Intro to Product Placement

Hello and welcome to my wonderful blog about product placement. For those of you out there who are not majoring in IMC, Advertising, or Marketing, product placement is the integration of a brand into a movie, television show, sporting event, etc. The goal of product placement is to get a company's advertising message to the public through a medium other than the 30 second television commercial or radio spot. Well thats the basics, hopefully this blog will help you (and me) gain a better understanding of what exactly product placement is, how it is used, and why it is effective.

Alright enough introduction... now for the juicy stuff. An article titled "When the plot pushes product" ran today in the Los Angeles Times. It gives a very good overview of product placement and some great examples of product placement in the media today. From "24" star Jack Bauer using a Sprint phone to aid hostages, to American Idol Judges drinking Coca-Cola(see picture), to Steve Carrell advocating Chili's awesome blossoms on "The Office"; product placement is everywhere. According to the article, Nielsen reported that the number of product placements went up 30% last year. NBC used product placement the most; an unbelievable 7,460 times on the reality show "The Contender" alone.

The article discusses the theory that the 30 second commercial is no longer effective due to advances in technology(for example tivo and television through ipods and cellphones). Networks and advertisers realized that they need to find new ways to reach consumers.

The idea for product placement could be initiated by the scriptwriters or producers of a program, or a company could go to a show and request to be written in. Prices vary depending on the level of integration. The more involved in the story a product is, the higher the price.

Some viewers are angry that their favorite tv shows are turning into infomercials and have written to networks telling them so. In general these complaints have been ignored because advertisers feel that product placement is more effective than traditional tv ads. They do realize however, that they have to be careful about overdoing it. Some speculators feel that the process will regulate itself. When shows become to cluttered with products, viewers will tune out.

Click here to read the article