Warner Bros has struck a deal with Microsoft UK to launch a digital ad campaign promoting the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The campaign, one of the largest run across Microsoft's UK digital operations, will see ads and content run across XBox Live, the MSN portal and the Windows Live instant messenger service.
From today, a special Harry Potter digital zone will contain content including clips from the film, downloads, picture galleries and exclusive video clips.
Genre channels on the MSN.co.uk portal, such as entertainment and movies and the homepage, will run editorial pieces about the film.
The campaign will also include an online competition for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Chicago to visit a Harry Potter exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry.
Microsoft said that the aim of the campaign was to attempt to attract a new, younger audience to the Harry Potter franchise, while at the same time not "isolating" the older, core fans that have followed the films from the beginning.
The ads on Xbox Live will target an older audience of 16-to-34-year-old males and showcase the "darker, edgier side of the film". A 12-to-19-year-old fanbase is being targeted via the core MSN portal and MSN Video service.
Two years ago, Microsoft agreed a tie-up with Warner Bros to promote Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, giving online users a chance to appear in one of the films.
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