Microsoft Signs Unilever, Toyota, Samsung to Xbox Format

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Microsoft today said it had landed three high-profile sponsors for its NUad format, arriving on Xbox Live this fall.

Microsoft also reported that dollars spent on Xbox Live ads has increased 142 percent since 2010, while NPD Group found that the number of advertising campaigns had almost doubled in the last year.

Microsoft first announced the NUad format a year ago, showing a demo at Cannes. Today's announcement is part of the "official rollout," but ads that include the interactive layer enabled by the game console won't appear for months.

In the first NUads implementation, advertisers will be able to add polling capabilities, allowing them to ask a multiple-choice question during a 30-second spot. Consumers will then get a real-time tally of the answers.

To support the announcement, Microsoft released an advance look at Toyota's ad, which will let viewers of its "Reinvented" spot vote on other things to be reinvented using the voice or gestural controls available with Xbox Kinect.

In addition, Microsoft said, Unilever will promote Axe Attract for Him and Her. Viewers will be able to vote on whether the product should be given to women.