Archive for July, 2007

GENERAL MOTORS AND TOYOTA CAME out on top in joint-venture IntelliChoice.com and AutoPacific Motorist Choice Awards (MCA), which is in its second year. The study, which combines IntelliChoice’s Cost-of-ownership data with AutoPacific’s owner satisfaction data from new car and truck buyers, gave Japanese makes leading slots in most of the 25 vehicle segments.

But GM’s Cadillac DTS was the top vehicle in the large luxury segment, and its Silverado was the first-place vehicle in large light-duty and heavy-duty segments.

Other winners: Lexus IS won in “aspirational luxury,” a segment that includes BMW 3-Series and Audi A4 and Cadillac CTS. Mazda3 was the vehicle in the “compact” segment, and Chevy’s HHR was top compact crossover SUV. Honda’s Odyssey was voted top minivan. Read the rest of this entry »

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According to research from Nielsen, which has been tracking product placement for three years, the number of placements in television in 2006 was 108,261, a 30% jump from 2005. Read the rest of this entry »

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FORD MOTOR HAS INKED A multi-year product-integration and promotional deal with Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET, and Harvey and Bob Weinstein, founders of Miramax.

The effort gives Ford exclusive automotive product integration in Our Stories Films, a joint venture between Johnson and the Weinstein brothers. Ford will use the venture to promote Ford, Lincoln and Mercury, and its Jaguar and Land Rover brands to African-American and urban consumers via product placement and cross-promotions with the studio’s film releases. Read the rest of this entry »

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DETROIT — Ford Motor is partnering with a new film group formed by BET founder Robert Johnson and veteran producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein in a multiyear alliance that includes product placement, merchandising, dealership promotions, script integration and sponsorships, Brandweek has learned.

The first movie for Our Stories Films under the agreement is expected to be announced in the fall, a Ford rep said. Our Stories plans to release three to five family-themed films a year.

“This is an agreement that allows Ford to tap a lot of sources,” Johnson said. “It allows Ford to do placement in the movies and it will also allow weaving the brand itself into the story line. There are parts in the movies that can involve Ford, such as if it calls for an auto dealer, that can be a Ford dealer. A character could work for Ford. There are lots of possibilities, as long as they work in the story line,” he said.

Johnson added that through the alliance with the film company, Ford will make valuable contacts for future celebrity and industry connections. Greyhound bus line is also in negotiation with Our Stories for a placement and promotion deal, sources said, but no deal has been finalized.

The agreement between Ford and Our Stories seeks to broaden the automaker’s reach among African-American consumers. Ford ranked fourth among black consumers in a 2005 poll by Strategic Vision in San Diego behind Nissan, Toyota and Chevrolet.

“We are all grappling with our numbers in this audience,” said Marc Perry, multicultural marketing manager at Ford/Lincoln. A figure is hard to arrive at, he said, because registrations, the usual metric for such penetration, cannot be noted by race.

“We know that we can do better than what we are doing and this opportunity allows us to go after a targeted audience,” Perry said. “It’s African-Americans in urban centers. This arrangement helps by allowing us to cast both characters and vehicles, and with our imaging onscreen.”

Ford will integrate promotion for Our Stories Films in its minority-targeted Web sites, fordurban.com and lincolnlounge.com. Perry said that Ford also says it plans to launch a vehicle via the new partnership.

Ford will get script reads before production to check for possible integration, and will be allowed to make suggestions on the actual script.

Ford is a prominent user of placement and celebrity as part of its marketing, most recently in the remake of Casino Royale, in which the Ford Mondeo was driven by the James Bond character.

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Will the sports car driven by James Bond entice movie-goers to consider test driving that car? Are television viewers more likely to purchase a soft drink that sits in front of a celebrity judge on their favorite reality music show? Would a song blaring in the background of a computer game lead gamers to purchase the artist’s music?

Marketers hope the answer to these questions is yes! In fact, many marketers now view such product placement promotions as an integral component in boosting sales and building positive brand awareness.

Product placement is a marketing practice designed to intentionally insert products into the content of entertainment programs, such as movies and television programs. In most cases the placement is subtle so as not to divert significant attention from the main content of the program or media outlet.

