technology allows flexibility

In a Wall Street Journal article titled "Dubbing in Product Plugs" (found on ProQuest) the author discusses the technology that allows movie and television producers to remove or change product placements. For example, in Spider Man 2 Dr. Pepper is featured on a soda machine where Peter Parker works. Through digital technology the brand name was changed to Mirinda, a soda brand sold outside of the US. The version with Mirinda would be distributed overseas.

Movie makers are able to improve their profit making ability because they can easily tailor a product placement to different markets. Advertisers benefit because they can tailor their messages to different target audiences. For now, dubbed products as they are called are only capable with still shots. It is still too complicated for products to be moved around in the scene- to be used by characters for example. However, technology is constantly improving and this technology will most likely be upon us soon.

Dubbing product placements is just one more way that technology is making it easier for advertisers to market their brands.

sopranos

I mentioned in a past post that not all product placement is paid for. A Chicago Trib une article called "Sopranos song: can't pay us to show products" gives an example of just that. The March 15 article discusses a recent episode of HBO's "The Sopranos", where Carmela Soprano recieves a Porche Cayenne Turbo as a gift from her husband. Carmela exclaims repeatedly over the car and talks about its attributes throughout the episode. Suprisingly, Porche did not pay a cent for this excellent advertising. Actually HBO and Porche do not take part in paid-for product placement at all. HBO claims that when you see a product in their shows it is stictly character driven and plot driven, nothing is paid for. Porche method is to just donate the car to the show and let them use it how they choose. They feel it creates a more natural placement.

I think Porche and HBO are on to something. If companies refuse to take money for placement then they are ensuring that real life brand names are only being used when it enhances the value of the show, not the bank account of the company. And it does seem that if a writer is writing a product in because they choose to, not because they have to, that the placement will be more natural. A natural placement that enhances a show would be more likely to be accepted positively by consumers. However, there is one problem- consumers are so cynical about advertising today that they just assume that every product placement is paid for. Regardless of whether or not a placement is paid for there is one rule that advertisers should keep in the top of their minds- if they placement isn't a good fit then it shouldn't be there.

video game placement

A New York Post article published on March 14, 2006 discussed an interesting aspect of product placement: placement in video games. Visa has teamed up with the makers of the game CSI 3:Dimensions of Murder. In addition to it's logo being placed on billboards in the game Visa has also gotten its product into part of the action of the game. In the game, Visa's fraud monitoring system flags spending on a victim's account which prompts CSI detectives to investigate. In this way Visa not only gets to be a logo displayed but the brand becomes a part of the game and a part of the action. This is valuable because consumers are usually more receptive to this type of advertising message. The vice-president of Visa's advertising sums it up this way, "It's not just an ad in a game. It allows the consumer to understand our product."

Visa isn't the only company placing their products in games. Sony, Puma, Nike, and Coca-Cola have all jumped on the video game product placement bandwagon.

The main issue here is how much placement gamers will tolerate. If there are too many ads in the game, gamers will not enjoy the game and it will not sell. So far, advertisers have not reached the limit of what gamers will tolerate but they will continue to push the limits. Visas integration is proof of that.

print placement

So far I have mainly discussed product placement on television and in movies. However, product placement also appears in print media. An article by Gregory Lamb in the Christian Science Monitor discusses this. Revenue for product placement in magazines was expected to rise 17.5% to $160.9 million and 16.9% to $65 million for newspapers in 2005. This data was reported by PQ media, a company that has been tracking product placement since 1975. A print product placement is when the product in integrated into a magazine or newspaper's editorial copy (the stories or the photographs). Becuase of declining profits, product placement will most likely become more and more popular in print as a way to raise funds.

However there is one major issue in print product placement. The operating guidelines for most publications require a clear division between editorial copy and advertisements. This makes paid for placements a violation of the guidelines. However, some placements are included without compensation to the publication.

Ford, American Express and Lexus are three companies who have been named as negotiating to get their products mentioned in stories. Most of the time the publication goes unamed- print publication companies are very reluctant to openly say that they are participating in placement that has been paid for.

There are many ways that brands can be integrated. One example is the "advertorial" which is written like a story but is really advertising copy. Brands can also pay to ensure that a picture of their product is included with a story. Another interesting technique was used by Target in the August 22nd issue of The New Yorker. Target sponsored the magazine- there were no other brands advertised in that issue (See picture). Some types of magazines lend themselves to product placement more than others. For example fashion magazines and food magazines allow products to be included in their articles about new trends and recipes.

brandcameo

Curious about the brands that are placed in your favorite movies? A website is devoted to analyzing recent films and creating lists of the products that are showcased in them. The site is called brandcameo and it references movies starting in 2001 til the present. In order to be counted as a product placement the brand must be mentioned or clearly identifiable by logo or brand name. I was shocked when reading some of the products that were advertised in movies today. It is very interesting to view the products listed right there for you, it makes you realize how much movies are being used to promote products.

Another interesting feature of the site allows you to view different brands and compare the movies that they were placed in. This would be a very effective tool for a media buyer. They could analyze where their competition was placing products and make decisions based on that. For example Philips electronics brand appeared in three top films in 2006: Big Momma's House 2, Madea's Family Reunion, and The Pink Panther.

One of the best aspects of this website is called "your chance!". This feature is for when users think a brand was missed. They can submit the brand to the authors of the site. Then they reanalyze the movie and decide if the brand does need to be listed. Also, the site has a page that tracks the leading brand appearances of the year. As of right now there is an 8 way tie between adidas, channel, coca-cola, motorola, nextel, philips, and toyota.

The website also has what they call the brandchannel Product Placement Awards. This is where the recognize the brands and films that they think had successful product placement. They define successful as a placement that either introduces or reinforces the brand in the audience's mind. Their award for overall product placement in 2005 was Ford and the lifetime acheivement went to Gatorade.

There is a lot of general information about product placement on the website including the history of product placement. I definitely recommend checking this site out. brandcameo

online product placement

Today the internet is extremely popular, so its not suprising that companies have begun to place products on websites. Affina has expanded its company to include a service which places products in the context of web sites. (Affina website can be found here) Affina will pay website owners on a CPM basis and advertisers will pay Affina on a per click basis. Prices will vary from deal to deal and could change based on performance. Affina is able to track click throughs and also determine which users actually complete a transaction. As with all product placement, Affina will work with advertisers and website owners to make the placement as relevant and seamless as possible.

Of course it is natural that product placement should expand from television to the internet, however, it may be difficult to make the placements relevant. While it will probably be less irritating than pop-up ads, consumers may get frustrated with the placements or feel that they create clutter and prevent them from reading the actual website material. However, some may find it helpful. For example, if you are researching different types of digital cameras and connections to the Cannon website come up. The consumer may have been saved time looking for the Cannon website and the link will make it easier for them to do their research. Time will tell what the consumer reaction will be to online product placement.