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Product Placements

Product placement, or brand placement, is a form of marketing communication intended to heighten brand visibility or drive sales by inserting branded material into entertainment, educational, or informational content. The definition has evolved to reflect the changing practice. Early definitions, coined in the 1980s, referred to paid inclusion of products within a specific medium, usually film. Ironically, the oft-cited example of Reese's Pieces candy in the 1982 film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial presents a case where the company used bartering, not payment, for the placement. In exchange for six minutes of film featuring its candy, Hershey's paid one million dollars for advertising the candy and film. Sales of the candy increased by 65 percent (Lehu 2007). Contemporary definitions are less restrictive, recognizing that the method of “payment” may vary; the products are in reality branded material, services, or social ideas; and the media are virtually unlimited.

History

Although the term product placement was not used until the 1980s, the practice began nearly a century earlier in France. Filmmakers Auguste and Lous Lumière partnered with Francois-Henri Lavanchy-Clarke, a distributor and promoter for U.K.'s Lever Brothers's soap. The filmmakers received film distribution in Europe and the United States in exchange for featuring the Lever Brothers's Sunlight Soap in films such as the 1896 Washing Day in Switzerland. Shortly thereafter, Thomas Alva Edison, U.S. inventor and founder of the Motion Picture Patents Company, helped turn product placement into a business by routinely entering into agreements that reduced production expenses while offering promotional services in the form of product appearances in films for businesses, including his own; for example, the 1905 film Streetcar Chivalry features transit advertising of Edison phonographs. Subsequent partnerships called tie-ins developed between moviemakers and manufacturers in the 1920s onward, where product appearances in movies were offered in exchange for manufacturers' promotions of the films.

The practice, initially orchestrated through agents, evolved into a full-fledged industry with a trade association in 1991. In the last decade, advertising agencies have formed their own entertainment divisions, which offer promotional services including creating content for brands. Product placements have expanded beyond film with radio and television developing differently across countries due to broadcast regulations. Further expansion of branded content into video games, music, plays, and even textbooks has occurred due to a changing media environment that includes audience fragmentation and ability to ignore or skip advertising. Although the practice began in France and developed into an industry in Hollywood, it is now global.

Compliments and Critiques

Product placement is considered advantageous for marketers, media producers, and audiences. Marketers reach a potentially vast audience with a branded message the audience is unable to skip. The brand is placed in a “natural environment” virtually free of other advertising and often benefits from the implied endorsement of a celebrity. Similar to the earliest days of product placement, contemporary content providers benefit from the monetary allocation used for cutting production costs and from the cobranded partnership. Finally, audience members may get a reduction in price, learn about new products, and appreciate the realism that branding affords mediated content.

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