Azuki Systems Inc. has signed a partnership agreement with mobile advertising service provider Ad Infuse.

The partnership will help media companies create interactive mobile content services that are geared toward extending their brands to the mobile channel and contributing to their bottom line. In addition to customizing the advertising experience for mobile consumers, content publishers will have access to advertising campaign tracking and reporting capabilities, which are intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all partners in the mobile advertising value chain.

"The core strategy behind the partnership is to bring a full go-to-market solution for Azuki's publisher clients who want to extend their successful online portals to an ad-supported mobile environment," said Grant Cohen, director of business development for Ad Infuse, San Francisco.

"The Azuki Systems development platform will be used to easily transition traditional online content into a smart, interactive mobile interface and Ad Infuse's leading-edge ad-serving platform is leveraged to support the delivery of highly targeted mobile advertising across all mobile media, while maintaining strict customer privacy," he said.

"Together the solutions are used to help the publishing partners drive maximum revenue by allowing them to sell and serve their own advertising, while also calling optimized feeds from the Ad Infuse premium ad sales network and the other major players in the mobile ad sales space."

Through its mobile ad network, Ad Infuse services a host of major media publishers and top Fortune 1000 brands and agencies and has deployed its platform across a mix of leading international carriers, content owners and application developers.

For carriers, Ad Infuse offers an ad-serving technology platform architected to protect consumer privacy and to deliver a blend of ad-supported and subscription-based premium content.

For brands, Ad Infuse provides ad insertion, letting marketers personalize their message and build a direct relationship with the consumer.

For content providers, Ad Infuse offers a path to mobile syndication supported by a balanced combination of subscription and ad-supported revenue.

Clients include CBS and Go211. Azuki and Ad Infuse are currently live with an iPhone application for CBS's flagship MoneyWatch personal finance service and a universal mobile Web site from action sports leader Go211.

Thanks in large part to a proliferation of smarter devices, greater network bandwidth and more aggressive operator pricing models, mobile content is growing up very quickly, according to Ad Infuse.

"The idea of content on a mobile device only a year or two ago was limited to a basic WAP experience, but we are finding a tremendous amount in growth of content being offered and consumed in richer environments, specifically downloadable applications and mobile video," Mr. Cohen said.

"There appears to be a multiplying effect that is resulting in a rapid spread of high-quality content, many more unique users and impressions and an influx of major brands and agencies looking to market their products and services through ad supported mobile channels," he said.

As a whole, mobile advertising has shown significantly better results for brands and agencies than have been seen in comparable online media, both in terms of metered campaign performance and brand/ad awareness, according to Ad Infuse.

"The metrics show that click-through and engagement rates vary on a campaign-by-campaign basis, according to the associated targeting and creative, but as a trend we see the highest end of mobile campaign performance when ads are either running on smarter devices such as iPhones and BlackBerrys, or when they are highly targeted or when paired with premium, infotainment-driven content," Mr. Cohen said.

"In addition, the greatest campaign effectiveness tends to occur when there is a cross-media component such as a WAP site banner delivering customers to a rich WAP site with SMS as a means to connect the brand directly with the customer," he said.

"We are finding mobile video advertising to be extremely effective for brand advertisers as the reach of mobile video increases."

Azuki Systems offers a software service for media companies to deliver mobile Web sites and applications. Azuki powers video, community features and consumer experiences.

The partnership between Azuki and Ad Infuse includes tight technical integration between Azuki's interactive mobile media services platform and Ad Infuse's adInMotion ad-serving platform and Maestro brokering engine.

"With Azuki, media companies integrate once to our core platform and then rapidly roll out and manage mobile services across multiple delivery channels including both applications and universal mobile Web sites," said Sam Harp, product line director for Azuki, Acton, MA. "Similarly, Ad Infuse's Maestro platform lets publishers pull together and centrally manage multiple ad networks to maximize revenue.

"Combined, Azuki and Ad Infuse offer the simplest and most complete approach available for media companies to get their content out across the full range of mobile distribution channels and activate the full range of monetization options," he said. "In our experience, multi-dimensional sponsorships and video campaigns tied to companion interactive inventory perform best."

The mobile Web is maturing as a platform, but distributing and monetizing content on mobile devices is still very much about managing multiplicity -- multiple carriers, multiple operating systems, multiple App Stores and countless combinations of device capabilities and form factors, according to Azuki.

"In the past it was acceptable to handle this problem by stripping away features and taking a lowest common denominator approach," Mr. Harp said. "But now consumer expectations are much higher than they were.

"The industry is now coming to understand that the best way to address this challenge is through the kind of comprehensive platform-based approach offered by Azuki and Ad Infuse, which makes it possible to deliver and monetize truly compelling experiences to mobile users," he said.