Page 188 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

90 PLACE YOUR PRODUCT

When people see TV adverts they usually switch channels, go to
make a cup of tea, turn the sound off and read a book for a while, or
indeed anything except watch the ad. This makes it difficult to get
the message across—the message literally falls on deaf ears.
On the other hand, people do watch the actual programs and movies.
They also notice products being used as props in those movies—
which is where product placement comes in.

The idea

Movie producers and TV producers are always looking to cover their
costs. If they can get products donated to use as props, they will
gladly accept them: more importantly, of course, they usually charge
money for featuring products.
For smaller companies, it is unlikely to be possible to pay for a
product to be integrated into the script (as BMW did for the Bond
movies), but it may be possible to give a free sample to a TV or movie
company to feature.
Coca-Cola is a company that uses product placement in a big way:
almost all American movies feature Coca-Cola somewhere, if
only as a billboard in the background, and Coca-Cola even bought
Columbia Pictures in 1982: Coca-Cola Entertainment has its finger
in a lot of TV and movie interests.
There is no need to be Coca-Cola to place products, though. In Britain,
companies can legally give products to TV producers provided no

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