New York—Mobile advertising expenditures in the so-called BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—are expected to grow strongly through 2012, with China leading the way, according to a new study by eMarketer.

Mobile advertising spending in China is forecast to grow from $101 million in 2009 to $700 million by 2012, with Brazil ($40.9 million by 2012), Russia ($22.4 million) and India ($85.4 million) projected to experience four- to sixfold mobile ad growth rates over the next three years.

Mobile campaigns in these countries will primarily be of the SMS message variety, according to eMarketer, because of the still low penetration of Web-enabled smart phones. More sophisticated mobile campaigns will be possible, and better targeted, as these countries’ growing middle classes migrate to smart phones, the company said.