 |
 |
|
|
|
|||
|
|||
 |
|||
Ad nauseum?
Product placement on television: pervasive and effective advertising, say COM profs
By Brian Fitzgerald
|
|
|
Television viewers of February’s Beanpot tournament, played at the FleetCenter, undoubtedly noticed the remarkable performance of goaltender Sean Fields (CAS’04). They also might have been aware that Dunkin’ Donuts and Welch’s didn’t have to wait for commercial breaks to advertise on the airwaves. Photo by Albert L’Étiole |
|
|
|
“Wicked. Wicked haahd,” says new Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, desperately practicing a Boston accent in a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial. The ad elicits chuckles on seeing it for the first time. But after sitting through it several times, some people tend to grab the remote control and change stations when it comes on yet again.
Nonetheless, Dunkin’ Donuts has another way of getting its brand name across to those quick to channel surf during commercials. In the reality television show High School Reunion, former classmates drink coffee from mugs emblazoned with — you guessed it — the Dunkin’ Donuts logo.
The advertising tactic, known as product placement, is not new. “There has been product placement in the movies for a long time,” says Tobe Berkovitz, COM associate dean and an associate professor of communication. “And it’s also been on television for a while, especially automobile brands.” After all, cops on the classic shows Hawaii 5-0 and The FBI drove only Fords, and Ford Motor Company just happened to sponsor the programs. “But the prolific ‘pay and place your product all over the place’ strategy is somewhat new,” he says.
Just how prevalent is product placement on television these days? Nielson Media Research tracked more than 9,000 appearances of branded products on prime-time network television last September and October. In an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, as an example, Ray accidentally knocks over an entire display of a pasta-and-sauce meal while stalking his wife in a supermarket. The visibility of the brand name, Ragú Express, was no accident. If you watched Two and a Half Men on September 22, you saw Charlie and Jake playing the Xbox game machine, brought from their living room to yours by Microsoft Corporation. And the next rerun of Friends you see might just contain a scene with a package of Oreos on the Ross kitchen counter — the original generic cookies having been digitally replaced with the popular brand. In foreign syndication, the same space could be resold to brands available in other countries.
Like in TV’s old days, automobile companies are still placing their vehicles on shows: on NBC’s reality series The Apprentice, a Chrysler will be used in one of the tasks assigned to contestants. Ford is hooking up with American Idol, Alias, and 24. And characters on CSI: Miami drive Hummers.
Advertising agencies have been weaving their clients’ products into television shows at an unprecedented rate partly in response to viewers skipping commercials in an age of TiVo digital recorders and VCRs, according to John Verret, a COM associate professor of advertising, and Carolyn Clark, a COM visiting associate professor of communication. They say that itchy trigger thumbs rapidly pressing remote control buttons have also been a major factor. Although people have been “clicking” through commercials for decades, an increasing number of cable channels — some cable packages provide 500 of them — gives viewers additional options in avoiding advertising.
“TiVo and other technological advances create problems for traditional advertising on television,” says Verret, “but the marketers always adjust and find a way to get their messages across to the consumers.”
Product placement is not without controversy. Consumer watchdog groups have been vehemently complaining about the tactic. Some parents argue that “embedded” television advertising has too much influence on children. Commercial Alert, an organization cofounded by Ralph Nader, calls the practice “an affront to basic honesty.” Last September it filed petitions with the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission asking for full disclosure of all product placement arrangements, not only at the outset of a show, but also during the show, “outing” the “hidden” advertising as it pops up.
Clark, who has had more than 26 years of experience in the advertising industry, doesn’t think that disclaimer rules would go as far as flagging the ads as they appear on the shows. “But,” she says, “I could see possibly a requirement that the sponsors be listed at the beginning or end of programs, mentioned briefly as are sponsors in public television and public radio.”
Like it or not, product placement on television is here to stay, says Verret, and there seems to be little viewer backlash. “If the show is good,” he says, “and the placements are handled well, consumers don’t seem to mind.”
However, Clark points out, if the product placements become too overt, sponsors run the risk of making viewers feel that they are being exploited. “That could do damage to the brand and the show,” she says. “If it becomes too prevalent or obvious, and intrudes on the content of the program — if it feels forced — viewers will make that known.”
Verret and Clark both say that product placement and another television advertising trend, the lengthy infomercial, won’t spark the demise of the traditional 30-second commercial spot. “They’re not replacements; they’re just other venues,” says Clark. “Marketers are always looking for more creative ways to touch their audiences.”
Have TiVo and remote controls — and the new television advertising practices that partially result from such technologies — altered the way advertising students are being taught? “Changing technology has had an enormous effect on how COM ad majors are taught,” says Verret. “The advertising industry has always changed at the speed of cultural change, trying to stay ahead of the curve and be relevant to the times. We discuss product placement all the time in both our Problem Solving and Ad Management courses because it has become an important tactic in the business of marketing communications. It’s not the be-all and end-all tactic. It’s one of a number of tactics to be considered when planning an ad campaign. Advertisers have to go where the consumers are if their advertising is going to be effective.”
16
April 2004
Boston University
Office of University Relations