Product Placement

The wave of the future

2006-12-04T15:26:00.000-05:00

Product placement is becoming more and more popular. If there is one thing I learned from blogging on product placement this semester is that it is EVERYWHERE! You can find products strategically placed in movies, television shows, books, video games, and even on garbage trucks.

Since recent technologies such as TiVo and DVR allow audiences to fast forward through commericals, many companies have been focusing their efforts on placing their products within the actual television show. Some companies have even been able to have the show revolve around their product, as was seen with Applebee's in the new show Friday Night Lights. Another popular trend is to place a product in a television show and have a commerical for that product directly after, which Herbal Essense did on What I Like About You. This methods has acutally proven to increase brand awarness by 20 percent.

Although current technology is making it more and more difficult for advertisers, future technology will hopefully allow for endless possibilities. For example, currently many websites are being used to sell certain products that are seen on numerous television shows. Eventually, television will act as an ordering catalog and allow viewers to purchase the products that they see with the click of a remote. And with new things such as video iPods, products can be placed to appear at the beginning of songs, pod-casts, music videos, etc.

Product placement is traditionally placed in movies and on television, but now companies are branching out. Authors are talking about products in extensive details in their books and video games are using real products to help make the virital reality seem more like reality. Products are even being placed on garabage trucks to promote Glad bags and keeping NYC clean.

Through my audience research class I learned different places you can advertise and how to commute the costs. Most media are extremely expensive and companies do not always have big enough budgets. Many products are placed just on reputation, such as the Zune on Ellen, and therefore serve as free advertisements and something every company should look into.

Audience research has also taught me the importnace of knowing your target audience and catering to what they want and need. This is not just necassary for traditional advertising, but product placement as well. When placing a product in a movie, tv show, etc, you need to know about the typical viewer of the program. If you are trying to place a Big Mac and the typical viewer is extremely health concious, that may not be the best placement. However, if you are a musical instrument company and you are trying to attract teens who are interested in music, the video game Guitar Hero is a perfect match.

With the 30 second commerical on the verge of extinction, advertising agencies have to get more creative. Product Placement is already extremely popular and its appearance in traditional and non-traditional media is just going to keep increasing throughout the years.

Product Placement increases brand awareness

2006-11-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

According to a recent Nielson Media research study, product placement increases brand recognition by 20 percent.

58 percent of viewers recognized a brand when viewing product placement along with a commerical compared to the 47 percent of viewers who recognized a brand after just viewing the commerical.

Although brand recognition is increased, that doesn't necassarily mean that sales increase as well. Also, viewers' awareness, attitudes, and purchase interest were found to be correlated to the level of familarity the viewer had with the brand, program's genre and loyalty, and the nature of the product placement.

I'm curious how much brand awareness increasing from viewers just seeing a product placement and not a commerical. Since many viewers are now able to fast forward or skip commericals all together, product placement is becoming more and more significant and those awarness numbers would be useful to know.

2006-11-27T11:37:00.000-05:00

Product placement is starting to make its appearance in novels. The latest James Patterson novel, "Cross," talks about Mercedes-Benz in great detail. In fact, an entire chapter of the book describes the main character's trip to a Mercedes-Benz dealership.

“So we stopped at the Mercedes dealer…Jannie and Damon ogled a silver CLK500 Cabriolet convertible, while Ali and I tested out the spacious front seat of an R350. I was thinking family car — safety, beauty, resale value. Intellect and emotion.”

The main character later purchases a R350 and drives it to clear his mind. Each time he drives it he describes what he likes about the car.

This product placement is so obvious and forced that it becomes annoying. If James Patterson just had the character have the car and mention it once or twice readers would not even notice. However, he goes overboard and spends a whole chapter talking about the dealership and keeps mentioning the car throughout the novel.

Seen On!

2006-11-15T11:24:00.000-05:00

I came across the ultimate product placement website called SeenOn. It allows people to post different products that they have seen in television shows and movies and allows others to confirm them. There is also a blog that is based around the latest fashions and technology placements that are occuring in the most popular television shows and movies. In addition to this, it allows users to purchase various products that were seen on select movies and television shows.

This shows that people are obviously paying attention to product placement and want a good portion of the products they are seeing. Who knows, maybe someday stores will open up in malls that just feature products that were seen on television and in movies.

Who said nothing in life is free?

