ABSTRACT
Promotion and advertising can get quite blurry in digital media, although most projects that use a digital storytelling approach fall along the promotional end of the spectrum. Many promotional works that use digital storytelling techniques are spread by viral marketing. Branded content is programming that is funded by an advertiser and integrates promotional elements with the entertainment content. This chapter examines the interactive film, The Way Beyond Trail. Alternate reality games (ARGs) are being used to promote restaurant chains, automobiles, and other products. Gamification, the employment of gaming techniques to works that are not games, has become a highly popular method for businesses and organizations to promote their messages to the public. Short films for the Internet, both linear ones and interactive ones, are logical vehicles for promotional endeavors. Construction kit commercials are online promotions in which users are given all the tools they need to create a commercial for a specific product, competing for prizes and recognition.
