NEW YORK -- As mobile marketing moves into the mainstream, marketers need to look for ways to engage, entertain and extend their reach with the consumer, an audience of interactive marketers was told at ad:tech New York.

Content such as ringtones, wallpapers and games have played an integral part of the mobile strategy since the mobile marketing medium gained traction, contributing to a $1 billion industry in the United States.

"Mobile marketing began with SMS messaging, mostly for subscriptions, voting and polling," said Dan Berkowitz, director of technical product development at NBC Universal, New York. "What marketers need to understand is that within these techniques, there is room for a 20- to 40-character branding message."

Mr. Berkowitz was part of a panel of experts at an ad:tech session called, "Extending Your Reach: Leveraging Mobile Content to Drive Brand Message." Their discussion centered round adding content to mobile marketing initiatives to extend reach and establish a dialogue of engagement with the consumer.

Marketers need to marry mobile with sponsorship, Mr. Berkowitz said.

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is the future, per the panelists. MMS allows the dispatch of messages that include multimedia objects such as images, audio, video and rich text, and not just text as in Short Message Service (SMS).

Integrating coupons, giveaways and contest entries into a marketer's mobile plans is a non-intrusive way of marketing to the user, said Scott Williams, vice president of new business development and mobile at Time Inc. Interactive, New York.

"It is important that whatever you're offering via mobile is well put together and well produced," Mr. Williams said.

Take Soren Schafft, CEO of QMobile, Reston, VA. A client he would not name is offering picture downloads of models that can be used as wallpapers or just stored to the mobile phone.

Mr. Williams said that offering consumers free content and in return making them view an ad before they make the download or even while the download is taking place could be a less intrusive way of serving advertisements.

He also said that when consumers don't usually like to have ads thrown at them when they have to pay for the product.

"Consumers want value," said Steve Taylor, CEO of Mobile Messenger, Los Angeles. "Add lots and lots of content so they have options. Try to reduce consumer cost, that's a good way to win them over."

Mr. Williams strongly believed that ad support is needed in mobile marketing. He also said that video viewers find advertisements intrusive.

Not surprisingly, NBC's Mr. Berkowitz disagreed with Mr. Williams' take on video ads.

"Television has molded viewers to be accustomed to commercial breaks as long as they are not too long," he said. "Therefore it's safe to say that short advertisements in a video shouldn't be that bad."

Email is doing really well, Mr. Williams said. People are using their mobile phones more to check their email. Therefore, email campaigns must be mobile-optimized.

Mr. Berkowitz said that it is crucial to have effective campaigns in all other mediums. Mobile is a good branding tool and can reinforce these other channels. Qmobile's Mr. Schafft concurred.

"There are different types of audiences and remember to always approach them in different ways," Mr. Schafft said. "The mobile space is like the Wild West right now. It is undeveloped and it holds its dangers."