Advergaming

The hottest trend in ads right now is advergaming; basically building your brand in the gaming sphere. There's the good the bad and the downright ugly in this field, but notable examples, including the brilliant PlayStation-based BK Games from last year, raise sales, cash and awareness in the notoriously fickle young male market. MTV are taking gaming so seriously that they bought Guitar Hero developer Hamornix in 2006 and last year pledged to spend a whopping $500 million developing their brands in the field.

In that very vein Swedish interactive hotshots North Kingdom are helping launch Coke's testosterone driven Coke Zero (again aimed squarely at young men) in Germany with www.cokezerogame.com a stunning online game that invites you to take part in four tricky challenges including jumping a broken bridge, ball juggling, smashing walls with a football and mega pinball to get front row online seats at the Coke sponsored UEFA 2008 football championships. Lavish filmic segments, genuinely engaging game play, understated product placement as well as (naturally) a bevy of beautiful babes make this a fine example of a trend that's set to grow exponentially as online gaming becomes more ubiquitous.