The MMA's North American region head, advised Mobile Summit audience members that when it comes to global, think local. Every region, every country is different in how they handle marketing programs--in Turkey there's more red tape to cut through while the Phillipines, by contrast, is virtually wide open. "The marketing structures are totally different in every country," he said. "There is no one solution that works globally." So when in Rome...or India or China...

How does mobile marketing differ around the world? The fundamentals are the same globally, but what differs is that in many countries mobile isn't a nice thing to have, it's a necessity, explains Michael Becker, North American Managing Director for the MMA, in a presentation on mobile use globally. He points out that in Africa, mobile plays a key part in HIV treatment and other health-related areas. You can even use mobile to pre-pay insurance for your own funeral. Yikes. Mobile commerce company M-Pesa has gotten uptake from the unlikely market of  goatherders in Africa, who use its money …

The change-agent panelists seem to concur that the iPad, whether its more of a connected or "untethered" device than a mobile device is off to a sold start, especially as a vehicle for delivering a higher level of apps, but it's still early to call it a bona fide game-changer. Ball State media guru Mike Bloxham described the ipad as a "fantastic reading device" but noted the 3 or 4 million early adopters so far amount to only about 1% of the population. "We just don't know enough yet," he said. Of course, that hasn't stopped analysts from predicting 8 …

Initiative's chief strategy officer Eric Bader kicked off MediaPost's first Mobile Summit event (in sunny Lake Takoe) with the message that mobile marketing isn't about devices or platforms but about consumers, or as put it, focusing on "consumers who are mobile." A slide show of failed or forgotten devices including the Newton, the Segway, and more recently, the Kin, helped to drive home the point. And since it's all about consumers, bread-and-butter tactics including creativity and consumer insights apply. But content and context in mobile advertising should be used drive action rather than just brand awarness. "Action is where …