Millennial Media has released its latest SMART report into global mobile advertising trends, detailing the key changes in mobile marketing patterns during Q1 2014. Among the notable findings is a huge growth in ad spend for multiple industries in the APAC region.

Exploring vertical spending on global mobile campaigns, there was huge year-on-year growth for pharmaceutical advertisers, who spent 491 per cent than in Q1 2013, largely driven by large spends in the US.

Other industries who dramatically increased their spending included portals and directories, which also covers app stores and browsers, who grew by 290 per cent, and energy and power companies, who increased spending by 270 per cent.

Narrowing the focus to the APAC market, there was extremely vigorous growth, with 12 industries increasing ad spend by triple-digit figures, and six of them growing by over 200 per cent. Among the biggest growers were news, at 529 per cent, education at 395 per cent and real estate at 383 per cent. In the EMEA market, travel showed the largest growth in ad spend, rising by 429 per cent compared to last year, while other large growers included news, with 169 per cent growth, and finance with 167 per cent.

Looking at campaign methods and goals, video has become an increasingly important in more and more campaigns, with 23 per cent of campaigns including a video element, up from 17 per cent in the same period last year. The majority of campaigns aimed to drive site and mobile traffic, with 34 per cent citing it as their primary goal, followed by brand awareness and engagement at 23 per cent.