Archive for December 4th, 2007

It was Dole! Did you get it right?

Share This

Jean-Marc Lehu on Branded Entertainment, iTVX, and the evolution of product placement
By Jon Chattman

Jean-Marc Lehu is a respected professor, author, and consultant in marketing and communications. His book Branded Entertainment: Product Placement & Brand Stategy in the Entertainment Business is a must-read for every marketer and anyone who wants to gain knowledge of the industry. We recently spoke to him about his book, and asked him to weigh in on the industry.

What made you want to write this book?
On the one hand, I’ve always been interested in entertainment, My Ph.D thesis was about the use of celebrities in advertising. On the second hand, observing product placement since the end of the 80’s, I strongly believe that this branded entertainment technique was facing a tremendous evolution, becoming a potential and real strategic marketing communications tool. Further more, there was no book on the subjects – to my knowledge – examining this specific subject associating the academic research results and the professional know how. So I proposed it to my publisher, and a few months later, it popped up on shelves. So I guess it was just the right time to write it. Read the rest of this entry »

Share This

STOCKHOLM — Swedish web TV4 is to launch a Scandinavia-wide channel devoted to science fiction.TV4 Science Fiction will go on air in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland from Feb. 29.

Channel will be carried in Sweden through Viasat and in Finland via MTV3. TV4 is in negotiations with other carriers for the other countries.

The channel will air features, docus and skeins, including “Star Trek: Deep Space 9,” “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Andromeda.”

Head of the channel is Bo Thornwall, who also spearheads the channels TV4 Film, TV4 Gold and Tv4 Comedy.

Original Link 

Share This

When it comes to social media, forget the concept of advertising to a captive audience and instead focus on creating branded content that people want to see and would choose to share with others: brand advertising as social media content.

All heads seem to nod enthusiastically when this statement is made. Sounds good, but…

“Advertising as content is a great idea, but it’s just too difficult, if it’s even possible at all.”

“Maybe some brands can be compelling content, but not mine.”

“I’d love to make compelling content with my brand, but I have to control my brand message/image.”

It’s true. Creating compelling content is more work, and brands must be willing to give up some control — but if marketers cannot figure out how their brand become a part of social media content, then perhaps their brand should become a part of history.

Full Story

Share This

Want to buy an iPhone in Beijing? Talk to Liu Yong. Apple’s (AAPL) wonder isn’t legally available in China, but Liu, who operates an electronics shop in the Zhongguancun neighborhood close to the capital’s premier universities, has plenty of inventory and is more than happy to sell you one for about $680.

Don’t worry that Apple hasn’t authorized any Chinese cellular operator to serve the iPhone; the software in Liu’s iPhones is hacked to enable you to use the phone locally. Inputting Chinese characters on the iPhone’s touch-screen is no problem either, he says. But buy now, he warns, because prices are heading upward as demand for the world’s coolest phone is increasing.

Full Story

Share This

The $18.9 billion tieup between Activision (ATVI) and Vivendi (VIV.PA) is numbingly complex in its structure, but the motivations behind it are simple: Video game publishers want to bulk up to cover the rising costs of developing games, which can easily soar to tens of millions of dollars. And increasingly, game companies are tying their fortunes to trendy online, multiplayer games such as the popular fantasy title World of Warcraft—developed by Vivendi’s Blizzard Entertainment—which has 9.3 million subscribers and will be owned and operated by the new venture.
Full Story

Share This

Spot the product placement in this hilarious video, and win $100! OK, not really. We so made that up, but there’s a couple subtle product placements here.

Share This

BERLIN — In what could mean a greater focus on its TV business, Bertelsmann is considering taking full control of RTL Group, Europe’s largest broadcaster.On Tuesday, the German media giant confirmed press reports that it was examining a possible offer for RTL’s 10.2% stake in public trade but stressed that the move had not yet been approved by its supervisory and management boards.

Bertelsmann, which already owns 89.8% of RTL, said it had informed execs at the broadcasting group that a possible offer to acquire its outstanding shares was under consideration.

Full Story

Share This

Cable operators continue to be a hard focus at the Federal Communications Commission. On Friday, it voted to impose a 30% cap on the size of U.S. cable subscribers that any one multiple system cable operator can control, according to reports.

Fortunately for Comcast Corp.—the biggest U.S. cable operator at a 27% market share—neither the company or any other of its rivals would need to sell off systems to meet the new rule.

This effort comes two weeks earlier than expected, when commissioners had scheduled a meeting to move on a number of issues.

Full Story

Share This

If “30 Rock” can jump on the non-traditional advertising bandwagon by poking fun at both it and themselves, well then so can I, dammit. You think the need for new and innovative ways to get a commercial entity’s message across is restricted to TV and the movies? Guess again, pal. We’re all in this together. It’s either this or the gang on “CSI” openly debating the capacity of Lysol to compromise the DNA at a crime scene.

Full Story

Share This