Product Placement and Integration benefits brands and projects

 Effective promotion and marketing campaigns remain the keystone for every company’s success. This is especially true during financially challenging times. The expenses are necessary to reach the customers, but finding the money in the budget can be a challenge.  It places the company in a chicken-and-egg situation.   The innovative knows how to get the biggest bang for their bucks.

Product placement is an old-school promotion and marketing technique that, when updated and used properly, outshines traditional and more expensive campaigns. During the early days of television, companies were the sole sponsors of individual TV series.  The brands were so intertwined that they became synonymous with each other.  The Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom is only one example.  Mutual of Omaha was featured in the title and the hosts promoted the brand within the series.  The increasing production costs made this business model unsustainable, thus establishing the current trend of separating content from advertising.  However, instead of being abandoned, cross-branding transformed into a combination of the two techniques.  This hybrid methodology maximizes the financial benefits for the production by expanding the number of brands embedded into it, while lowering advertising costs and maximizing the longevity of the promotion for each sponsor.

Both models have their benefits and their challenges. With only one sponsor, the full financial weight falls on it, yet the promotional benefits also dramatically increase.  Frequently, the brands become permanently intertwined with the reputation of each, reflecting on the other.   Being able to attract a specific demographic is an additional benefit of this business model. The content organically lures the audience, who find the topic, genre, or personality involved interesting, which gives the sponsor direct access to those it is trying to reach.   Once embedded in the project, the brand continues to be promoted whenever and wherever the project is viewed without additional cost to the sponsor.  Once produced, the connection becomes locked.  Nothing can be added or subtracted without altering the project itself

 

With the separation of the content and advertising, the financial obligations for the sponsor have been lower, but the benefits have also dramatically decreased.  Instead of being an equal partner with the series, the brand becomes only one in the crowd.  Targeted purchases of commercial time do increase the possibility of reaching a specific demographic; however, the cost for such commercial buys increases the cost of each ad.  Network rate cards vary in terms according to the market size, day part, how far in advance the airtime is bought, and the flexibility of the placements.  The more specific the terms, the higher the price tag will be.  The current norm focuses on day part and venue rather than content.  It is little different than throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. Additionally, the separation of content makes the ad buy a one-and-done.  The ad will air according to the terms of the contract and will not air again until another contract for more airtime has been signed and paid for

The hybrid model combines the best aspects of both.  It has the permanence of embedding brands and the cost-effectiveness of the current business model.  Embedding brands manifests in two forms, placement and integration.  The primary difference between the two is the involvement and interaction between the on-screen talent and the brand.   The more interaction between the two, the greater the exposure and the higher the cost.  Placement refers to the product being placed within the set design in such a way that it receives screentime, but without direct interaction with the characters.   Integration refers to products that involve active interaction or usage of the brand name on screen as the characters use or positively speak about the product. 

In the 1984 Ghostbusters, Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver had a scene in front of her refrigerator.  For nearly thirty seconds of the scene, a Coke has been placed on a shelf between them.  They don’t look at it or refer to it, yet it has a notable presence in the scene. More recently, in the series Yellowstone, Marlboro circumvented the legal restrictions against on-air advertising of tobacco and smoking products.  In several scenes, the character Beth opened a Marlboro box, took out a cigarette, and smoked it.  Nothing was said about the brand.  It was just a matter of course that Beth smoked.  However, instead of concealing the brand, the name received screen time.

Timing is another primary difference in the promotional models.  Cross-branding placement has longevity and permanence; however, its benefits are delayed until the release of the project.  Purchasing airtime within commercial breaks has immediacy of exposure, yet a short shelf life. The rate card for each also radically differs. The cost for placement is based on length of screentime in seconds, active/passive presentation, actress/actor involved, and the genre.  Whether an Indie or studio project, an A-list talent will garner a higher rate per second.  However, in order to accommodate the two-minute commercial breaks, ads have been limited to standardized lengths of 15, 30, 45, 60, and 120 seconds. The rate cards base their fees on the rating of the program; the higher the rating the more costly the placement will be.

 

Never Can Say Good-bye’s production team will reinvent the definitions of innovation, moxie, and creativity as they place and integrate brands within the project.  It will feature products that are normally overlooked, while offering traditional sponsors a fresh perspective on how their products or brands will appear on the screen.  Although the genre of paranormal-thrillers attracts the 18–49-year-old demographic, by supporting age, gender, and ethnic diversity, Never Can Say Good-bye will broaden and enhance that target base. Thereby, it will expand the sponsors’ promotional reach beyond expectations.

 

By combining brands, Never Can Say Good-bye will give the scenes a real-world feel. In addition to being placed or integrated into the scenes, the name of the brand will be used whenever possible. For example, in the scenes within the cars, a radio station will be playing in the background.  The station will be identified by its call letters. Depending on the length of the scene, from one to two thirty-second commercials will air for any family-friendly product.  There will also be a running joke about how the supporting character, Amanda, is trying to win a radio contest.  She is more than capable of buying her own, but she tells others that it tastes better when she wins it.  Her attempts to call in are frequently thwarted by others.  These details will be added in the final script. 

A motorized wheelchair will be used by Amanda, who is well-respected in her community.  She will be seen using it in and outside her home.  In addition, it will also have screen time as it is used on various terrains, including city streets/sidewalks, college campus, and a cemetery.  Extras of various ages, genders, and ethnicities will be seen using them.  However, the budget line only includes the screentime in which Amanda is featured.  The scenes with the extras will be considered bonuses.  The sponsor will be expected to provide the necessary motorized wheelchairs that will be donated to non-profits after the production; the sponsor will receive the tax deduction.

For a complete list of placement opportunities available through the contact information on the website.  

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