Chatelaine.com, for instance, features "really funky integrated programs whereby we will enable clients to sponsor a certain area of content on our site that would fit with their brand," says Mirabel Palmer-Elliot, director of brand marketing and integration for Rogers' Media-owned Chatelaine and Chatelaine.com.

For example, Lactantia has a "micro-site" where users can access recipes featuring the brand's cream cheese. The aim is to have a "positive hero effect" on the brand, she says. "When that consumer has to choose between Kraft Philly cheese or Lactantia, they've just had this fabulous experience with Lactantia on-line, and they're going to say, 'Okay, I'm going to go with this Lactantia brand over here instead.'"

Alliance, a partner of Grey Global Group, was behind the successful 1995 launch of Dawson's Creek, a TV show about a group of teenagers. Prior to airing, [Jarrod Moses] brokered a deal between the show's creator, Columbia-TriStar, and J.Crew. The catalogue-clothing giant's lure was simple: 15 million households. Moses pitched the idea of including the show's characters as catalogue models decked out in J. Crew clothing.