2006-11-13T10:40:00.000-05:00

This Friday the movie "A Good Year" will be released in theaters. It stars Russell Crowe who plays an investment banker from London who winds up in Provence attending to a small vineyard he inherited.

One of Crowe's main gadgets is the Palm Inc's Treo Smart Phone. This phone is not just used for calling people, but taking pictures, having video conferences, e-mailing, and even helps Crowe with some wine selections, all of which the Treo can do in real life.

For a placement this big companies usually pay thousands of dollars, however Palm Inc did not pay anything. The Treo got placed based on its reputation alone. Im curious if the script writers were given Treo phones to influence their decision or if this placement was done without any influence from Palm Inc what-so-ever. Either way, Palm Inc is receiving about 2 hours of a free commerical and word of mouth advertising. It doesn't get any better than that!

Glad to help

2006-11-08T11:42:00.000-05:00

Throughout New York City, the logo of the Glad products Co is being placed on 2,220 sanitation trucks and 450 mechanical brooms. These 22 by 28 inch signs are more of a public service announcement than an actual ad reading "Glad: New York City Tough. Keep NYC Clean."

This placement was actual done to thank Glad for their generous donation of 125,000 white 30 gallon trash bags and $7,500 to Keep American Beautiful, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to litter prevention and beautification, which will be used to help keep NYC clean.

Glad ambassadors will even get a chance to travel with the sanitation trucks at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade.

This is not only a great product placement for Glad trash bags, but it is also great PR for them as well. They donated money to help make NYC clean and their advertisement was not just about themselves, but the beautification of NYC as well. If these PSA's actually do work, Glad will be associated with the success and their sales will most likely skyrocket. Maybe they will even extend the program to other cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago.

Virtual reality or just plan reality?

2006-11-06T11:32:00.000-05:00

In order to add an extra element of realism, RedOctane has decided to place real music products in their new game, Guitar Hero II. These will include Boss Effectors, DW Drums, Eden Bass Amplication, EMG, Epiphone, Ernie Ball Strings, Gibson Guitar, Guitar Center, Hofner, Kramer, Krank, Line 6, Mesa Boogie, MusicMan Basses, Orange, Randall Amplifiers, Roland, Vans and the Vans Warped Tour, VHT, and Zildjian.

According to Dutsy Welch the head publisher of RedOctane, these placements allow players to be "immersed into the rock star culture, utilizing the authentic tools of musicians worldwide including an extensive array of amps, strings, pedals, cymbals, music stores and venues."

This is a perfect example of how product placement benefits both parties involved. The brands will increase their awareness as gamers conquer level after level on these virtual instruments. Guitar Hero II is able to use real products to make the game seem more of a reality as apposed to the virtual reality that it is.

The Zune

2006-11-01T10:58:00.000-05:00

Microsoft is coming out with a new product that they plan to call the Zune. This will be similar to the video iPod but with an added feature of allowing anyone with a Zune to talk to one another and even file share. This product has not yet been released to stores yet, however, it has already been on the Ellen Degeneres show.

This was a great hit for the Zune, not only did it appear in the Ellen show, but she spent time talking about it and demonstrating how it worked. All they did was send Ellen a sneak copy of the Zune and she did the rest. Zunes were also giving to all memebers of the audience who would most likely show their friends the cool new gift they got from the Ellen show, creating wonderful word of mouth advertising. I watched the clip from the show and would probably buy a zune if my iPod ever broke. This is because it allows file sharing which would enhance my music and video collection.

Are television shows the new merchandise catalogs?

2006-10-30T11:29:00.000-05:00

There is a website where you can buy products that you see on abc's main television shows. Liked Bree from Desperate Housewives wedding dress or tuberware? Want to paint your house the exact yellow of Gabby's house? Or maybe you liked that necklace and earrings that Marjorie wore last week on What About Brian. All these products can now be bought online.

According to to an article by Tom Doresy, a new firm called Delivery Agent recongized that people see things on TV that they need to have and found a way to make that happen. In the near future, Delivery Agent hopes to be able to let viewers with digital cable or satellite TV purchase the products that they see with the click of a remote.

If this dream does become a reality watching TV will be more like window shopping. People will begin channel surfing and not stop for an interesting show, but rather when a pair of shoes catches their eyes. I'm curious if this works, will advertisers catch on and allow consumers to order their products while viewing a commerical about them?

Where do you draw the line?

