[Authored by MBA Candidate Mitch Walker] Product advertising through media is experiencing many changes. The industry is switching away from direct advertising to more of a product placement approach. Although, this concept is nothing new, more and more companies are utilizing this approach. The next time you watch television or a movie, try and identify certain products that appear or are mentioned over and over. Some of them will become more obvious than others. Unless the viewer is really thinking about it, they may not realize that they are being exposed to certain product placements.
In the movie You’ve Got Mail, AOL, Apple, IBM and Starbucks were products that were frequently displayed. Apple computers were exclusively used and displayed in the movie Mission Impossible 2. Chevrolet made excellent use of the Camaro in the recent Transformers movie.
More and more television shows are being broadcast “commercial-free” and obtaining more and more advertising revenues via product placements. Recent examples of television series that have been broadcast without ad interruptions include Gideon’s Crossing, 24, and Alias. Furthermore, with the advent of digital video recorders, viewers are switching from watching live programming to watching recorded programming and fast forwarding or skipping through commercials. By placing products into the show’s content, viewers have no choice but to be exposed to advertisers’ products. Reality TV has changed the rules of the game by creating brand entertainment. The Apprentice reality TV show has positioned the product as an integral part of the show. In many of the show’s challenges, the company’s own executives introduce the task which involves their own product. Staples, Pontiac, QVC, Sony, Best Buy and Pepsi, to name a few, are companies that have placed their products in tasks on The Apprentice.
Reality TV hit show Survivor has made product placements extremely obvious with reward challenges centered on food products as the reward such as Doritos or Mountain Dew.
Product placement is also evident in books, music videos and video games. Children’s books feature product brands right in the titles. Skittles Riddles Math, The M&M’s Brand Counting Book, and The Hershey’s Kisses Addition Book are just a few examples.
Product placement in video games isn’t anything new. In the 1980’s, Sega placed banners advertising Marlboro in its auto racing games. More recently, Sega has placed ads for Dole Food Company in its Super Monkey Ball video game.
Product placement is accomplished under various arrangements including 1) it merely happens within programming without any intentionality (see example in the picture to left of a Coke displayed from the space shuttle), 2) the placement is arranged and a certain amount of the product is supplied as compensation, or 3) the placement is arranged in return for monetary compensation.
--MBA Candidate Mitch Walker