Product placement effectiveness: revisited and renewed
Journal of Management and Marketing Research
Product placement effectiveness: revisited and renewed
Kaylene Williams
California State University, Stanislaus
Alfred Petrosky
California State University, Stanislaus
Edward Hernandez
California State University, Stanislaus
Robert Page, Jr.
Southern Connecticut State University
ABSTRACT
Product placement is the purposeful incorporation of commercial content into noncommercial settings, that is, a product plug generated via the fusion of advertising and
entertainment. While product placement is riskier than conventional advertising, it is becoming
a common practice to place products and brands into mainstream media including films,
broadcast and cable television programs, computer and video games, blogs, music videos/DVDs,
magazines, books, comics, Broadway musicals and plays, radio, Internet, and mobile phones. To
reach retreating audiences, advertisers use product placements increasingly in clever, effective
ways that do not cost too much. The purpose of this paper is to examine product placement in
terms of definition, use, purposes of product placement, specific media vehicles, variables that
impact the effectiveness of product placement, the downside of using product placement, and the
ethics of product placement.
Keywords: Product placement, brand placement, branded entertainment, in-program sponsoring
Product placement effectiveness, Page 1
Journal of Management and Marketing Research
INTRODUCTION
In its simplest form, product placement consists of an advertiser or company producing
some engaging content in order to sell something (Falkow, 2010). As such, product or brand
placement continues to be an important practice within advertising and integrated marketing
communications in which advertisers push their way into content far more aggressively than ever
before (The Economist, 2005). While product placement is riskier than conventional advertising,
it is becoming a common practice to place products and brands into mainstream media including
films, broadcast and cable television programs, computer and video games, blogs, music
videos/DVDs, magazines, books, comics, Broadway musicals and plays, radio, Internet, and
mobile phones (Stephen and Coote, 2005). Due to media fragmentation, media proliferation, and
declining advertising efficacy, product placement increasingly is becoming an effective way to
reach consumers and non-users (Mackay, Ewing, Newton, and Windisch, 2009). It is estimated
that two-thirds of TV viewers cut the sound during commercials, channel-surf, or skip them
altogether because they are annoying or irrelevant (Kiley, 2006). Smit, van Reijmersdal, and
Neijens (2009) have found that the industry considers brand placement and brand-integrated
programs as the future of television advertising. In recent years, product placement frequently
has been used as the basis of multi-million dollar marketing and promotional campaigns with
more than 1000 firms that specialize in product placement (Balasubramanian, Karrh, and
Patwardhan, 2006; Argan, Velioglu, and Argan, 2007). The purpose of this paper is to examine
product placement in terms of definition, use, purposes of product placement, specific media
vehicles, variables that impact the effectiveness of product placement, the downside of using
product placement, and the ethics of product placement.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT DEFINED
Product placement is the purposeful incorporation of commercial content into noncommercial settings, that is, a product plug generated via the fusion of advertising and
entertainment (Ginosar and Levi-Faur, 2010). Product placement--also known as product brand
placement, in-program sponsoring, branded entertainment, or product integration--is a marketing
practice in advertising and promotion wherein a brand name, product, package, signage, or other
trademark merchandise is inserted into and used contextually in a motion picture, television, or
other media vehicle for commercial purposes. In product placement, the involved audience gets
exposed to the brands and products during the natural process of the movie, television program,
or content vehicle. (Panda, 2004; Cebrzynski, 2006) That is, product placement in popular mass
media provides exposure to potential target consumers and shows brands being used or
consumed in their natural settings (Stephen and Coote, 2005). Ultimately, the product or brand
is seen as a quality of the association with characters using and approving of the product
placement, for example, Harold and Kumar on a road trip to find a White Castle, Austin Powers
blasting into space in a Big Boy statue rocket, Will Ferrell promoting Checkers and Rally's
Hamburgers in the NASCAR comedy Talladega Nights, MSN appearing in Bridget Jones' Diary,
BMW and its online short films, 's Amazon Theatre showcasing stars and featured
products, Ford and Extreme Makeover, Tom Hanks and FedEx and Wilson, Oprah giving away
Buicks, Curious George and Dole, Herbie and VW, Simpsons' and the Quik-E-Mart, Forrest
Gump and the Bubba Gum Shrimp Co. restaurants, Jack Daniels and Mad Men, and LG phones
in The Office, just to name a few. In addition, Weaver (2007) gives numerous examples of
Product placement effectiveness, Page 2
Journal of Management and Marketing Research
product placements related to tourism, for example, the film Sideways promoting wine tourism
in California¡¯s Napa Valley, the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain selling Sealy mattresses on the Internet,
Holiday Inn Express selling Kohler¡¯s Stay Smart shower head, Showtime and HBO in many
hotels and motels, and Southwest Airlines serving Nabisco products.