2006-10-22T14:15:00.000-04:00

I came across an article in USA Today that talked about product placement in last Friday's episode of What I like about you. The episode revolved around two character's competing for acting work in the new Herbal Esssence ad. The commerical then airs for the first time during a commercial break following the scene.

This is a huge placement for Herbal Essence. Not only was their product featured in the program, the plot was based around their product. And then to top it off, they were able to introduce their new commerical to consumers in a new and interesting way.

The only problem here is the line between television programs and commericals is becoming more and more gray. Was this a half an hour program or was it really more like a half an hour commerical for Herbal Essence with familiar characters thrown in?

Applebee's: The biggest buzz in Friday Night Lights

2006-10-17T12:56:00.000-04:00

I came across an article that talked about NBC's new television show, Friday Night Lights. This new drama is about a Texas high school football team who loves to hangout at Applebee's. Infact, one of the player's girlfriend just got a job as a waitress there. This is a huge opportunity for Applebee's. Not only are they in the show, they are also all over the Friday N ight Lights Website with a chance to become the Applebee's hometown hero of the month. If this show is successful, Applebee's will become the typical Friday night hangout for high school students everywhere.

Although Applebee's is the main product featured on Friday Night Lights, there are numerous others. Brands such as Gatorade and AT&T are featured throughout the high school stadium. One of the character's car dealerships will sell Toyotas and in the near feature the team will go to the movies to see Fox's Eragon, a fantasy film due in theaters in Decemeber.

Having the characters go see a real movie is an interesting idea. I don't think I have ever watched a show that did this. Not only will this most likely be a free preview of the movie, it will also cause fans to go watch Eragon in the movies to be like the characters they look up to so much.

Wonka vision becomes a reality

2006-10-17T12:23:00.000-04:00

My last blog got me thinking about reverse product placement. The first movie that came to mind that did this was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory with a Wonka line of candy including the everlasting Gobstoppers. I remember when I was little asking my mother if the movie was based on the candy, I was too young to process that it was actually the other way around. I also remember being dissapointed because my Gobstopper did not last forever like the ones the children were given in the movie.

This shows the huge impression movies like these make on children and the potential product success that can arise if handled correctly. I can also remember when the Harry Potter movies first came out and soon after the gross flavored jelly beans followed. My friend actually bought me a box for Christmas that year, even though she knew the flavors were things such as ear wax, dirt, and sardine. Although they did relate to Harry Potter I don't think I would ever buy them again. They were disgusting and we mainly used them to have our friends try and laugh at their reactions. This just shows however, that even ear wax flavored jelly beans have a place in the market if they are linked with the correct multimedia.

Product placementless..... is it possible?

2006-10-09T15:00:00.000-04:00

The number one spot at the box office this weekend was held by Open Session. This was Sony Pictures Animation first full length film. Surprising, no Sony products are seen within the film, unlike other Sony pictures that normally include a Sony Playstation, Sony VAIO, and/or a Sony Ericsson. In fact, Open Session is almost completely brand free.

The few brands that are spotted in Open Session are fake brands, such as a PUNiMart, Slooshies, and Nummy Bars. The main characters love the Nummy Bars which pretty much guarentees that the fake Nummy bar brand makes a strong impression. However, as of now, Sony does not plan on doing reverse product placement and licencing one of its manufacturers to make and sell these Nummy bars.

I feel like product placement has become such as big ascpect of media these days that when something doesn't use any it sticks out. For example, this weekend I participated in a photoshoot for the Ithaca College Website and prosepctive students brochure. We were allowed to pick out whatever we wanted to drink and eat and a photographer just took pictures of us sitting around a table and talking to show student life outside the classroom. However, a lot of our drinks were name brands such as Snapple and Tropicana and we had to pour them into generic cups so that we were not endurcing any products. This stuck out in my mind, maybe because I've been blogging about product placement for a few weeks, but it showed me that sometimes its almost easier to just use well known brands than to go the extra distance in trying to make sure that none appear and/or making products up such as the Nummy Bars.

Product Placement in the theatre

2006-10-07T13:16:00.000-04:00

This weekend I saw the Ithaca College production of Etta Jenks. It takes place in the 80's and is about of girl named Etta who moves to Los Angeles to make it as an actress and gets sucked into the porn industry.

