In-Game Advertising Gets Game

Hot Trend: The players in your virtual NFL game are wearing Nikes and at (virtual) half-time you see a digital product pitch. Meanwhile, your kid is dunking virtual Oreos in virtual milk in a Nabisco-created basketball game. "It's proof positive that video gaming has hit the big time," says Find/SVP technology consultant James Belcher.

Why: The growth of gaming and the decline of traditional media audiences have marketers looking for new ways to place their products before the public. According to one survey, a quarter of gamers recall an ad from a game they've played. "There's enough money being spent that it has caught the attention of advertisers," notes Belcher, "and people also spend a lot of time gaming, so advertisers want to catch them while they're doing it."

Read the article: www.forbes.com