Archive for July 13th, 2007

Maybe for TV newscasts the terms “branded entertainment,” “product placement,” or even “slanted news story” is just dancing around a controversial subject. Be frank. Call it “stealth advertising.”

At least, this is what University of Oregon researchers are calling the activity where commercial messages are “cloaked in some other garment than a normal commercial.” University researchers did a study of 17 small-market television newscasts for four months in 2004.

The interesting result, they say, is that this “stealth advertising” is growing at the same rate as that of viewers who use digital video recorders to skip commercials. Other research has shown that viewers skip commercials around 65% to 75% of the time.

The University study found that 90% of nearly 300 monitored newscasts included at least one instance per newscast of stealth advertising. Researchers counted 750 instances, about 2.5 individual “stealth advertisements” per newscast.

If the rise of stealth advertising comes at the same rate as DVR commercial skipping, does this mean it was premeditated — as if marketers were aware of the problem and needed some balance in this fractionalized media world? Or, is it just a crazy coincidence?

The researchers don’t seem to come down on either side of the question.

Well, we’ve all heard the problems concerning video press releases. Critics say these “VPRs” should be identified when they air — to be honest with viewers.

But this University of Oregon study didn’t seem to pass judgment on any TV news or station executives. Instead, it says that viewers should become more “media literate” to become aware of when they are being manipulated.

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Tags: Branded Entertainment and Product Placement News, placement, product, product placement, product placements

Univision’s first online novela carefully follows the Spanish-language soap-opera conventions: a secret crime, at least one character suffering from amnesia, and a beautiful heroine torn between a conniving boyfriend and his mysterious rival. What’s unusual about the heavily promoted novela debuting July 10 is not that it’s a digital drama, but that the star of “Mi Adorada Malena” (”My Beloved Malena”) plays a spokesmodel for Caress, giving the Unilever brand a central role in the story.

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Tags: Global Branded Entertainment, Branded Entertainment and Product Placement News, placement, product, product placement, product placements

IT’S HARDLY A SURPRISE THAT TNT’s hit drama “The Closer”–solid enough to be a smash on broadcast where it could double its audience–has become a product placement hub. This spring at an upfront event, Turner executives made it very clear that branded entertainment–sponsorships of commercial-free premieres as well as interstitials during ad breaks, plus product insertion opportunities and other tactics–would be a major part of their sales operations going forward. They just about hung out a sign saying “Insert Your Brand Here.”

And advertisers seem eager to do so on “The Closer.”

On the June 25 episode, star Kyra Sedgwick (who plays Brenda Johnson, the crack investigator at the LAPD who has a knack for nabbing elusive criminals) snacks on a small bag of Keebler’s Chips Deluxe. A week later, Sedgwick’s character sits in front of a mirror and struggles with which shade of Revlon lipstick to wear.

But give Turner credit for not allowing advertisers to just toss their products in scenes willy nilly. It’s clear that executives have spent considerable time combing scripts and searching for those opportunities where products naturally fit, not wanting to over-commercialize such a high-quality drama.

Take the Keebler integration. In the scene, Sedgwick (Johnson) holds a small bag of the cookies and munches on them during a frustrating phone call. But it’s not just a case of Turner realizing she’d have a free hand while holding the phone and dropping the snack bag into it.

Instead, the Keebler craving dovetails with Sedgwick’s character. A minor sub-plot (sort of comic relief) in the series is the high-strung Johnson’s battle to curb her sweet tooth. She’s banned sweets from the office, but can’t quit them, looking for a sugar high in stressful situations. In her desk drawer, she keeps a stash of snacks and repeatedly and surreptitiously reaches in for the comfort food. It’s a well-known character trait of Johnson’s to regular viewers, so her turning to the Keebler cookies is an organic fit. (Turner could sell her weekly “Sweet Grab” to a different advertiser each episode from Hershey’s to Entenmann’s to Kraft’s Oreos.)

Then on July 2, the Revlon appearance (one of the top product placements of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX) once again has a link to Sedgwick’s character. Relentlessly focused on her career, Johnson is described as “scatterbrained and disorganized.” And that’s clear in the scene where she spends half an hour trying on various shades of Revlon, but can’t decide which way to go.

At one point, she turns to her boyfriend and says: “What do you think of this one?” Dripping with sarcasm, he responds: “Oh, that’s the best one yet. What color is it?” “Reddish-brown,” she says. Somewhat mystified, he deadpans: “They’re all reddish-brown.”

Johnson then looks down at the lipstick and gives a verbal plug, “Revlon Super Lustrous,” then looks at the mirror and admires herself. (Johnson indeed would seem to have a lot of shades to choose from, with 71 Super Lustrous colors available.) Besides the “shout-out,” a Revlon bag is visible in front of the mirror, and the subject of at least one close-up during the extended scene.

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Tags: Branded Entertainment and Product Placement News, placement, product, product placement, product placements

Univision, a Spanish-language television station, has come up with the idea of integrating a new Caress brand from Unilever into its premier web telenovella. The interesting thing about that is that the Caress Exotic Oil Infusions body wash is actually a big part of the plot, with the main character in the novella playing a spokes model for the actual product. One Ad Agency pointed out: Caress is so woven into the plot and characters that the online back story section describes Malena's assistant Rebeca as 'personifying the characteristics of the Caress woman, modern and confident.' Rob Master is the marketing director for Caress and he pointed out that the telenovella is set to be cross-promoted all across Univision: The hub is online but we're bringing the storytelling to TV, print and radio.