srp product placement in films the new age branding mantra

7/29/2019 SRP Product Placement in Films the New Age Branding Mantra

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Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune

Title Product Placement in Films: The new age branding mantra

Author Mahima Kapoor

Rohit Bhatt

Source Insights Inside

Reference 1) Balasubramanian (1994), "Beyond Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid

Messages and Public Policy Issues", Journal of Advertising 23 (Fall), 29-

46

2) Karrh (1998), "Brand Placement: A Review," Journal of Current Issues

and Research in Advertising, 20 (November), 31-493) Wikipedia

4) Babin, L. & Carder, S. (1996), Viewers' recognition of brand placed within film,

International Journal of Advertising , 15(2), pp.140-151.

5) Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J., & Wong, V. (2002). Principles

of Marketing (3rd Europeaned.). England: Pearson Education Limited .

6) Wikipedia. (2005a). Advertainment. Retreived 2005-04-14, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portmanteaux

Document Type Secondary Research Paper

Subject Marketing

Date November, 2006

Abstract

With increasing spends on conventional advertising yielding lesser returns for marketers,

newer avenues like placement of products in films and television are being sought. This

paper studies the phenomenon of product placement in movies in detail and examines its

nature and scope. The article discusses recent promotions in films and their impact on the

top line sales.


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Exposition :

Executive Summary

With increasing spends on conventional advertising yielding lesser returns for marketers,

newer avenues like placement of products in films and television are being sought.

This paper studies the phenomenon of product placement in detail and to understand its

nature and scope. This study has been done keeping in mind the growing popularity of

this medium of promotion.

There has been equal focus on both Hollywood as well Bollywood movies and we have

attempted to elaborate a comprehensive history and listing of movies and the productsfeatured in them. The study has been more on the qualitative side with focus on the

product placement process and its effects, advantages and disadvantages. The results

from the study have been tabulated to provide easy access to information at a glance.

A few recent examples from Bollywood have been taken up to demonstrate the changing

nature and scope of product placement in commercial Hindi cinema.

This paper aims to serve as a comprehensive source of information for anyone looking

for information about product placement, its origin, the process involved, its effectiveness

and advantages.


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Introduction

David Lubars, a senior ad executive in the Omnicom Group, explains the industry'sguiding principle with more candor than most."Consumers," he says "are like cockroaches - you spray them andspray them and they get immune after a while."

Wall Street Journal May 30, 1997

The advertising and marketing industry worldwide is in the throes of a serious problem. It

is becoming increasingly difficult to grab eyeballs and break through the clutter. The

average consumer is bombarded with messages every second which have led to him

becoming immune to any sort of communication attempt being made by marketers.

The resistance shown by the consumers has forced advertisers and marketers to think

beyond conventional means of advertising. This is where product placement comes into

the picture.

Product Placement Demystified - Some definitions

Product Placement is not a new phenomenon, however, it has gained the attention of

researchers only in recent times. Several definitions have emerged over the years and we

mention a few below.

1) A paid product message aimed at influencing movie (or television) audiences via

the planned and unobtrusive entry of a branded product into a movie or television

program (Balasubramanian, 1994)

2) Paid inclusion of branded products or brand identifiers, through audio and/or

video means, within mass media programming (Karrh, 1998).

3) Product placement is a promotional tactic used by marketers in which a real

commercial product is used in fictional or non-fictional media, and the presence


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of the product is a result of an economic exchange. When featuring a product is

not part of an economic exchange, it is called a product plug . Product placement

appears in plays, film, television series, music videos, video games and books,

and is a relatively new idea (first appearing in the 1980's). Product placement

occurs with the inclusion of a brand's logo , or a favorable mention or appearance

of a product. This is done without disclosure, and under the premise that it is a

natural part of the work. Most major movie releases today contain product

placements. The most common form is movie and television placements and more

recently video games. (Wikipedia)


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Exhibit IProduct Placement in Hollywood

Brief Overview over the years

Movie Product (s) RemarksScarface (1932) White Owl Cigars $250,000 worth of

advertisingDinner at Eight(1933)

Coca Cola Pictures of Jean Harlow andother glamorous starsswigging soda pop

Youll never get rich(1941)

