Product Placement

Embedded marketing, product placement and branded entertainment are all terms that mean the paid placement of brands within entertainment channels such as movies, television and video games. As advertisers have become increasingly concerned about the efficiency and effectiveness of traditional advertising placement in television, radio and print, they have turned to alternative approaches such as product placement.

Basics

Product placement occurs when a company pays the producer or creator of an entertainment product to incorporate its brand within the show, film or game. The amount of compensation or monetary consideration paid for placement varies and depends on the potential audience and prominence of the placement. Some product placement involves more subliminal placement of the product within a scene or visual. Others includes spoken lines that make mention of the brand or its products.

Benefits

In her October 2006 “USA Today” article “Product placement — You Can’t Escape It,” Laura Petrecca noted that the rise in product placement has occurred because advertisers believe consumers have become desensitized to traditional ad messages. They avoid them using tools, such as digital video recorders or ad blockers. Product placement allows a brand to target audiences interested in the entertainment medium while they are generally captive.

Prominence

Product placement has been around in some capacity for many years. However, its pervasiveness has risen dramatically in the early 21st century to that point that it is hard to watch a show or film without spotting many instances of product placement. Directory filmmaker Morgan Spurlock spoofed the product placement phenomenon in his 2011 film, “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” in which he earned the entire $1.5 budget to make the film through product placement sales. Thus, the documentary demonstrates its point with irony.

Concerns

A primary consumer concern about product placement is its intrusiveness. Product placement’s effectiveness is based on its subtle influence in a story. When viewers easily spot the placements, they may become annoyed with the production and the brand. In his review of the 2009 film, “Couples Retreat” for CinemaBlend.com, Josh Tyler heavily criticizes a five-minute scene in the movie written just to satisfy a paid placement from ActiVision, the develop of the “Guitar Hero 5” video game. The film received a number of other negative reviews for its millions of dollars generated through product placement, including a prominent scene in which star Vince Vaughan repeats the name “Applebee’s” five times.

Social Media

Product placement has found an increasingly vibrant home on social media platforms. The advent and explosive popularity of social media means that the retail and ad landscape has had to change to keep pace. Even huge corporate brands now rely on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to share, promote, and sell their products.

Social media product placement takes the form of the social influencer. The social influencer is a social media personality with a large following; they may use branded products in order to boost that brand’s popularity with their following (for a fee, of course).

Social media influencers don’t need to be household name reality stars though, to make an impact on product placement. Check out Jason Sadler’s grassroots product placement campaign iWearYourShirt, which has grown exponentially since its creation.

How can you get product Placement for your small business?

National product placement campaigns are, of course, expensive. That doesn’t mean that small business owners should not try to use product placement to spread the word about their products and their brand.

Remember: The goal of your product placement campaign can be to simply get your brand out in front of your target audience. There are numerous low-cost or free way to achieve this goal:

1. Maximize social media. Facebook and Twitter are free spaces to share products with your followers. Instagram is a perfect medium for visual product placement. YouTube can show your product being used by a media influencer. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people that have an impact with your target audience – that’s how some of them make their living and they’ll be open to negotiating with you for placement.
2. Cold calls can work. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone to speak to someone in the local media industry about product placement opportunities.
3. Do your own PR. Use your social media channels to reach out to industry influencers. Create awareness and interest for your products by sharing with those who may be able to do some product placement on their own channels.
4. Prepare press kits. If someone in the media or social media expresses interest in working with you on product placement, it pays to be prepared. Put together a professional press briefing. Include all media and news about your product. Also include tangible samples of your product and packaging to share with interested prospects.
5. Be active. Maintain an active presence on your social media to drum up prospects. Don’t just share product photos. Create valuable content, such as tips or how-tos so that others will want to share your products.
6. Build clout. Getting your products out in the world is a matter of tenacity. Use your online store or retail space at small local shops to build product credibility. Use social media to reach out to bloggers to feature your products.
7. Sell your story. The platforms that you can use for product placement value their reputations – that’s why product placement on those platforms is valuable in the first place. One great way to entice them toward your project is to sell your story as much as your product. If you’re doing something to give back to the community, highlight that! Talk to your product placement target about how you’re looking to drum up awareness for your cause, not just your product.