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The Journal has a great piece todayabout product placement strategy for ‘The Simpsons’ movie, out tomorrow. Instead of putting real-world brands into the movie (which would’ve seemed strange), Fox has negotiated to put Simpsons brands (like Buzz Cola and KrustyO’s) into the real world. They’ve turned twelve 7-11 stores in the US and Canada into Kwik-E-Marts. From the story:

The ploy stems from a decision by creators of “The Simpsons” not to portray actual products or brands when the show debuted 18 years ago, according to Denise Sirkot, a producer on the television show and the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Gracie Films, which produced the movie. Read the rest of this entry »

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REMEMBER THE JUKEBOX IN THE corner of the fast-food joint that played your favorite tunes? Here’s a twist. A start-up known as Akoo International has spent the last six years developing an interactive entertainment platform that restaurants, retailers, theaters and other venues can tap to market and promote products and services in stores.

The service dubbed m-Venue will officially launch later this year in the United States. Now compatible with the Apple iPhone, Safari browser and Microsoft Windows Mobile, the service lets consumers use their cellular phones as a wireless remote control to activate in-store entertainment.

Consumers will be able to browse and buy music and videos while eating burgers and fries at eateries like McDonald’s, Burger King, or TGIF Friday’s. More than two million pieces of music, videos, sports clips, trivia questions, and pre-approved user-generated content will support the service. “We needed to customize the application for the Safari browser, so consumers who have an iPhone can use their finger to select the music or video choice rather than a button,” says Niko Drakoulis, Akoo CEO.

Through Wi-Fi access or text messaging, the consumer can search, select and cue-up audio and video content on big screens installed at participating venues. Consumers view the free content over standard audio and video systems at subscribing locations. Deals signed between Akoo and music labels like Sony BMG and Universal Music Group, as well as digital content aggregator Orchid, make the service possible.

The eateries pay a subscription fee of between $199 and $499 per month to offer the content and have an option to text message coupons and marketing materials to consumers who opt into the service. McDonald’s, for example, might send a mobile coupon for $1 off a cup of its new premium coffees–a thank you for interacting with the system.

“This type of application targets the 13- to 24-year-old market because these are the people whose thumbs get itchy if they can’t do something with their cell phone,” says James McQuivey, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. “If this model works, it will rely entirely on the advertiser exploring how much the medium can do, because this service will come out of the company’s advertising budget, as opposed to other mobile media consumption plans that require the consumer to pay.”

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The full day conference, held in early July, was designed to address the future of marketing communications and media.

More than 220 delegates, drawn from brand owners, media owners and agency staff from across the region, attended the first OMD Predicts conference at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel-Conference Centre. In his opening address, Elie Khouri, regional managing director of the Omnicom Media Group, drew the audience’s attention on five key trends that are shaping the future of communications in the region. These include the fragmentation of audience across a rapidly growing choice of media and not just channels, the multitasking consumer who is in continuous partial attention mode and the rising significance of the mobile phone, otherwise known as the third screen. The remaining two are the emergence of platform-agnostic content that travels from TV to PC to mobile and consumers’ active participation in the media and communications market. These were also addressed in greater depth throughout the program. Read the rest of this entry »

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ITVX debuts measurement software for foreign markets this week
LAURA BLUM AND STEVE MCCLELLAN

JULY 24, 2006 -

NEW YORK — An ensemble comedy called My Siblings will bow later this year on Beijing’s China Central Television network with product placements for Cadbury Schweppes chocolate, Motorola and Bacardi rum. The show’s producer, Larry Rinaldi, spent six months negotiating the deals—valued at $160,000 all told—using a rudimentary collection of about 10 placement metrics that he stitched together himself, including how much time each brand would be featured on screen (in the background or foreground), and how characters in the show would interact with the products. Read the rest of this entry »

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Consumers are beginning to take environmental impact into consideration in purchase decisions. Businesses that demonstrate environmental responsibility have the opportunity to contribute favorably to their images while aligning themselves with their customers’ wishes.In order to get the full value out of green practices over time, companies need to let the public know what they are doing and why it matters.

Businesses becoming greener can add to their brand images by carefully selecting the right projects, telling people what they are doing and providing easy-to-understand feedback about their progress and how the consumer contributes by doing business with them.

We will use examples of greening from both the manufacturing and service sectors.

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