The world’s wireless infrastructure is moving in the right direction, and the inventory required to attract brand advertisers is gradually becoming available.

Many of the pieces are in place for mobile brand advertising to start scaling up, said John du Pre Gauntt, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Mobile Brand Advertising. In fact, eMarketer projects that the global budget devoted to mobile brand advertising will rise to $3.5 billion in 2011, from $123 million in 2006.

"On paper, the big global brands should be eager to move in," Mr. Gauntt said. "Mobile text messaging is more or less a mass-market service worldwide. Mobile music has climbed the first rung of the mass-market ladder.

"Most importantly, there are mobile-centric tribes of users in both advanced and developing economies," he said. "The mobile screen is increasingly the first place to reach them."

However, the fact that many of the pieces for greater brand participation seem to be coming together does not mean that mobile brand marketing will scale as large or as fast as some enthusiasts think.

"Huge growth in the long term is a no-brainer,” Mr. Gauntt said. "In the short term, though, there is a real danger that too many brand dollars might chase too few high-quality mobile opportunities within a commercial ecosystem that is not yet fully baked."

Don’t stand still. Find out where the opportunities and the dangers lie—get your copy of the new eMarketer report, Mobile Brand Advertising, today.