to expand the in-store experience outside of stores for consumers.

?Mobile?s unique attributes make it the most powerful consumer touch point,? Mr. Newport said.

?We don?t think of it so much as a channel as a true touch point in stitching stories across channels,? he said.

?We have to embrace the special unique attributes of mobile in order to make it a more important part of the mix.?

Final Take
Brian Decker is managing director of client leadership at Mindshare, New York