No Commercials, Yes Please!

By: Nicholas Walko

People feel like they should not be subjected to advertising in every aspect of their life,  and I am completely alright with that, whether it's billboards in your faces, bus banner ads or posters everywhere at a school campus it's everywhere and sometimes overwhelming. However in Television advertising is one of the only ways for television shows to make money (aside from royalties and licensing), and usually there is a separation between commercials and programs which people can distinguish easily and product placement is bringing that down. Some people have objected this and I agree to some extent (children for instance cannot distinguish the difference), but please for the sake of argument entertain a thought for me:

 On several occasions companies will sponsor a whole season premiere or finale and there would be NO COMMERCIALS.

As a marketing student I don't typically mind watching commercials as I know it's part of the business and a necessity, however when Ford is willing to sponsor the season premiere of 24 and throw their vehicles in the show in exchange for saving me 10 minutes of advertising during the episode I am ecstatic. In fact it is really Win-Win, Ford gets their product showcased on the episode and promises no other advertisers will be there and everyone gets an uninterrupted episode of a high profile show.

P.S this ford logo barely appeared in the 2002 season premiere of 24 but had a huge impact from consumers



I welcome any thoughts on whole sponsorship and for more information please see this link:
How sponsorship (product placement) works

Effectiveness of Product Placement in Movie and TV Shows

In past Blog postings, we have covered numerous examples of product placements in a variety of media, as well as the increased amount of product placement on a yearly basis. Over the past couple weeks I have been asking myself is it really effective though?

Well studies conducted showed that products that had high plot placement which means it has a major role in the plot development or contributes to developing a major character in a movie (an example would be transformers) or TV show has a higher recognition than  products that were just featured in the backgrounds of scenes. Additionally placement which is prominently visually placed has a higher recall percentage among viewers than those with low visual placement.

Other factors which have an affect on whether product placement in a specific movie or TV show is effective is what mood the show or movie put its viewers in, for example running a commercial during a funny TV show has been proven to be more effective than during say a show that puts people in a sad or dark mood because you associate the product with the show. Characters in TV or movie are also deemed an important factor in whether product placement is effective, if the product is something the character you like is using you are more likely to have a favourable outlook and recall to this product.

Lastly and I think the biggest reason we have seen a growth of product placement as way of advertising is because studies showed that viewers look at product placement more favourably than commercials because it is part of the show especially if it is part of the plot where most look at commercials as an annoyance. Combine this with the fact that product placement in Movies and TV shows are there permanently for a one time fee as opposed to ads and it makes it clearer as to why the rise in product placement in recent years.

I myself  believe that the results from studies nail it on the head when it comes to effectiveness, when used as a part of major plot development product placement can be very effective what do you think?

By: Tim Calaiezzi