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Roles in movies, W shows give chains extra brand exposure
The gang on "Friday Night Lights" eats at Applebee's, Harold and Kumar went on a road trip to find a White Castle. Let's not forget that Dr. Evil escaped from Austin Powers by blasting into space in a rocket shaped like a Big Boy statue.
Those examples of product placement - also known as branded entertainment or product integration - represent an increasingly popular tactic among marketers to get their brands before consumers as a supplement to traditional TV advertising.
Paid product placements in the United States reached Sl .5 billion in 2000, a 48.7-percent increase over the previous year, and are expected to increase to $5.5 billion in 2010, according to media research firm PQ Media of Stamford, Conn.
Marketers don't necessarily have to pay to place products, however. Costs can range from less than $10,000 to several hundred thousand dollars, but TV and movie producers routinely place products in their entertainment vehicles for free or in exchange for promotional tie-ins. PQ Media estimated that global unpaid product placements were valued at about $6 billion in 2005 and are expected to reach $7.45 billion this year.
Results of a study by Nielsen Media Research, released in mid-November, showed that product placement in TV shows can raise brand awareness by 20 percent and that 57.5 percent of viewers recognized a brand in a placement when the brand also advertised during the show. That tops the 46.6 percent of viewers who recognized the brand from watching only a TV spot for it.
Restaurant chains have long known that a successful placement can benefit their brands, through increased sales of a specific product or in brand awareness, at the very least.
Minneapolis-based Dairy Queen was featured on "The Apprentice" reality show last year, following earlier appearances by Domino's Pizza and Burger King. The competing "Apprentice" teams were required to create a promotional campaign for the Blizzard, the signature treat of the 5,700-plus-unit chain.
During the week after the broadcast. Blizzard sales were up more than 30 percent, according to Michael Keller, chief brand officer for International Dairy Queen Inc.
Visits to a promotional website running in conjunction with the Blizzard's appearance on the show were up...