That's the question those attending this week's Mobile Marketing Forum should ask themselves and other fellow delegates.

Right off the bat, it's easy to conclude that more brands are incorporating mobile into their multichannel marketing plans. Procter & Gamble Co.'s Gillette brand, for example, has made smart use of mobile in its latest campaign (see story).

Brands' use of mobile comes in various forms: SMS text message programs, mobile Web sites, mobile applications, mobile coupons, mobile video, mobile search and even mobile shopping.

Much progress has been made since the start of the year with the use of these mobile channels for branding and customer acquisition and retention purposes.

As expected, ad agencies are finally taking to mobile, albeit with due caution given the restrictions of the mobile ecosystem -- multiple wireless carrier gatekeepers, inability to cookie properly, disparate standards and platforms, and profit margins that may not match television or print buys.

Mobile Marketing Forum delegates should also marvel at the number of new consumer-friendly mobile phones hitting the market. Take the renewed public relations push for the Palm Pre smartphone -- the coverage is wall-to-wall and nonstop.

Add to that PR expectations that the new Apple iPhone upgrade will again be another game-changer. Similar expectations are in place for the new BlackBerry Storm 2 mobile phone.

And then there's poor Nokia, which surrendered a 28 percent U.S. market share as recent as 2004 to an 8 percent share this year.

The Nokia N97, by all reports said to be a fairly decent phone, still has yet to find a carrier nationwide willing to offer the device to its subscribers. That will change eventually, but it is a shame that Nokia cannot play in the same sandbox as other manufacturers.

All said and done, the new phones on the market will change consumer usage of mobile phones. Expect more consumption of news, sports scores, email, music, photographs, business documents, text, video, GPS navigation, search, shopping and, of course, voice.

Linked to the newer smartphones is the biggest incentive of all: affordable data plans.

Prepaid carriers such as MetroPCS, Boost Mobile and Leap Wireless' Cricket are changing the rules of the game with affordable all-you-can eat data plans for as low as $50 a month with no contract attached.

Not surprisingly, larger carriers such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile are under increasing pressure to either lower their prices, match them or offer unlimited data options.

Industry observers may sometimes be frustrated with the pace of mobile marketing growth. But the ecosystem should be marveled for its coalescing of the disparate pieces without any undue hype or excess funding. A lean meal is the perfect diet.

So for those grandees attending the Mobile Marketing Forum this week in New York, their task should be to encourage even more brands, agencies and publishers to take advantage of this strengthened ecosystem. It's time to put the pedal to the metal.