It's time marketers got into the game–video games that is.

Jeffrey Dickstein, a gaming specialist for Microsoft Advertising Canada, told IAB Canada's MIXX conference in Toronto this morning that in-game advertising can be an effective marketing tactic, but marketers need to think beyond simple product placement to resonate with gamers.

Dickstein explained that the gaming subculture is a burgeoning market that has grown from the young teenagers that don't come up from the basement for air, to encompass anyone from seven to 70 and even moms.

In 2002, Microsoft launched Xbox Live, an online service for gaming and content distribution that now has 1.4 million live subscribers, said Dickstein.

Canadians participate in 12 million gaming sessions a month. The gamer lifestyle has become culturally acceptable, said Dickstein, referencing Pure Pwnage, an original online series chronicling the life of a hardcore gamer that is making the move to TV March 12 on Showcase.

In-game advertising provides a unique opportunity for marketers to reach Canadians, who according to Dickstein spend approximately five million hours a month playing video games.

There are different ways to get into what Dickstein called the "walled garden" however, to make your brand "pop out in a cool and different way."

Popular ad game units include:

•Deep dynamic and video ads that take gamers on a scavenger hunt from billboard to billboard in games that include cityscapes like Spider Man.

•Sequential ads that tell a story

•SMS campaigns where viewers can text to win gamer points, trips, etc.

In-game advertising gives marketers creative flexibility, geographic targeting, date/time targeting, and content targeting that can be updated and changed at any time, compared to years ago when the ads had to be in place for the game launch.

Brands currently playing in the video game category: Warner Brothers, Subway and MTV, among others.

The video game space is also about more than just gaming, said Dickstein. It has become an entertainment destination for music, Twitter, Facebook and TV as well.