NEW YORK - Mobile adds value to print, broadcast and online media and publishers need to develop specific advertising packages tailored to mobile audience requirements, according to panelists at the Mobile Marketing and Media 2010 conference.

The panel was moderated by Amielle Lake, CEO of Tagga Media, Vancouver, BC. Panelists said that ads on mobile can tie in with promotions across other channels, and understanding consumers' needs is a key factor.

?We?re in a world where we?re all struggling to replace revenue from print advertising,? said Wendy P. Riches, chief strategy officer at Meredith Corp., Des Moines, IA. ?And we have to think of what can we do to replace that.

?We have Web sites, but we have not really been successful in charging people in the Web sites,? she said. ?Over time, we are testing and learning our way to get the consumer to pay for things."

Mobile Marketing and Media 2010 was hosted yesterday by Mobile Marketer parent Napean and the Direct Marketing Association.

Mobile Web use
Meredith is currently working on two mobile Web sites which are currently in beta.

The company views the mobile Web as a way to build a mobile database, both offline and online.

Meredith already has a mobile Web site for its Parents magazine publication.

Additionally, the company is launching another mobile Web site for Fitness magazine, which will be released in a few weeks.

Meredith wants to make sure that all of the bugs on the mobile site are worked up before the site goes live.

?It?s tremendous, being able to customize and integrate the brand,? Ms. Riches said. ?I can?t tell you what?s working because we?re not there yet, but we?re testing.

?We have a marketing plan,? she said. ?We will drive traffic to our mobile properties and watch what the consumer does.

?We want to give consumers a reason to go to the mobile Web site ? we will do a mix, and we believe in texting, because it?s easier.?

Meredith partnered with Microsoft and used the company?s 2D bar code Tags, with which they experimented in their Traditional Home magazine.

Part of the challenge for the company is figuring out how to offer a consumer real value.

?What is it that they really want from you brand and what are you going to charge for it?? Ms Riches said. ?We?re going to experiment.?

SMS plays a key role for the company.

Meredith is letting readers opt-in to sign up for alerts, special offers, coupons and its mobile club.

?We?re setting up a live dialogue and interaction with consumers through mobile,? Ms. Riches said. ?Apps are about very specific things. A good example is playing a game, it?s what people love to do and pay to do.

?SMS is about communication,? she said. ?You find out what works and if you?re wrong then you change it."

Additionally, the company is adding a search button on the new mobile sites, letting users search for a particular things and get immediate information.

Meredith has also set up a mobile dashboard that includes content sharing trends, mobile club signups, site section visits and page views within categories.

?We also look at the top entry pages that people go to on our mobile Web site,? Ms. Riches said. ?We have set something up that will help us monitor the behavior of the consumers in our site.?

Time out mobile
Time Out New York is focusing on bringing its sponsors into its various platforms ? the company has an exclusive sponsorship for the month of July.

TONY recently incorporated mobile augmented reality in its ?Summer Drinking Special? issue.

Users were able to unlock summer discounts and deals by pointing their device at bars and restaurants around them.

The company is experimenting with a lot of things in addition to the augmented reality issue and wants to bring sponsors into those kinds of opportunities.

?We?re expanding ways we can help advertisers reach our audience,? said Marci Weisler, digital business director at Time Out North America, New York. ?We?re looking at mobile to drive our print subscriptions.

?We?re cross-promoting our mobile efforts through print,? she said. ?We?re trying to find things that are getting the user to the site much more easier ? we?re big believers in location-based advertising.

?One of the biggest challenges is scaling to see which platforms you?re going to be on ? we want a little more consistency across all platforms.?

The importance of mobile
Scott Drake, vice president of CNBC Digital Technology and Products, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, agrees that consistency is important across all platform.

?You have to fit the right content to the right media,? Mr. Drake said. ?We see an explosion of growth of people using the mobile device.

?If you forget your wallet and mobile phone, you go back for your mobile phone,? he said.

MoFuse believes that the No. 1 thing is that companies need to integrate properly on the technical front.

?We deal with the mobile Web,? said Annette Tonti, CEO of MoFuse, Jamestown, RI. ?We do have some really interesting thoughts on how people are using the mobile Web today.

?We have clients right now who are using the mobile Web to drive leads to call centers and they?re doing it well,? she said.

Social syndication is another key factor, according to Thom Kennon, vice president of strategy at Wunderman, New York.

Mr. Kennon belives that it?s important to get a distribution model and get people to share the company?s links.

?That?s where brands need to be,? Mr. Kennon said. ?That?s where publishers need to be.

?You have to figure out how do we get presence on this device,? he said. ?We never had a channel like mobile ? something that tells us so much about a user.?

At the conclusion of the panel, Mobile Marketer's Rimma Kats interviewed Mr. Drake. Here is the video:

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Here are some pictures from the panel