The Reality of Product Placement

Apr 21

Product placement in prime time TV shows is certainly gaining momentum worldwide, and now it seems reality TV shows are becoming the newest vehicle for this alternative form of advertising.

In 2011, an Australian study, compiled by social insights specialist Julie Houston, found that 94% of viewer purchasing behaviour has been influenced by what they have seen on a reality TV show. From over 400 participants, 60% had bought a product after seeing it on a reality show, while 20% had even travelled to a new destination after seeing an endorsement from a reality series. Reality TV is becoming increasingly popular with more people tuning in to reality shows today than ever before. In this sense, it’s no surprise that product placement advertising has found a new outlet in competitive or community based programming.

Brands Reaping Benefits

In the UK, where product placement on TV shows is a relatively new concept, reality shows such as Big Brother are already cashing in on the development. In the 2011 Celebrity Big Brother house, many of the kitchen and electrical appliances used in the show were supplied by brands like Belling. Heat magazine subsequently ran a feature encouraging their readers to ‘Get the look’ by showing pictures of the products used within the house alongside details of where to purchase them.

Popular reality series The Only Way is Essex is currently sponsored by PlayStation and Ann Summers, and may begin to feature products from both brands in later episodes. ‘TOWIE’ already affords heavy publicity to Essex-based bars and nightspots in each show.

Reality TV Streets Ahead of Scripted Shows for Product Placement

In America, a report released by Nielson showed that reality TV shows are streets ahead of their scripted counterparts when it comes to product placement. In 2011, American Idol took the lead with a whopping 577 occurrences of product placement across 39 episodes within the year. As one of the most watched shows in the USA, there is no doubt that the brands which featured heavily in the show profited enormously from the placements.

Following close behind was competitive weight-loss show The Biggest Loser, with 533 instances of product placement across 34 shows. Of the top ten list of primetime American TV shows featuring heavy amounts of product placement, only one of them was not a reality show: Friday Night Lights, a drama series about small townTexas football players, which featured brands such as Costco, Gatorade and Ford across its 13 shows.

Why Does Reality TV Product Placement Work?

There’s good reason Reality TV has become such a popular way for brands to advertise: it offers the flexibility that scripted shows can’t provide. Instead of trying to come up with creative ways to fit products into complex plots and character developments, reality TV shows can happily feature any number of brands with no conflict of interest.

Because the shows mimic everyday life, participants are seen eating, drinking or using products - naturally. There is no better way for a brand to advertise than by showing viewers its real life benefits. In this sense, reality TV is the perfect vehicle for embedded advertising – encouraging consumer engagement in a natural and ordinary way.

Physical vs Digital: Product Placement Moves On

Apr 07

Product placement has given brands the chance to integrate into popular films and TV shows for decades. It’s an innovative and highly successful advertising medium, although traditionally it’s meant agencies liaising with directors and producers to secure adequate representation in broadcasts. A time consuming affair, and one that calls for quite some investment – and patience.

Smaller brand owners have been forced to forgo this method of promoting their products because of the cost and time involved in realising a return. But, thankfully for the advertising underdog, things are changing.

Digital product placement is making an impactful debut. Thanks to new technologies, brands can be placed seamlessly within broadcast content retrospectively – and there are many benefits.

It’s all in the Timing

Through digital insertion, brands can be embedded within existing content, rather than having to be physically included at script or production stage.

It can be anything from three to nine months before a TV programme is aired, and much longer for films.

In terms of products, trends and real-world events, this period of time is very significant and the impact of a particular brand name on its chosen audience may be lessened as a result. Digital insertion makes it possible for advertisers to use timing to great effect when choosing how to promote their products. Lexus – an official partner of the Melbourne Cup Carnival in 2011 – provided an example of this by superimposing an image of its logo on a railing in a scene from Winners & Losers, where the characters were at the races.

An Open Market

As digital insertion can be completed within a matter of days, greater flexibility and choice is given to the advertiser who is free to make last-minute decisions regarding product placement. There is also a reduced need for a particular programme to have only one or two long-term sponsors, as digital product placement can open up any number of revenues for other brands that may not want to commit to a 13-week series. This opens up the market to smaller companies with tighter marketing budgets, who will be able to get involved with a more flexible form of product placement advertising which was not previously accessible.

Making the Impossible Possible

Flexibility is a huge benefit of digital product placement advertising, as networks will now be able to sell in-programme ad placement to several different advertisers based on location. Advanced video technology can be used to seamlessly replace any product being used in a movie or TV show, including items being held or worn, even as the actor is moving. This opens up any number of possibilities for advertisers to market their products to different audiences, and networks will even be able to ‘resell’ product spots in their TV shows to different brands after the show has aired for their online catch-up services.