I noticed that several times Coca-cola was mentioned, it was infact Etta's drink of choice, and she was constantly seen drinking an old fashioned coke bottle. At one point, she even mentions a school science experiment in which a tooth decays in a glass of coke. I don't know if it is necassarily a good thing for coke to be associated with the decaying of teeth or even a porn star for that matter, but nether-the-less, it was free advertisement.

Besides coke, there was no mention of any of products and the props that were used were just generic brands. A possible reason for this might be that a lot of products that were popular in the 80's are not as popular today. Therefore they would be harder for the director to find and the audience would not recognize them as easily. Coke worked perfectly though, since it was around back then and still is quite popular today.

And the Oscar goes to...... xbox 360!

2006-10-02T19:52:00.000-04:00

I came across an article that discussed the possibilty of an xbox 360, an iPod, and a Plasma TV appearing in what may be next summer's biggest blockbuster, The Transformers.

Why is this so interesting you may ask? Well, unlike traditional product placement when the main characters use the products, these products will be featured as the main characters.

This product placement can be either hit or miss. Who knows how America will take an iPod being the hero of a movie and fighting crime... will it just whip its headphones around to strangle people or blast music really loud and make them deaf or will it be given special powers, powers that your everyday iPod could never possess. If the latter is true, it might actually hurt the iPod/xbox 360/Plasma TV brand because they will look so much better in the movies and when children go to buy them in real life and realize they do not possess those magic powers, they will be disappointed and no longer appreciate the product for everything it is known for today.

The 2 hr long commerical... is it really possible?

2006-10-01T12:35:00.000-04:00

Adrants reports that the Ad agency Crispin Porter and Bogusky are testing the limits with their new idea on how to promote Burger King. They are creating a movie and scripting it to take place in a Burger King restaurant. If this movie is a success, it won't be long before agencies everywhere transform into film producers.

Of course movies have been centered around food joints before, take Harold and Kumar go to White Castle for example. However, never before as an actual ad agency decided that they were going to take matters into their own hands and create a movie to promote their product themselves.

I am curious to see how this movie turns out, especially since agencies are so used to creating the 30 sec commerical and now they will be dealing with a much lengther time period. They are going to have to be extremely clever because no one will want to watch the movie if it feels like a 2 hour long ad.

Another thing to consider is if will they place other products in the movie, mainly clients they deal with, or will everything and anything be about Burger King?

Now you see it, now you don't

2006-09-26T16:15:00.000-04:00

The newest thing in product placement is virtually inserting products into television shows without ever having to film them. Viewers of the April 25th episode of "Yes Dear" saw a box of club crakers on a table next to a plate of cheese. However, what they did not realize was that this box of crackers was not acutally filmed in the shot, it was virtually placed in later through a a process of using computer graphics and digital editing.

Digital placement gives advertisers and producers the option of cutting multiple deals with advertisers. For example, they could show a can of Coke in the first release of a DVD and a can of Pepsi in the second special edition release.

The product insertion also does not need to be accounted for on the set or written into the script, which allows for easy creative post-production cuts and add ons.

As with any new advance of technology, there are also problems associated with this. Products have to be created in order to look real and have the right lightening as if they were actually there, which is not always easy. However, once technology catches up, I feel that the majority of product placement will infact turn digital.

Paid to blog?

2006-09-24T12:53:00.000-04:00

I came across an Article that discussed how Marqui is going to be paying 15 independent bloggers $800 a month to mention them once a week in their blogs and provide a link to their website. These bloggers were personally recruited with an exmphasis on ones that would be read by potential customers.

The bloggers get weekly content drops from Marqui, including customer success stories which they can use if they want. The bloggers are under no obligation to be positive and will not suffer if they tell the truth. Marqui hopes this will improve their product because they will recieve feedback from the blogs as well as comments by readers. “In the blogosphere, a negative remark is the beginning of an online discussion that we can participate in and learn from," stated Marqui CEO Stephen King. King also feels that this makes sense for his company because their customers are exploring new marketing ideas.

I think this is an interesting idea. At first, I was a little sketched out that a company would pay people to mention them in their blogs. However, when I read that they encourage the bloggers to be honest I realized that the idea might not be so bad after all. Marqui is not just doing this to create awareness of their company, they also truly want feedback from their customers and found a create way to do it while getting some bonus placement at the same time.

