Archive for July 17th, 2007

Volkswagen’s new Touareg 2 might steal the show near the end of Universal Pictures’ upcoming “The Bourne Ultimatum” — it figures in a major chase scene — but some Volkswagen executives are disappointed with the overall marketing alliance that the carmaker struck with NBC Universal in May 2005.

While “Bourne,” which bows Aug. 3, represents the 11th film placement for the car manufacturer, according to company sources, it is only the second that has met VW’s expectations. The only other placement that has drawn applause from VW appeared in Universal’s recent comedy “Knocked Up,” which hit theaters June 1. Read the rest of this entry »

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

Although product placement in major movies is nothing new to consumers, the Transformer movie is set to unleash unprecedented product placement in the form of GM cars. 

The movie, produced by Steven Spielberg, is based on the very popular line of toys sold in the 1980s. Fans of the transformer action figures, comics and cartoons have long awaited the release of this major film. 

Auto manufacture GM hopes to cash in on the popularity of the film since four models of the company’s vehicles have starring roles in the film. Each model “transforms” into a battle-raging robot that fights the bad guys (not GM models) in order to save mankind from the destruction of their planet. 

GM associates are excited about the possibility the movie poses for their company.

 ”We try to find properties where the cars are the stars, and literally our cars are the stars of this movie.” Said Dino Bernacchi, associate director at GM.

“You don’t get any more heroic than the roles that our four vehicles play.” 

The four models featured in the movie include a Chevrolet Camero, currently our of production but “revving” up to be re-released next year, a Hummer H2, a GMC Topkick pick=up truck and a economical Pontiac Solstice convertible, all conveniently playing good guy roles. 

Senior vice-president LeeAnne Stables announced to the Reporter, “I think this is a once in motion picture history-type opportunity for an automotive company where you have a film that actually incorporates multiple cars that are actually characters in the film.” 

Reports state that GM did not have to pay for the right to star in the film, but instead helped the production company offset marketing costs by featuring movie clips in several ads for GM cars. 

The director of Transformers, Michael bay, in turn directed five commercials for the car company. 

Park Choong-whan is a professor of marketing at the University of Southern California. Park says that the GM-Transformer partnership is “probably the most aggressive form of product placement strategy.”

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

Stockholm and Beijing, (ANTARA News/Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - In a boon for Western advertisers looking to crack the potentially lucrative Chinese market, Swedish television company Bringiton has developed a television series with China Entertainment Television (CETV), one of the leading broadcasters in the nation, to enable Western brands to impact millions of consumers in an entertaining and distinctly Chinese way.

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

Michael Bay, director of the long awaited Transformer movie, has largely ignored the criticism aimed towards the use of product placement in his film. Bay claims that brand names are everywhere in real life and should stay that way in the movies. Anything else would be purposely phony. There are products in everything in everyday life. Do people think there shouldn't be brand names or something? Everything is branded. I hate commercials when they take logos off of stuff. It's not real life.

Although product placement in major movies is nothing new to consumers, the Transformer movie is set to unleash unprecedented product placement in the form of GM cars. The movie, produced by Steven Spielberg, is based on the very popular line of toys sold in the 1980s. Fans of the transformer action figures, comics and cartoons have long awaited the release of this major film. Auto manufacture GM hopes to cash in on the popularity of the film since four models of the company's vehicles have starring roles in the film. Each model transforms into a battle-raging robot that fights the bad guys (not GM models) in order to save mankind from the destruction of their planet. GM associates are excited about the possibility the movie poses for their company. We try to find properties where the cars are the stars, and literally our cars are the stars of this movie. Said Dino Bernacchi, associate director at GM. You don't get any more heroic than the roles that our four vehicles play. The four models featured in the movie include a Chevrolet Camero, currently our of production but revving up to be re-released next year, a Hummer H2, a GMC Topkick pick=up truck and a economical Pontiac Solstice convertible, all conveniently playing good guy roles. Senior vice-president LeeAnne Stables announced to the Reporter, I think this is a once in motion picture history-type opportunity for an automotive company where you have a film that actually incorporates multiple cars that are actually characters in the film. Reports state that GM did not have to pay for the right to star in the film, but instead helped the production company offset marketing costs by featuring movie clips in several ads for GM cars. The director of Transformers, Michael bay, in turn directed five commercials for the car company. Park Choong-whan is a professor of marketing at the University of Southern California. Park says that the GM-Transformer partnership is probably the most aggressive form of product placement strategy. However, Park warns, that doesn't necessary mean it will work, People may discount the true effect that may be possible from this tie-in because they already know about it, he continues, There's a kind of boomerang effect?If prior attitudes of the people toward General Motors are negative, then it many not have a strong impact at all.