As part of a larger effort to expand on the advertising possibilities of digital media, General Electric is tapping its long-time partner BBDO to roll out phase two of an ad campaign designed to target ad-skipping DVR users.

"Four years ago, GE was only on TV and mostly on the Sunday morning news shows," says Judy Hu, GE's global head of advertising and branding. "Over the past year, we have been challenging our agencies to come up with ideas that are not strictly TV in nature."

Although last year GE spent less than one percent of its advertising budget on digital medium, that number has grown substantially in the last four years, and will probably grow to an even more significant amount by 2010, when 50 percent of homes are expected to include some form of DVR as part of their home entertainment system, according to Forrester Research.

For now, GE will play it a bit more conservative to see how a considerably unreachable market will respond to the new advertising technique, called "One Second Theatre." GE plans to use more spots from its successful "Ecomagination" campaign to engage the user, and to promote an environmentally conscious image. One 30-second spot called "Fishing," which launched on TV Feb. 5, shows fishermen reeling in a huge catch: hundreds of water bottles to promote GE's water desalination efforts, and any fish caught by mistake are thrown back.

"We are also looking into the possibility of inviting end users to tell their stories," says Jennifer Walsh, GE's digital media director. "It is another way to engage consumers."

As BBDO's Executive Creative Director Don Schneider explains, "GE wants to be at the forefront, and if we are going to be pioneers in technology, then we should be there in media as well."