NEW YORK ? A Carat executive at the Mobile Marketing Association?s SM2 conference said that media buyers are having a difficult time determining how to incorporate mobile into their overall strategies.

In the ?See the Future and Change the World: Mobile Gives you the Power to Change our World in the Palm of your hand? session, executives from Carat, Horizon Media, and the Media Kitchen discussed how the companies are addressing mobile in their traditional strategies and processes. The Carat exec explained that media buyers are facing a new reality of a multi-channel world.

?Our approach is an integrated approach,? said Jason Newport, senior vice president of mobile strategy at Carat, London.

?We?re living in a world that isn?t channel-driven anymore,? he said. ?It?s no longer TV, it?s video. There?s a lot more communication between the teams. TV buyers are buying mobile.

?It?s more about the sequencing of messaging and deepening the relationship. A lot of it is about developing a long-term relationship with the consumer, retention and loyalty. Just being more precise with your messaging, more valuable. I?d say we?ve come a long way in that regard just with what technology offers.?

Mobile challenges
During the session, the executives brought up a number of challenges with mobile, including viewability and tracking.

With other media, these companies are familiar with these kinds of issues. Mobile, however, poses a new challenge that forces media buyers to closely examine the new medium.

Right now, mobile is a hot topic, but as with all new things, it takes time for adoption. The ecosystem is still imperfect, and companies are slowly updating their strategies.

The ideal is to be able to deliver an ad in a space that you know will be seen. It is still a little difficult to see that with mobile since there is no infrastructure yet.

?You want to galvanize a commitment to something and make a decision of how you?re going to adjust across screens,? Mr. Newport said. ?But I can?t say that every planner is thinking about viewable impressions when they go through the process. People are getting more educated about it as time goes on.?

Telling a story
Another challenge that media buyers are facing is that with the increasing popularity of platforms such as Vine and Instagram, they are forced to think more creatively.

Media buyers need to think about storytelling with shorter attention spans in mind.

It is a new playing field for media buyers and changes will not necessarily happen overnight. An evolution will slowly occur and bring mobile into the picture.

Mr. Newport sees the most innovation coming from the creative side and not the buying side. He thinks that media buyers should learn from the way creative solves a brand challenge and incorporate that into the buying side.

?It?s not a one-size-fits all,? Mr. Newport said. ?There?s a lot of creative ways to fix that. There?s a lot of easy fixes in terms of how heavy is the page, the nomenclature.

?Obviously you want some double-verifed solution to make sure what the reports say are true," he said. "We can talk about pervasive cookies or whatever you like. There?s still a lot of things to figure out in terms of is it the right format."

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York