The mobile sphere has a life of its own and is growing at an incredible pace. Its explosion has given birth to other billion-dollar markets, including mobile advertising. Today, industries are leveraging a widespread platform through mobile advertising—a segment that is expected to reach $1.1 billion in revenue this year.

Millennial Media, together with comScore conducted a study on automobile advertising impressions, ascertaining who their target consumers are, how consumers utilize mobile apps to search for cars, dealers and post-sale services.  Leading automobile brands were also identified.  If you know anything about the automobile industry, you know they’re all about marketing, and this special report takes a look at a new outlet for campaigns.  It’s an indication of how other industries will follow advertising trends in the mobile sphere.

It turns out that 68% of the auto population owns a smartphone, and that’s a number growing by the year.  18-24 year-old males are the prime target here, leaving only 32% of campaigns directed towards women.  Automobile-related content crosses a user’s path nearly every day, reaching 21% of this target demographic, and this sector has already seen significant growth in the mobile realm, growing 169% year-over-year from 2009 to 2010.

Senior Vice President, Product, at Millennial Media Jamie Fellows recognizes the idea of boosting all-around aspects in automobile marketing tactics. “Mobile ad spend in the automotive industry has grown over 200 percent in the last year, and advertisers are recognizing that they can make a real impact with consumers,” he says.

“Whether they are trying to increase brand awareness, drive consumers to a dealership, or increase app downloads, mobile is a medium which works for auto advertisers. We hope the latest version of the Mobile Intel Series can help brands navigate this landscape.”

The automobile market is just one of the many businesses that have relied on mobile advertising to either create a strong branding campaign or penetrate specific audience clusters.  Some enterprises are targeting location-based consumerism, looking at trends within a particular radius.  Travel and tourism have also joined the bandwagon in building their trademark via mobility.  Millennium Media’s summer season research revealed positive pushes in consumers accessing travel apps via mobile devices.

Just like any booming space, the mobile ad sector has also become an instant battleground for different companies.  The competition for Millennial got even spicier up when InMobi landed a whopping $200 million funding to support their mobile marketing goals in the next months.

Building brand loyalty and engaging customers with all other economic hurdles are just some of the benefits that companies are looking into when they decide to integrate with mobile advertising.  Whether on the go or at home, people highly depend on their smartphones for varied purposes. This alone is already a testament of why businesses find it lucrative to redirect marketing strategies to mobility.