Product Placements & Branded Entertainment

There is an increasing growth of product placements & branded entertainment creativity in Reality TV shows. Product placements and branded entertainment are among one of the several new alternative strategies in marketing. The idea behind these marketing forms is that products and brands are incorporated into the story line of movies and TV shows to influence the viewer. The combination of entertainment and advertising is sought out as high value to companies for the following reasons:

• Avoid clutter on commercial breaks
• More natural, avoiding the feel of pressure from an actual advertisement
• Low cost per viewer
• Reaches the target market more accurately than a commercial spot
• Endorsed by favourite TV characters
• Almost impossible to ignore since they are embedded in the show

In the game show, Deal or No Deal, the bright red phone used to call the banker was one obvious product placement by Rogers. The brand placement appeared every episode when a contestant knocked out cases to receive an offer of money to either then walk away (deal) or continue playing (no deal) for the chance to win 1 million dollars. The brand placement had several opportunities for exposure depending on the number of times a contestant refused a deal. When the banker was to be called, host Howie Mandel, would mention he would make the call using the Rogers phone line. This worked great as a brand placement because it fit in with the realness of the show and was unavoidable being placed during the programs time slot.

Another successful brand placement was with T-Mobile’s Sidekick cellular phone in MTV’s The Ruins TV show. This was the sole form of information provided to the competitors on the show which let them know which challenge was next. The T-Mobile Sidekick was showed each episode with the introduction of its signature ring tone. Cast members on the show even played up the brands name, making it a bigger deal than the actual message in some cases.

Choosing brand placements over traditional commercial spots is making advertising more valuable in the sense that it can better reach its target market, as well get passed new technologies like PVR’s that help avoid commercials.