Don't judge a book by its CoverGirl

2006-09-20T11:16:00.000-04:00

Traditionally, product placement has been seen in tv shows, movies, and even video games. Now, it is making its way into books.

The novel, "Cathy's Book: If Found Call (650)-266-8233," has the heroine talk about wearing "a killer coat of Lipslicks in 'Darling.' " Although products have been mentioned in books before, deals were normally not made. In this case, the author had already written "Cathy's Book" when approached by Procter & Gamble.

Lipslicks is a line of lip gloss made by CoverGirl, which is owned by Procter & Gamble. There was no money exchanged for the mention of Lipslicks in the book; however, Procter & Gamble has agreed to promote the book on Beinggirl.com, a Web site directed at adolescent girls that features games, advice on handling puberty, as well as make-up tips.

After reading this, I went to Beinggirl.com and searched for "Cathy's Book" and could not find it. The novel was suppsed to be released in September so maybe the promotions will start next month. Either way, this opens doors to companies as another way to advertise their products. It might not be as affective as television product placement since the audience will not see the actual product, although it might intice people to go look up the product on-line to see what it is, which in a sense would be even better.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/business/media/12book.html?ex=1307764800en=89d58b622aa65b7dei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss

In the world of product placement, Apples are always in season

2006-09-17T12:11:00.000-04:00

From January to April 2006, Apple products were mentioned or viewed 250 times around the dial. Apple does not pay for product placement and would not discuss how its products seem to make their way into films and movies.

Apple got four minutes of exposure alone for their ipod on the hit tv show "The Office" when the script writers wanted the boss to give out a cool gift for co-workers to recent.

Some argue that the appearances of Apple products on tv and in movies is disproportionate to real life. iPods, iMacs, and iBooks seem to be everywhere on tv, even though Apple computers have less than 5 percent of the U.S. computer market.

One the most common Apple placement that I noticed was in the show Sex and the City. The main character, Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, would end each episode by writing her "Sex and the City" column on her Apple computer. Although Apple was shown a lot, it did not always get great exposure.

I remember one episode where Carrie's computer crashes and she lost everything on her entire hard drive. The audience all knew that she had an Apple computer so they associated the crashing to mean that Apples are not always reliable, even though in the back of their minds they know that no matter what brand, all computers can crash.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/14/AR2006041401670.html

Mars, Inc Mistake

2006-09-11T11:42:00.000-04:00

Mars, Inc had the opportunity to have M&M's be the candy that was used to lure the little alien away from his hiding place in the 1982 blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. However, they turned down this opportunity and opened doors for their competitor, Hershey Foods Corporation, to seize the opportunity with their Reese's Pieces, making this one of the most successful product placement spots of all times.

Hershey Foods did not have to pay for this placement, but agreed to do a tie in with the candy and the movie after the release of the film. Reese's Pieces sales soared through the roof only 2 weeks after the premier and had a total increase in sales od 65%.

This is just one example of how effective product placement can be. Before the movie, Reese's Pieces were not very well known. When America fell in love with the little alien, they also fell in love with the candy that would help him to appear. Since it was done subtly, the audience did not feel like Reese's Pieces was being forced into their minds, which is one of the reasons for the enonormous success.
http://www.snopes.com/business/market/mandms.asp

What is product placement

2006-09-10T13:32:00.000-04:00

Product Placement: the appearance of a product or service in a broadcast program or movie, paid for by the manufacturer to gain exposure for the product or service

The world is changing and people don't always have the time or the patients to watch commercials. New devices such as TiVo allow these people to fast forward and skip commercials all together. This is one reason why product placement seems to becoming more and more popular.

One of the most popular places to find product placement is in movies. The last movie I saw in theaters was Invincible.

I found a website that tells you actually what products were placed in what movies, http://www.brandchannel.com/brandcameo_films.asp. After looking up Invincible, I found that all of these brands/products were placed somewhere throughout the movie.

Adidas
Bombay Sapphire
Buick
CBS
Chevrolet
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Frito Lay
Labatt
Lacoste
Lincoln
Michelob
New York Giants
Ohio State University
Pabst
Panasonic
Pepsi
Philadelphia Eagles
Pontiac
Rheingold Beer
UCLA
Westinghouse
Wilson
Yuengling

If you asked me to name the number of products that I saw once I left the theater, I probably would have said 5-10 of them. It's amazing how much product placement popularity is climbing and we are getting so immune to it we don't even realize.