Coke's game plan

Coke is soon to roll out new marketing strategies using gaming for several key products, including Fanta, which is targeted at a teenage market.

David Elsworth, Coke's vice-president for creative excellence, said gaming offered untold opportunities for marketing a brand.

"Gaming is as ancient as storytelling but it was never able to be used in marketing on a mass scale because we didn't have the tools to do that before."

Mr Elsworth said gaming in marketing was not about using the games, but using the rules and approach of games to create a different relationship between consumers and the brand.

"Gaming is about getting people to move from passive receivers of a message to active collaborators . . . interacting and participating."

Mr Elsworth said gaming offered a richer level of engagement with consumers. He said gaming was no longer the domain of "pimply teenagers in their bedrooms playing Xbox", but a massive industry worth more than the film and music industries put together.