New Channel of Advertising?

Being a gamer in my spare time I noticed that Microsoft is advertising all types of tv shows, movies, products, etc. on their online gaming service.  Microsoft has provided an online gaming experience that many gaming analysts say is unrivaled.  The service called Xbox Live has taken online gaming to a whole new level and its becoming more of an experience and a stimulation of fun.  Xbox Live has advertisements out for new downloadable music, games and accessories that can be purchased through the xbox website, new movies in theatres, the list goes on and on.  Since the release of Xbox 360 in 2005, 66 million consoles have been sold of those 66 million, 40 million are xbox live users.  That means 40 million people are seeing all these new products and services.  Is it safe to say that this can be a new and probably cheaper method to effectively advertise product and service?  The numbers look like its worth the investment.

Corporate Sponsors in College Athletics

The debate of the student athlete has always been a very hot topic in the worlds of sports and business.  Collegiate athletics have become more of a business year by year than actually a pure sport.  A few years ago the NCAA allowed corporations to become sponsors of collegiate sports programs.  For example,  the University of Connecticut in 2008 signed a ten-year $45.5 million contract that gives Nike exclusive rights for advertising and branding on the campus and athletic apparel.  Nike can advertise on campus, during athletic events and all varsity athletes have the Nike "Swoosh" on their jerseys.  At a college, education is suppose to be the selling point, but now there are going to be a lot more salesmen in the business of education.

Product Placement

Product placement in movies, television shows, and live events seem to have an impact on consumers.  For example, in Iron Man 1 Robert Downey Jr. was shown driving a new Audi vehicle that was released around the time the movie first premiered.  This kind of exposure was worldwide and seen by millions if not billions of people.  I can only imagine how much money Audi spent on this product placement and I am assuming it was a lot.  Billions of people watch movies and placing a product in something that can be seen by billions of people sounds like a good investment.  Thats what advertising is, exposure, the more the better.