Follow Obama's Lead with Video Game Advertising...

Are you looking to advertise your brand in video games?

Follow the lead of U.S. Senator Barack Obama, who recently became the first presidential candidate to advertise in video games. Obama's campaign has featured an "Early Voting Has Begun" billboard campaign in a selection of online video games, including Burnout Paradise, NASCAR '09, NHL '09, NBA Live '08, Need for Speed, NFL Tour, and Skate...

The Obama campaign is targeting the online billboard campaign at video game players living in ten (10) swing states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Nearly 1/3 of households own a popular video game console.

EA Sports has willingly acknowledged that it is currently featuring the Obama ads in some of its most popular video game titles. The company notes that it is open to promoting any credible candidate.

If your organization is looking to create a holistic messaging platform aimed at targeting a specific consumer base, consider modeling a plan similar to the one executed by the Obama campaign (obviously with scaled back dollars). Obama has led a technological charge in '08, embracing SMS, text, social networking, blogs, widgets, and additional digital formats.