As the popularity of digital insertion grows, it won’t be long before Hollywood et al produces its films with product placement in mind from the earliest stages. Films will be designed specifically to support digital post-production product placement, by providing the actors with items (such as soft drink cans) in solid colours, making it a simple process to overdub a brand later on.

The possibilities for digital insertion are infinitely more open than with physical product placement, making the technology an exciting new move in embedded advertising.

Seven in Ten UK Consumers Aware of Product Placement

Mar 25

Since Ofcom’s decision to allow product placement, perceptions of this marketing method on UK TV have changed. A YouGov poll, taken at the end of February 2011 shortly after the decision was made, found that over one third of respondents had no idea what product placement was. However another poll, taken in July 2011, found that nearly three quarters of respondents (72%) knew what product placement was, with nearly half (46%) stating that real brands placed in TV programmes can make them seem more realistic.

Since February 2011, there have been less than 20 examples of product placement advertising in UK TV programmes. However, despite a slow start, the product placement market in the UK is estimated to be worth up to £120m in the next five years. Adele Gritten, head of media consulting at YouGov, said: “There appears to be a gradual acceptance taking place as people see product placement more and more. We’re all consumers of brands, and as long as placements aren’t too overt, it’s very realistic for us to experience the same household brands in the programmes we watch.”

Big Names Come To UK Living Rooms

Nescafe’s £100,000 deal to feature a Dolce Gusto coffee machine in ITV’s This Morning was the first example of product placement advertising on UK TV in February 2011. Research from Otherlines.tv claims that 40% of viewers said their interest in buying the product increased after the placement was shown.

Not long after, in April 2011, Microsoft’s Kinect Sports featured prominently in the title sequence of Sky One’s sports panel show A League of Their Own. In June 2011, UKTV signed a deal for a factual series with FindMyPast.co.uk, featuring members of the public using the website to find out about their family history – the first factual TV show in the UK to feature product placement advertising.

Product Placement Doesn’t Spoil Viewing, Claims the Public

Of those surveyed by YouGov in July 2011, 59% said they did not have a negative experience of product placement and claimed that it made no difference to their viewing experience. 33% of those polled disagreed that product placement advertising negatively impacts the integrity of a TV programme.

The poll also showed that young audiences, aged 18 to 34, were the most likely to form a positive impression of product placement, with 25% of those aged 18 to 24 stating their brand perception would become more positive if seen in a UK TV Programme.

So despite it being early days for product placement on UK TV, these positive reactions show it could prove very lucrative for brand advertisers.

Embedded Brands in UK TV Exports Double Communication Value

Dec 13

A great deal of UK television programmes are exported, and quite widely. But once they arrive overseas, sponsorship rights can change, as can the content of advertising breaks, which stunts the reach of the advertiser. But if brands are actually embedded in a programme, they will remain a permanent feature, with guaranteed lifetime exposure to the overseas audience every time they’re aired.

Research has shown that the value of UK television drama product placement will double when programmes are exported.

NMG Product Placement, Essential Television Statistics and Madigan Cluff have investigated the additional value created when international brands are placed into UK TV programmes.

By combining NMG’s Tracker™ database which details the brands that have appeared in specified episodes of programmes, with the ETS database which tracks episode plays in over 40 countries, and the Madigan Cluff database which values each transmission overseas, it has been demonstrated that advertisers often realise the same value from overseas exports as they do from the original airing in the UK.

Here’s what the people behind the research have to say:

Michael Cluff: Partner, Madigan Cluff

“We continue to believe that product placement in programmes is one of the worlds best kept value secrets for advertisers. Raising the profile of placement has to mean allowing advertisers to have accountability and see the full impact of their investment – not just in the home market but also as the programme and everything it contains gets viewed around the world. This service will allow advertisers to track activity with precision.”

John Barnard: Chairman, NMG

“Since 1987 NMG has evaluatedUKproduct placement brand exposure to provide clear client accountability. We are proud to be part of this first ever study of overseas product placement export values. NMG represents many major global brands and as the branded content market becomes more fluid it is vital to understand the results of our work on this broader basis. This study, and the potential to extend measurement to overseas markets, creates a new service which allows advertisers to see the complete return which their commitment to placement receives”

Jonathan Bailey: Managing Director, ETS

“We have been extending our tracking of exported programmes to cover new countries and channels, as well as increasing the time we spend identifying the particular seasons and episodes of series. This has benefitted our core client base of rights owners and collection societies and it is interesting to see how this can also aid tracking where brands impact consumers.”