Interactive video games emerge as major ad-supported mass medium

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- Nick Kang is the ultimate action hero. Taking on the Russian and Chinese crime syndicates in the City of Angels, Kang drives, fights and shoots his way across 240 miles of Los Angeles area real estate. Crime in progress? Kang is on the way. It's a Puma truck heist at the 3rd Street Promenade flagship store in Santa Monica. Nick Kang kicks butt and heads back to the streets for more adventure.

Kang is the virtual hero of "True Crime: Streets of L.A.," a video game from Activision. And Puma is one of Activision's marketing partners. Kang wears Puma clothing and occasionally drives past Puma billboards or benches in the virtually real L.A.

Players were able to watch video-game trailers on the Puma Web site and even buy Kang's clothing or footwear on a co-branded site when the game was released in November. Promotional winners could pick up Puma merchandise, and pre-release copies of "True Crime" were available at Puma stores.

"Companies are starting to understand the power of this medium," says Dave Anderson, Activision's senior director for business development. "They're realizing video games are not only mass-market entertainment that reaches an elusive male demographic, but can be done in an integrated ... way without bludgeoning the consumer with message."

Forward-thinking marketers playing in this field include Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Coca-Cola Co., BMW of North America, Nokia, Callaway Golf Co., Kraft Foods, DaimlerChrysler's Jeep and Sony Ericsson.

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