Product placement is an amazing way to connect with your consumers, as it can create a memorable interaction between the brand and its buyer. That said, it can also be viewed as an intrusion into the space in which consumers expect a little sanctuary from the sales pitch. As a result, product placement needs to be seamless and must add value to the piece of work into which it’s being integrated.
Recently I watched the movie Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (please don’t judge me on my movie selection) and was in a complete state of confusion about why there was a Dodge branded “Fantasticar” accompanied by some quick banter about its Hemi engine. I had to rewind the movie three times to fully comprehend that I’d unfortunately had a 20-second Dodge commercial shoved in my face. Not only did this intrusion put a damper on my movie-watching experience, it also made me feel that Dodge just didn’t get it – or me. And, unlike a typical commercial or print ad, this Hemi-chat will come to unfortunate life every time someone throws this DVD in their player, betraying the company’s awkward inability to truly integrate effective product placement.
The traditional “Interruption Model” of advertising is becoming much less effective as people avoid watching advertisements via either switching stations or skipping them entirely via PVRs. As a result, more brands are spending money in an attempt to integrate themselves into the actual content being consumed. The key is that these ventures are far more delicate than the typical 30-second TV spot and can have a major impact on the quality of the content.
So how are you going to do it?
Entries
September 19th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Its got to the point of humour. Though not film, America’s/Canada’s Top Model is past the point of hilarity with how blatent product placement is woven through the show’s narrative. With the continued death of the 30 second spot, it is only natural to see advertisers merge traditional advertising with the actual storytelling.
Even moreso than with film, the ‘interuption model’ has become a prominent and expected piece of the developing state of the medium.
Here’s something contrary to most opinion, I actually like it. As much as the viewer will bitch and moan about the continued prevelance of placed branding in fiction, I say thank god its moved that way rather than taking 2 1/2 minutes seperated from the story line four times every hour to inform us of the sponsors newest and coolest.
What is even more welcomed is that, HELLO, our actual lives are in state of perpetual product placement. If someone were filming my life right now (and obviously a missed boat that someone is not) they could zoom in on my BIC marker choice, HTC touch phone (sorry Espresso, but the Instinct came out a couple weeks too late, and was a tad more than free with contract), Impega Scotch Tape, or Dell computer, and it would be a natural exposure of what I work with every moment of the day.
We all live in completely branded lives, so why all the huffin and puffin when we see consumer culture meshed into our entertainment escapes?
September 19th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
No huffing or puffing necessary, I agree – I think the challenge is seriously integrating it in a natural way. When you use your BIC marker or HTC touch phone, do you take thirty seconds to point out its features? Nah. But, you’re right, we’re in total branded reality – have you seen Russ’s brand timeline portrait (based on Jane Sample’s)? (Please join us in mocking the 6:45 Revlon piece.)
http://dailygrind.brandinfiltration.com/?p=206
What’s the coolest example of product placement that you’ve seen? Paige talks a lot about podbusting, is that our winner? Where does it fit best?
September 19th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
One of the most cringe-worthy examples of a movie that dripped with awkward and obvious product placement was the straight-to-video ‘film’ “Blonde Ambition” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887719/). (Yah, I watched it – it was on the movie channel. Thankfully it was only my time that was wasted and not also my money.)
Blonde Ambition served exclusively as a vehicle to promote two desperate brands:
1. Aquafresh
2. Jessica Simpson
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
@jacquelyn — see I actually find it very natural to be blatent and proud about the features of the products that represent us. I sure do talk about the smoothness of the BIC’s flow, or the cool touch screen on the HTC to anyone who will listen. And so, it would be a completely natural thing for the fantastic four to tell how sweet the leather seats are in their new Dodge, if they truly decided that Dodge was their superhero ride provider of choice.
What I find cheapens the model, and loses the naturalism of product placement is the financial transaction the audience recognizes that puts the decision to represent that product in that scenario. There is no choice, no honest ownership by the character in the way its presented. The way the relationship is presented cheapens the art for the audience, it is painted as sneaky, as shallow, as forced, when it actually does not have to be at all.
In that way, maybe, the most natural and seamless method of product integration into fiction is something like Coca-Cola’s Happiness Factory. Total narrative dictated by the love of a brand. No forced smiles or awkward dialogue to introduce a logo, but rather true and honest art being directed wholeheartedly by private interests.
As the audience, if we consciously recognize that the Silver Surfer is not only brought to you by 20th Century Fox but also in part, Dodge, the natural acceptance of its presence becomes much more ‘human’.
After that recognition that the brand is indeed part of the production, it then only comes down to quality direction to see that brand properly intergrated into a story line. eg. The Matrix and Cadillac.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
not sure if you all watch Heroes, but there was a moment of brilliance during the premier last night with relation to the conversation above.
Character A has been left for dead in an African desert. After Character B stumbles upon him to presumably save Character A, Character A asks to use his cell phone. Character B, future seeing African woodsmen, says that he has no service, with the clever whip at the end “I should of gone with Sprint”.
It was seamless, cheeky, somewhat subtle, and for the advertiser in me, wildly amusing.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Saw it. Loved it. LOVED IT!
PS: I followed up an hour of Heroes preshow + two hours of Heroes return with 8 hours Sylar-and-Mohinder-related nightmares. WRONG!
September 24th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I wonder if there was a sales spike in Heineken after last week’s Mad Men? What do you think the going rate is for the Sterling Cooper treatment?