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Microsoft Advertising has joined forces with Pepsi to launch a mini interactive game on Xbox Live based on the current Pepsi Max Kick In The Mix TV advertisement featuring leading footballers. The custom game features three levels, with users and their avatars getting the chance to take on Pepsi Max footballers in a game of skill while running across the crowd (re-creating some of the scenes from the ad).

Lionsgate, producers of TV show Mad Men, stumped up a reported $250,000 to close last week’s episode of the programme with the Beatles song Tomorrow Never Knows.

Consoles have become strategically positioned as a secondary gateway to TV content, and can now be found in 45% of American TV homes, according to the Nielsen Cross-Platform Report.

Big annual events like the Super Bowl, the Grammys and Christmas have been garnering viewers and buzz as social media and second screens create a ‘digital watercooler’, says JWT in its 10 Ways Marketers Are Using The Second Screen report.

BBC Worldwide has launched a free-to-play online game based on its hit TV show Strictly Come Dancing. Strictly Keep Dancing is available in the UK at StrictlyKeepDancing.com and has gone live in the US as Dancing with the Stars: Keep Dancing.

What kind of tech would the characters from Mad Men use if they were in today’s high-comms world? Well, Don Draper’s favourite app might be SinglesAroundMe so he could schedule hook-ups.

The majority of television viewers have noticed – and are familiar with how to interact with – social media symbols while watching TV. A survey conducted by Accenture found that one third of respondents have actually interacted with such symbols while watching TV by ‘liking’ a TV programme on Facebook (20%), scanning a QR code (11%), searching for the hashtag on Twitter (7%), or scanning the Shazam symbol (5%).

Multitasking can pay off for brands. Consumers watched a 30-minute TV show and engaged with mobile and tablet devices for a study conducted by AdColony/Nielsen at the CBS TV City Media Lab at MGM Las Vegas. A 15-second ad for Universal Studio’s movie Contraband appeared during the commercial break, followed by a 15 second spot served using AdColony’s Instant-Play ad-delivery platform on iPhones and iPads. Purchase intent for Contraband spiked by 72% for cross-screen viewers from 18% to 31%.  Brand recall for the movie was 69% higher for cross-screen viewers compared to TV-only viewers.