Chesterfield cigarettes Starring Fred Astaire

The African Queen(Early 1950s)

Gordons Gin Product thrown overboard by Katherine Hepburns

character in the movieSuperman II (1979) MarlboroE.T. (1982) Reeses Pieces Sales up 65%

Never say never again(1982)

Winston and Camel cigarettes Sean Connery and othersshown smoking these

brandsRisky Business(1983)

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

Bull Durham (1988) Jim Beam WhiskeyLicense to Kill (1988) Lincoln, Larks Aston Martin replaced by

Lincoln Continental Mark VII; free cars donated for the film

Home Alone (1990) Budget Rent-a-Truck Groundhog Day(1993)

Jim Beam Whiskey

The Firm (1993) Stripe Beer Sales increased by morethan 50%

Strictly Ballroom(1993)

Coca Cola

Pulp Fiction (1994) McDonalds & Burger King A lengthy conversation

about the two brandsGoldeneye (1995) BMW Z-3 One of the most successful

new-car launches ever Jerry Maguire (1996) Reebok Backfired, company bad-

mouthed in movie by CubaGooding Jr.

Anastasia (1997) Chanel perfume Product placement in ananimated movie; Chanel did


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not pay for the visibility,though

Men in Black (1997) Ray-Ban sunglasses Worn by Will SmithTomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Visa card, Avis car rentals,BMW cars and motorcycles,

Smirnoff vodka, Heineken beer,Omega watches, Ericsson cell phones, L'Oreal makeup

Reckless use of productsthroughout the movie; Over

$100 million placement deal

Armageddon (1998) Ray-Ban SunglassesSmall Soldiers (1998) Hasbro action toys Movie based on action toys;

script revolved around thesetoys made by Hasbro

Where the heart is(2000)

Wal-Mart Character lives in the store

I am Sam (2001) Starbucks, Nike Sean Penn shown as anemployee of Starbucks

The Italian Job (2003) Mini CoopersShrek 2 (2004) Baskin-Robbins ice cream Shrek & Fiona drive

through a town that has aBaskin-Robbins store; threenew flavors tied to themovie created in real life

Pearl Harbor Pepsi (Coke) Negative placement for Coke as Coke bottles shownas being used as bloodcontainers, while characterssipped Pepsi sodas

The Faculty Tommy Hilfiger Cast given outfits from theTommy Hilfiger Jeans linein exchange for appearing inan ad

Back to the Future Pepsi productsDemolition Man Taco Bell In the future, everything is

Taco Bell.Youve Got Mail AOL, Apple, IBM and

StarbucksAustin Powers Pepsi and StarbucksCast Away (2000) FedEx and Wilson

Men in Black II Mercedes Benz, Ray-Bansunglasses, Sprint, Burger King

Waynes World Nuprin, Pepsi, Pizza Hut,Reebok

Characters shown hawkingthese products

Josie and thePussycats

America Online , AmericanExpress , Bebe , BillboardMagazine , Bugles , Campbell'sSoup , Coke , Entertainment


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Weekly Magazine , Evian , Ford ,Gatorade , Kodak , KrispyKreme , McDonald's , MilkyWay , Motorola , PepperidgeFarm Cookies , Pizza Hut ,

Pringles , Puma , Ray-Ban , Sega,Starbucks , Steve Madden ,Target , and T.J. Maxx

Herbie, The Love Bug Volkswagen BeetleRoboCop Ford TaurusBack to the Future DeLoreanSmokey and theBandit

Pontiac Trans Am

The world is notenough

BMW Z8

Lara Croft : Tomb

Raider

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

I, Robot (2004) Audi RSQ concept car Audi created the concept car for the movie

The Matrix (1999) Duracell batteriesBeauty Shop Fiji Water What Women want NikePanic Room EvianMy Big Fat Greek Wedding

Windex

Youve Got Mail AOL, Starbucks, New York Times

Films title changed fromYou have mail to

Youve got mail to matchthe AOL phrase exactly

Jurassic Park Ford Explorer Jurassic Park 2 Mercedes Benz SUVRocky Wheaties, Hugo BossMax Keebles BigMove

