Bug ads hit the PSP

VOLKSWAGEN of America has become the first automotive company to advertise via video media on Sony's Playstation Portable.

The company has integrated ads from the launch of its new Passat into video available for direct download for the PSP. 29Guide[www.29guide.com] on of the largest providers out there for direct to PSP video downloads. Using its wi-fi connection PSP owners can download ready-encoded video to the device directly.

This step helps bring Volkswagen of America closer to the elusive 25-35 year old male audience that advertisers are struggling to reach. Thanks to the widespread adoption of the internet, DVDs and iPods advertising has difficulty reaching. With campaigns like this and the advertising set to hit casual gamers on shockwave.com advertisers may well have found the medium they were looking for.

This movement continues Volkswagen of America's trend for plunging into new markets. In a previous ad campaign it sold special edition bugs only available if ordered online. The aim has been to grasp a technologically savvy audience to showcase the new Beetle's more loveable features.

Whether or not it will work is quite something else, though certainly few people object to a drop of advertising in the name of free content. µ