Phonevalley rolls into China

China - The Publicis-owned mobile marketing agency Phonevalley is making a move on Asia's mobile advertising market, opening offices in China, India and Singapore to work closely with Publicis' Asia-based agencies.

Asia has more than 1.3 billion mobile subscribers with China holding some 600 million alone.

The offices in the Asia Pacific region aim to help the group offer regional brands and advertisers mobile campaigns with their local marketing objectives and client requirements.

Analysts predict mobile advertising expenditures will hit US$6.9 billion 2012, exceeding the US and Western Europe, from US$738 million back in 2007.

Devashish Sarkar, Phonevalley's regional director for the APAC region, said Asia is a critical regional for innovation in the mobile field.

He said marketers are used to operating SMS campaigns, but can now target the most influential parts of the population with search and display capabilities.

"I look forward to building up great opportunities on mobile for our partners and clients in the region," Alexandre Mars, Phonevalley CEO, said.