Nike, Coca Cola, Applecomputers

Coke being consumed in thecafeteria

How High Nike, Adidas, Sam Adams beer O PumaBandits Adidas, PepsiThe One PepsiHardball PepsiHearts in Atlantis PepsiLife as a house Coca ColaSerendipity Coca Cola, USA Today

newspaper Glass House Coca Cola, AOL Coke shown being

consumed at dinner and at


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the movies, main character shown using AOL

Rat Race Coca ColaBubble Boy Coca ColaKate & Leopold Apple computers, Colgate,

Gillette, Hungryman frozen TVdinners

Hugh Jackman shown

trying to use these products

Slackers Apple computersDomestic Disturbance MSN An MSN account shown

being used by John TravoltaSnow Dogs Kawasaki, Powerade, ESPNOrange County Spongebob Squarepants

(Nickelodeon cartoon)This cartoon is popular withkids as well as teenagersand adults

Black Hawk Down USA Today newspaper Vanilla Sky Kodak and Marriott Hotels Billboards for these

products shown in the background

The Caretakers PepsiGood Will Hunting Dunkin DonutsAmerican Gigolo Giorgio ArmaniBoogie Nights Fresca, 7-Up, Chevrolet

CorvetteReferences to the mentioned

brandsForrest Gump Dr. Pepper Incorporated into the

dialoguesGrease Philip Morris cigarettesRocky II Philip Morris cigarettesLittle Shop of Horrors Philip Morris cigarettesCrocodile Dundee Philip Morris cigarettesDie Hard Philip Morris cigarettesWho framed Roger Rabbit

Philip Morris cigarettes

Field of Dreams Philip Morris cigarettesAnalyze This Merrill Lynch


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Exhibit 2Product Placement in Bollywood

Brief Overview over the years

Movie Product (s) RemarksTaal Coca-Cola,Thums Up,BMW,ScreenMagazine,Sony Cam,DietCoke,Nescafe,MTV,BPL,Honda

20% of the Taal production budget just from Coca-Cola.Rumours also haveit that Subash Ghaishot two sets of scenes, one withPepsi and the other with Coke,

Hum Tum Times of India Group, Lays

Koi Mil Gaya Karizmaa. Hero Honda,Prem Diwane Prem DiwaneLove Ke Liye KuchBhi Karega

Mc Donalds,

Dilwale Dulhania LeJayenge

Canned Stroh's Stroh's is said tohave paid Rs 15 lakhto the producers for 15 sec display

Jo Jeeta WohiSikandar

BSA SLR

Hum Saath Saath

Hain

Coca-Cola.

Chalte Chalte Hyundai Santro, CastrolKuch Na Kaho Coca-Cola,MentosBaghban Ford Ikon, ICICI Bank, Tata Tea Total benefit to the

producers fromassociating with the

brands is in therange of Rs 3-4crore.

Khakee Thums UpRoad Tata Safari

An Evening in Paris Coke


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The Process

The product placement process is explained below as consisting of three main agents,

namely

1) the companies that wish to place their products in a media,

2) the product placement agency that acts as an intermediary

3) the film studio or the production company that want props and the extra revenue

for placing products in their production

Source : Sandahl (1998)

The various steps involved in this process are elaborated below

1) The script is sent to the product placement agency at an early stage and accordingly,

the script is analysed and broken into scenes where it might be possible to place products

in a realistic manner. The placement agency then waits for a written decision that the

movie is given the green light from the production company.

2) After a written decision is obtained, the film production crew and the placement

agency meet up to discuss the budget, possible products etc.

3) Upon reaching an agreement, the placement agency contacts potential companies and

offers them the various possible placement options.

4) If the company is interested, they will discuss all details of the placement and make

sure that their marketing strategy is consistent with the target audience of the film.

5) The placement agency and the film production company collaborate closely duringthe making of the movie and the placement agency ensures that the product(s) are

shown in the agreed upon scenes, context and number of times.


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As depicted in the diagram with the help of the dotted arrows, there might be alternate

steps in the product placement process. Companies interested in a certain movie may

contact the placement agencies themselves to get their products placed.

Effectiveness of Product Placements : A few rules

A few rules and pointers to be kept in mind for effective product placements are

mentioned below :

1) A product being used by characters in the movie is better than simply advertising

the product in the movie.

