First there was Black Friday, then cyber Monday, and the recently added Green Tuesday.  But after running into my harried ad operations manager on my way out the door for the recent Thanksgiving holiday, I'm wondering if we should add "Gamer Thursday" to the holiday retail lexicon.

"Thank God it's Wednesday," remarked Jason Stott, the aforementioned manager, clenching a piece of cold pizza.  "Only four more working days until Monday."   Jason was only half-joking--he and the rest of the team in the Advertising Business Group were busier than ever preparing campaigns to run on the Thanksgiving weekend.  In fact, we saw a nearly 200% increase in the number of campaigns running on Xbox LIVE and other Entertainment and Devices ad properties over the same period last year, and an almost 20% increase for the month of November alone.

The spike in campaigns is part of an overall trend toward on-line shopping, which was up 35% this Black Friday (traditional retail sales ticked up just 5%).  But it reflects something else as well:  that advertisers are going where the shoppers are--in the living room.  Over the Thanksgiving holiday, families and friends are almost as likely to gather around the TV to play Madden NFL on their Xbox as they are to watch a football game on network or cable TV.    (And, with a number of Xbox consoles that will wind up under the holiday tree, the audience will continue to grow through the New Year.)

What's also different about this year is the type and breadth of brands that are using the platform during the holiday sales cycle.  In other words, it's not just games and movies.  Old Navy is a great example.  Their Gobble Palooza campaign ran on Xbox LIVE in the lead up to the big Thanksgiving shopping weekend as shoppers went looking for holiday bargains. Like other big brands, including Wal-Mart, Old Navy is integrating our entertainment ad products into a larger media buy, one of which includes traditional TV, digital and at-retail components.   Around peak shopping events, we are also seeing more and more brands book shorter, very targeted campaign flights on Xbox LIVE as a way to reach the core 18-34 demographic and help drive sales.

Shopping through your Xbox is nothing new; members avidly purchase avatar wear, videos and games from Xbox LIVE Marketplace, but it's clear that shopping via console is growing and expanding in some pretty cool ways.  I'm excited to see if the trend continues between now and Christmas. 

Or should we call it Xbox-mas?