BRAND PLACEMENT

There are several  Marketing Communication  Channels through which companies  advertise their products , Product Placement in Movies is one channel which comes under the heading of  Media and Place Advertising . Product placement in a movie would be defined as, “ the appearance of a product or service in a movie, paid for by the manufacturer to gain exposure for the product or service.”

A  product placement is the inclusion of a product , package, signage a brand or the name of the firm in a movie for increasing memorability of the brand and instant recognition at the point of purchase. Product Placements feature “ real-life scenarios” with the product hovering in the background.

Incorporation of products into the actual plot of a film or TV show is generally called "brand integration". For. E.g.  Knight Rider, a TV series featuring a talking Pontiac Trans Am.

The placements could  be in the form of verbal mentions in dialogue, actual use by character, visual displays such as corporate logo on a vehicle or billboard, brands used as set decorations, or even snatches of actual radio or tv ads with the product hovering in the background.

The objective of this communication strategy is to expose audience to a brand, whereby the effect can be maximized in terms of increased brand awareness and higher recall, so that the customer will buy the brand which has the highest recall and to satisfy the customer to optimal level. Because of proliferation of ads and the consequent difficulty in getting commercial messages to reach and influence potential customers, product placement appears as an interesting alternative or traditional marketing communications tools. The latest trend in advertising is to make it less advertorial.  Even television networks that depend on advertising dollars to stay in business know that it can be useful to cut or delete the interruptions and present a show without ads from time to time.

Product Placement  is also another type of advertising which creates strong brand associations and strong feelings towards the brand or the product  which in turns motivates the consumer to buy the product . Increased sales could come from a single product placement or advertisement.  Many major marketers pay fees to $ 50,000 to$100,000 and even higher so that their products can make cameo appearances in movies with the exact fee depending on the amount and nature of the brand exposure.  Brand Placement plays a major role to Boom the  Entertainment industry.

Examples of Product Placement  in Entertainment Medium:

Types of products : ( Food& Beverages,  Automobile, Electronics & Computer , Tobacco & Alcohol, Travel)

E.g   Cartoons : PIZZA (food )  by  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 

         Soaps/Shows :  Pontiac Trans Am (Car) in Knight Rider Series , COKE in American Idol etc….

         Movies :

        Hollywood: FED EX  in Cast Away , Sony Camera Cyber Shot and BMW (car) in James Bond movie , Apple Ipod in scary Movie 4

Bollywood : COKE in Taal and Rang De  Basanti ,  Motorbikes (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 ) in Dhoom 2, Tata trucks etc…       

Understanding  the modes used in movies through Bollywood examples:

·         Implicit Mode: in this the star appears in a situation and is seen openly stating that he is using the product/brand. Eg .from Bollywood movie: “Chalte Chalte “ movie , Shahrukh Khan is seen asking his worker to full Castrol in his truck.

·         Imperative Mode : In this the star would ask his  friend/co-worker/peer to use the product . For.Eg( Bollywood). in the movie Koi Mil Gaya, Hritik ROshan is seen recommending Bournvita to Priety Zinta and her mother in the film

·         Co-Present Mode: In this, the start appears in some kind of setting with the product or he or she could been consuming or using the product . For e.g (Bollywood) , In the movie ,Diljale,love is the ulterior theme, and Sonali Bandre , the lead actress is shown expressing her love through Archies cards, thus revolving aroung the , “social expression”, feel of the card makers.

Types of products  placed differently in movie, “Om Shanti Om”, starring Shahrukh Khan.

Implicit	Used in Scene	Integated Explicit
Tag Heuer Compaq Sia Jewllery Shopper’s Stop	Maybelline	Nokia

RECENT FAMOUS EXAMPLE: DABANGG ( Bollywood Blockbuster Movie)

Ray Ban sunglasses  were used a as brand placement  in India’s latest block buster movie Dabangg featuring superstar ; Salman Khan.  However, the in the same movie , unauthorized usage of  FMCG product , Zandu Balm used in  hit item number,  “Munni Badnaam Hui “ created a lot of problem for the producer of the movie , due to which he also had to pay a penalty to the company. At the same time the product got more recognition and its sales and growth did shoot up dramatically…

 A link which I found related to this article  :

http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/sep/27/dabangg-moment-for-zandu-balm.htm

ADVANTAGES OF BRAND PLACEMENT :

·         Clutter-free environment, Not subject to surfing, zipping or muting (unlike in TV and other media), Films transcend geography, class and culture barriers, Catches people in a receptive mood , revived and revisited several times as a film's length always get lengthened , Target specific, Opportunities for cross-promotions , can capture thousands of people at once  when they are seated in theatres unlike TV.

·         High recall, recognition , positive attitudes and positive associations with celebrities suggest that brand managers of companies are seriously looking at product placement in movies as a new vehicle for reaching out to consumers.

·         The research results indicate that consumers are aware about product placements being a  method of advertising and seem to have gain more acceptance than ads as they do not irritate or waste their time , it gives them a reality appeal in the movie , specially when the plot in the movie is based on a certain product. This in turns influences them to purchase the product as well.

·         Marketier has numerous benefits from product placements in terms of reach and diminish cost per viewer. It also helps film producers generate finance for their movies through these marketiers.

·         The greatest brand recall was of the integrated brands or brands shown in the explicit mode of product placement. i.e if the plot of the movie would be based on a certain product, it would be more recognized.

·         Many brands had tremendous increase in sales due to product placement in movies.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

·         Content should be strong in a product placement, the  marketiers have to value their brand and the same time relate it to the globalised mindset/culture in case of an international movie and localized culture for domestic or local movie so that brand associations could be strong.

·         Concept should be taken care of since product placement effectiveness depends on the execution styles, explicit and integrated, managed to be more effective and influential on people’s responses.

·         Before placing a product in a movie ,certain factors should be taken into consideration  during the negotiation with the film producers like, cast, size of the project , timing of the release, brand impact, screen shots, concept, story line and way of execution, possibilities of brand associations through contests or promotions, profile of viewers who would flock to see the movie i.e target market which would be followed by a 360 degree marketing plan for cross promotions during various stages of the film’s release.

·          It is very important for Pakistan to create and develop strong entertainment mediums, as Lollywood is in a loss and only mediums like TV and Radio cater to product placement at the moment and is in its initial stages.  It has a great opportunity in animated cartoons and video games as they are the new mediums coming up in Pakistan.. Even Lollywood, has potential , provided good quality films are made. 

·         Consistency of brand’s image in product placement with other elements in the scene should be taken care of else it would damage the brand’s equity.

·         Exit survey’s from consumers (at theatres) could help the marketing research companies analyze , to what extent consumers noticed the brands and which ones.