Privacy issues
A hot topic in the panel was the idea of security and how it will affect mobile marketers and consumers in 2012.

Some of the panelists thought that viruses within mobile tactics such as bar codes, SMS and Web could trick consumers into giving up personal information.

This is because the mobile Web is still the Web, just on a mobile device, per SiteMinis' Ms. Troutman.

?They are incredibly lax in the app stores,? WDA?s Mr. Zsigo said. ?I?m just waiting here with baited breath for there to be one huge virus app that will make real news and scare everyone.?

However, most panelists agreed that they did not want to scare mobile users by putting up a bunch of red flags.

Instead, brands should work with their service providers to ensure that they are taking as many precautions as possible to avoid any kind of security breech.

?A lot of agencies that have been around for three to four years know how to help you, they feel a lot more comfortable stepping in,? SiteMinis' Ms. Troutman said. ?However, you still have to listen to your clients.

?You don?t want them to come back and say that you didn?t pay attention to them,? she said.

CEO panel

Other hitches
The CEOs also expected there to be some other hitches in mobile this year.

?An issue that we?ve been grappling with has been measurement and I think that it?s going to continue to rear its ugly head,? said Laura Marriott, Victoria, British Columbia-based CEO of NeoMedia Technologies.

?The problem is that mobile is very complex and fragmented and the ability to easily manage the analytics data you?re getting across mobile marketing, whether its SMS or QR codes, is marrying them together so that you?re getting them together and in one dashboard you?re able to see the success of the campaign,? she said.

Another issue is the competition. The amount of application downloads in 2011, and especially around the holidays, was staggering.

Therefore, brands need to be even more innovative to deal with the competition.

Moreover, luxury brands that have not moved into mobile yet have to be even more interesting and creative with their campaigns since they are the least innovative in the space and are, quite frankly, late to the game.

?[Brands] all heard the message about getting into mobile and you all launched at once,? WDA?s Mr. Zsigo said. ?But what we?re seeing is real competiion in the marketplace and brands are becoming more innovative with options.

?However, this is the year that when you launch, the real shocker is that you got real competition,? he said. ?Another team built a better product, they got it out faster, they have more marketing and you?re underperforming because you?re not the only one that heard that message.

?Just because you launched a campaign this year does not mean that you?re innovative.?

Final Take
Konny Zsigo, CEO of WDA, East Lansing, MI