Even though product placement was named and identified formally only as recently as
the 1980s, product placement is not new (Balasubramanian, 1994). Originally, product
placement served as a way for movie studios and television networks to reduce the cost of
production through borrowed props. Brand/product placement first appeared in Lumiere films in
Europe in 1896. (Newell, Salmon, and Chang, 2006) In the early years of U.S. product
placements, the idea of connecting entertainment with consumption messages showed up in the
entertainment films of Thomas Edison featuring shots of products from the Edison factory and
Edison¡¯s industrial clients. Beginning in the 1930s, Proctor & Gamble broadcasted on the radio
its "soap operas" featuring its soap powders. Also, television and film were used by the tobacco
companies to lend glamour and the "right attitude" to smoking (The Economist, 2005).
However, due to poorly organized efforts and negative publicity about the surrender of media
content to commercialization, product placements were relatively dormant after the Depression.
Product placements were recatalyzed in the 1960-70s with a growth spurt during the 1980s and
1990s. (Balasubramanian, Karrh, and Patwardhan, 2006)
Movies and programs are watched many times, accordingly, product placements are not
limited in time to the original filmed item. In addition, today's technology can insert product
placements in places they were not before. This digital product integration is a new frontier for
paid product placement. As a result, consumers will see more and more product placements that
are strategically placed in the media. Most product placements are for consumer products, yet
service placements appear more prominently. Service placements tend to be woven into the
script and are probably more effective than product placements that are used simply as
background props. (La Ferle and Edwards, 2006)
Product placements may be initiated by a company that suggests its products to a studio
or TV show, or it might work the other way around. Intermediaries and brokers also match up
companies with product placement opportunities. (Stringer, 2006) Costs for product placements
can range from less than $10,000 to several hundred thousand dollars. However, television and
movie producers routinely place products in their entertainment vehicles for free or in exchange
for promotional tie-ins. (Cebrzynski, 2006)
In terms of the Internet, consumers want to communicate with companies and brands so
that they can get the information they want or need. So, companies need to listen to online
conversations and establish what interests their online community. Then, they can provide that
information in an engaging format including storytelling, articles, images, and video. For
example, Yahoo! has produced branded video content ¨C 5-10 minute ¡°webisodes¡± that usually
feature story lines around a specific product such as a show about someone driving cross country
in a Toyota Hybrid, sponsored by Toyota. (Falkow, 2010) ¡°Being able to creatively brand
interesting and valuable online content that attracts readers and viewers might just turn out to be
the shortest way to consumer¡¯s hearts and minds.¡± (Falkow, 2010, p. 1)
While product placements have been used prolifically to target ultimate household
consumers, they are beginning to expand into the business-to-business domain. In general,
buying-center participants find the practice to be acceptable for a wide array of B2B products
and services. In particular, when buying-center participants are exposed to experimental B2B
influence through placement within major motion picture products, participants demonstrate an
Product placement effectiveness, Page 3
Journal of Management and Marketing Research
impressive level of recall and a modestly favorable attitude and purchase intention. (Lord and
Gupta, 2010)
USE OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Even though measures of its effectiveness have been problematic, product placement is a
fast growing multi-billion dollar industry (McDonnell and Drennan, 2010). According to the
research company PQ Media, global paid product placements were valued at $3.07 Billion in
2006 with global unpaid product placements valued at about $6 Billion in 2005 and $7.45 Billion
in 2006. Global paid product placement spending is expected to grow at a compounded annual
rate of 27.9% over 2005-2010 to $7.55 Billion. Consequently, product placement growth is
expected to significantly outpace that of traditional advertising and marketing. By 2010, the
overall value of paid and unpaid product placement is expected to increase 18.4% compounded
annually to $13.96 Billion. (BusinessWire, 2006) Television product placements are the
dominant choice of brand marketers, accounting for 71.4% of global spending in 2006 (Schiller,
2007). Advertisement spending on product placement in games in the U.S. is likely to reach $1
billion by 2010 (Kiley, 2006).
The U.S. is the largest and fastest growing paid product placement market, $1.5 Billion in
2005, $2.9 Billion in 2007, and $3.7 Billion in 2008 (Brandweek, 2007; Quart, 2008; and BNET
BusinessWire, 2008). Marketers increased the dollars spent on branded content in 2009, double
the 2008 figures. Branded content comprised 32% of overall marketing, advertising, and
communications budgets. These numbers are expected to jump significantly in 2010. (Falkow,
2010) Some 75% of U.S. prime-time network shows use product placements. This number is
expected to increase due to the fact that 41% of U.S. homes are expected to have and use digital
video recorders that can skip through commercials. Hence, communicating core marketing
messages is vital and difficult. Consider the following data (1st Place, 2010, p. 1):
? ¡°90% of people with digital video recorders skip TV ads.
