Product placement—or embedded marketing—has been around since the early days of motion pictures. Some references pinpoint its origin to the 1890s when Unilever soap was first seen in silent films. However, if you include product placement in novels and other written forms, its birth would extend back almost another 100 years.

Now, it’s time for the next step. North Face is taking product placement to an entirely new avenue of communication. Sign up for their next “Endurance Challenge” race and you’ll receive “training reminders, tips, event updates, exclusive offers and more from the North Face on your mobile phone.” That’s right… these training tips make clever use of product placement in the form of text messaging.

Here’s how it works. Register for a North Face race to get access to a plethora of training guides written by expert runners, filled with the tips and tools you’ll need to have a successful race. These tips can be viewed passively on their website or pushed to you once new tips arrive via email or text messaging. As an avid runner, I’m always looking for new advice so I eagerly read through all of their guides as soon as new ones become available.

The twist is the subtle use of “accessories” mentioned in the training guides. Runners weren’t just listening to music when they ran; they were listening to their Zune music players. They weren’t just hydrating with an energy drink 15 minutes before a run; they were drinking Accelerade. They even laced up their GORE-Tex shoes. It’s a great way to relay the helpful tips and advice, while reinforcing the importance of sponsors like Microsoft, Accelerade and GORE-Tex.

To get the word out for its Endurance Challenge race series, North Face came out of the blocks with the full spectrum of advertising options: tear-out training booklets in magazines, tips sent via text message and e-mail, and of course, a website with everything you need to train for their events. At first glance, it appears you have an abundance of unbiased training manuals, but then you look deeper to see it’s all part of an elaborate advertising campaign used to push sponsors’ accessories.

The entire campaign works seamlessly. A slick website with useful training guides and videos makes this a solid advertising effort. Advice on what to eat and wear, tips on how to prevent injuries and training charts to guide and track your progress are all helpful. This is all built around the strategic placement of sponsor products. It’s an evolution of marketing strategy you’re certain to see much more of in the future.

Running competitions are a great way for a company to associate themselves with the image they’re trying to reinforce. A variety of race formats and terrains enables sponsors to tailor a race to fit a specific product. For example, Gatorade pushes their “Endurance Formula” at the Boston Marathon, Ford sponsors the IronMan triathlon, and Coleman is a sponsor of the Badwater Ultramarathon where they promote their Xtreme coolers. For those that haven’t had a chance to run Badwater yet, it’s a 135-mile course through Death Valley in 109-degree heat. If these coolers can hold their own with your food and drinks during Badwater, then they’ll work fine for your next 5k run.

While the trail runner community is a small one, the community of ultra trail runners is even smaller. In order to remain on top of training, we’ve come to rely on expert testimony. Blogs, books, and boards all help with tips and advice from folks who have been there. North Face targeted their demographic perfectly when they added product placement into their training guides. They know their demographic has a voracious appetite for running literature.

The next step for North Face? Make the guides more interactive. Enable users to add comments or publish the guides to an interactive message board. Either option enables two-way communications so runners can evaluate and provide feedback in order to add transparency to the product promotion. If a star athlete drinks Accelerade, then consumers may try it. Add unbiased reviews and feedback from fellow runners and that strengthens the endorsement.

The key is to simply be aware of these messages and the subtle ways they can work. These aren’t glaring billboards, annoying pop-ups or unavoidable blocks of TV commercials. We’re so accustomed to blatant, traditional forms of advertising that we may get drawn into the guides without realizing that there are advertising messages embedded in the copy. Remember, it’s important is to pay attention to the accessories!