2) The products may be promoted by being used by other important cast members inthe movie and not necessarily the lead actors.

3) Audiences want to identify themselves with certain movies and characters, hence

lifestyle products benefit more from product placements rather than daily-use

products.

4) The target audience should be aware of the product that is being placed in a

movie. If this is not the case, the placement, is rendered useless.

5) It has been observed by several researchers that smaller brands benefit more from

effective placements as compared to bigger brands.

6) Tourism Perspective Product placements can really work wonders for countries

and areas that want to promote themselves as tourist attractions as every movie

has to be based at some place and locales can be seamlessly blended into the

storyline.

Advantages

Product placements in film and television are gaining importance increasingly

because of the several benefits that they offer to all the parties/agents involved in the

process. Some of these are :


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1) Efficient placement of products ensures that the audience will notice the products.

2) Audiences have no option but to notice products when they are embedded in a

film or television script.

3) Cost of product placement is quite low compared to the above-the-line methods

of advertising or endorsement.

4) Unlike advertising, product placement does not interrupt programming and hence

is less obtrusive .

5) Products gain greater credibility when popular and respected movie and

television stars use them.

The advantages offered by product placement have also been classified into three

prominent categories by some researchers :a) Conceptual advantages

- Product placement is cost-efficient. Even though it is expensive,

it still costs less than a normal advertising campaign.

- Reaches hard to reach markets

- Demonstrates the product in its natural setting

b) Mechanical advantages

- Product placement can overcome passive viewer avoidance of

TV ads

- Not subject to channel switching and effects of new technologies

like those used in TiVo

c) Behavioral advantages

- Immune to habituation effect and homeostatic processes that are

among the biggest constraints to effectiveness of advertising

- Utilizes context and context learning procedures

Some cases in Bollywood

A) Baghban


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Filmmaker B.R. Chopras Baghban, provides perhaps the best example of multiple

product placements. The movie not only starred the inimitable Amitabh Bachan &

Hema Malini, but also a host of brands that vied for screen space with these veterans.

Some of the brands that were featured in the movie were : ICICI Bank, Ford, Walls &Tata Tea. ICICI is visible for around eight to 10 minutes in the film. Tata Tea has

been placed in two to three scenes of approximately 30 seconds each. Ford has beenincorporated in a five to six minute-long scene in the film. It is believed that more than8 brands were featured in the movie.

The most important factor that was recognized by the filmmaker was that the various products placed in the movie were carefully woven into the script and events in themovie had these products embedded in them.

Also, the credibility of the lead pair ensured that a large number of companies were

vying to have their products featured in the movie.

It is estimated that the product placement deal for this movie set the cash registers

ringing by about Rs. 3-4 crores.

B) Krrish

This movie is being touted as one of the movies that have had the maximum number

of product placements in recent years.

It is estimated that more than 12 crores revenue was generated for the filmmakers only

through product placements. The marketing rights for this 50 crore venture were awarded

to P9 Integrated, a Percept Group company. The movie had more than 10 brands vying

for the customers subconscious attention. However, the questions that this movie raises

are about the effectiveness of this medium when it is overused.


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Product Placements What do ethics have to do with it?

Before this medium emerged as an important revenue channel for filmmakers, producers

and placement agencies, product placement was primarily used as a means of surrogate

advertising for products that could not be advertised on regular mass media. Tobacco

manufacturers have for long been accused of promoting smoking through the portrayal of

the macho hero who is depicted brandishing a cigarette and blowing smoke at the

villains face.

Many critics still feel that it is a medium for hidden but paid subliminal messages.

Their worst fears are that it is the younger generation, generally, that is taken in by the

charms of the products being used by their favorite stars and scrupulous marketers who just want to increase their revenues may exploit this.

Placement of ethically charged products like cigarettes, arms and ammunitions, alcoholic

beverages etc has long been a point of contention between filmmakers and regulatory

authorities.

As mentioned earlier, audiences generally have no means of escaping product placements

embedded in films or television and hence are subconsciously exposed to certain products

that may be harmful for them.

Hence, it is extremely important to have in place regulations that ensure that product

placement is used as an effective marketing tool for products and not as a means for

surrogate advertising of forbidden products.

srp product placement in films the new age branding mantra

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