? ¡°To be seen, brands now have to get inside the content.
? ¡°Consumer consumption of entertainment increases when economic times get tough.
? ¡°ITV reported an increase of 1.1% in TV viewing in the first quarter of 2009.
? ¡°Cinema admissions for 2009 to April 30 stand at 55.2 million, a 14.2% increase on
the same periods in 2008.
? ¡°Research shows product placement in content boosts brand awareness, raises brand
affinity and encourages prospective purchasers.
? ¡°60% of viewers felt more positive about brands they recognized in a placement.
? ¡°45% said they would be more likely to make a purchase.¡±
Product placements can be a cost-effective method for reaching target customers. Because of
this, product placements are likely to eclipse traditional advertising messages. (Russell and
Stern, 2006)
In terms of specific numbers, U.S. product placement occurrences for January 1 ¨C
November 30, 2008 broadcast network programming for the Top 10 programs featured 29,823
product placements. Biggest Loser was the leader in terms of the number of product placements
(6,248 occurrences, followed by American Idol, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, America¡¯s
Toughest Jobs, One Tree Hill, Deal or No Deal, America¡¯s Next Top Model, Last Comic
Standing, Kitchen Nightmares, and Hells Kitchen. The Top 10 brands that featured product
placements for January 1 ¨C November 30, 2008 were CVS Pharmacy, TRESemme, El Pollo
Product placement effectiveness, Page 4
Journal of Management and Marketing Research
Loco, , Sears, Glad, Whole Foods Market, Food & Wine Magazine, GQ Magazine,
and Hugo Boss. (1st Place,¡± December 15, 2008)
The use of product placements in recorded music also is growing. As noted by Plambeck
(2010, p. 1)
¡°According to a report released last week by PQ Media, a research firm, the money spent
on product placement in recorded music grew 8 percent in 2009 compared with the year
before, while overall paid product placement declined 2.8 percent, to $3.6 billion.
¡°The money is often used to offset the video¡¯s cost, which is usually shared by the artist
and label.
¡°Patrick Quinn, chief executive of PQ Media, said that revenue from product placement
in music videos totaled $15 million to $20 million last year, more than double the amount
in 2000, and he expected that to grow again this year.
¡°The Lady Gaga video, which has been viewed 62 million (updated: 91.8 million as of
November 14, 2010) times on YouTube, included product placements from Miracle
Whip and Virgin Mobile.¡±
Another area of growing product placements is placed-based video ads in stores,
shopping malls, restaurants, medical offices, bars, airports, or health clubs. Approximately
29.6% of U.S. adults or 67.4 million adults have viewed these types of video ads in the last 30
days. Both young men and young women, in general, are more likely than the population as a
whole to report they viewed place-based video ads. Young men aged 18-34 are 28% more likely
(young women are 13% more likely) than the population as a whole to have viewed a placebased video ad in the last 30 days. This is important because these young consumers are difficult
to reach via traditional media. ¡°Video advertising in stores and shopping malls garnered the
largest audience, at nearly 19% and 15% of the U.S. adult population, respectively. This was
followed by nearly 11% of U.S. adults who saw a video ad in the last 30 days in a restaurant or
medical office, nearly 9% who saw a video ad in a bar/pub or at an airport, and 7% who saw a
video ad while at the gym or health club.¡± (, 2010, p. 1)
Generally, U.S. product placement markets are much more advanced than other countries
such that other countries often aspire to the U.S. model. The next largest global markets are
Brazil, Australia, France, and Japan. China is forecast to be the fastest growing market for
product placements this year, up 34.5% (Thomasch, 2007). Product placement methods differ
widely by country given varying cultures and regulations. Most product placements are in five
product areas: transportation and parts, apparel and accessories, food and beverage, travel and
leisure, and media and entertainment. (BusinessWire, 2006)
PURPOSES OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Product placement can be very useful. Ultimately, product placements among
entertainment firms, corporate brands, and agencies are all monetarily driven, either directly or
indirectly. At the very least, entertainment firms and independent production companies are
hoping to reduce their budgets so that more dollars can be invested elsewhere. (Chang, Newell,
and Salmon, 2009) Its purposes include achieving prominent audience exposure, visibility,
attention, and interest; increasing brand awareness; increasing consumer memory and recall;
creating instant recognition in the media vehicle and at the point of purchase; changing
consumers' attitudes or overall evaluations of the brand; changing the audiences' purchase
behaviors and intent; creating favorable practitioners' views on brand placement; and promoting
Product placement effectiveness, Page 5
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