Prof. Romana Andò

October 10th 2016

Key-words

Product placement is a form of advertising where a business will pay to have its product prominently displayed in a piece of art.

Product placement is most prevalent today in movies or television shows. It is a rather indirect form of advertising, because the product isn't being expressly pitched for sale.

Product placement is an advertising strategy that involves the inclusion of a brand, or elements attributable to it, in a narrative context to which it belongs consistently.

This means that the brand becomes part of the story, as it provides realism and credibility or charm and attraction elements for the audience.

Brands are included in the media narrative contexts as they represent the cultural and social backdrop of everyday life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJd7NQD20j0

On the one hand, the brand consistently placed in a media text count on audience engagement with a text that is perceived as familiar.

In this case brand reinforces media content, fostering an emotional bond with the narrative and with the characters and amplifying the consumer experience through the symbolic appropriation of the brand (recognizability, searchability, poaching on line).

On the other hand, the brand benefits from audience engagement with a particular media content and exploits the audience’ desire to appropriate and collect .

The desire to identify with characters and celebrities encourage the material appropriation and, therefore, the purchase of brands seen on TV.

Product Placement is directly realized by media authors.

In this way brands are integrated in media narrative since its creation and become part of the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lG6jvc4NXo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0erriE0S2Zg

Vogue (36) Manolo Blahnik (16) Versace (7) Birkenstock (6) Dolce & Gabbana (15) Prada (14) Chanel (13) Gucci (12) Fendi (11) Ralph Lauren (8) Tiffany's (8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=CK9lRE9l9zY

New Yorker (10)

Barneys (10)

Tivo (9)

Absolut (9)

Weight Watchers (8)

Worldwide Express (7)

Starbucks (6)

Viagra (5)

Tasty Delight (5)

TGI Friday's (5)

New York magazine (5)

Google (5)

Big Mac (5)

Martini (33)

New York Knicks (25)

New York Times (24)

Yankees (20)

Post-it (15)

Rampant Rabbit (10)

there are three distinct modes of presentation (the senses activated by the stimulus) a brand placement can display:

visual only: involves showing a product, logo, billboard or some other visual brand identifier without any relevant message or sounds on the audio track which draw the attention to the product.

auditory only: involves the mention of a brand name or a character conveying brand-related messages in audio form, without showing the product on the screen

combined audio-visual: involves showing a brand and at the same time mentioning the brand name or conveying a brand-relevant message in audioform

Compared to traditional advertising, a brand embedded in the storyline is more efficient and promotes a symbolic appropriation of the product that can prelude the effective purchase.

When a brand is visualized, mentioned or even becomes a protagonist in the show, the immersive experience of watching TV or a movie – and the consequent suspended incredulity – promotes an unbelievable audience engagement.

From the marketing perspective, product placement is extremely interesting because it promotes the visibility of the brand without invasively interrupting the viewing experience for media content users.

Inserting the brand coherent in media texts makes it possible to hide or rather mask, so to speak, the commercial purpose of the placement.

This gives the brand the opportunity to take advantage of the relationship between viewers and storytelling, of the immersive viewing experience and of endorsement guaranteed by being linked to with particularly famous celebrities

The characters act as brand testimonials when they use, interact or cite recognizable products within the story.

The positive emotions associated with the TV stars naturally move to the brands used in the show’s scenes.

Viewers are therefore able to recognize the socio cultural context and the prevalent current ideology, by viewing characters interacting with each other and with commercial brands.

In media content, “the prominence of consumption is reflected in the importance of products such as clothing, makeup, home furnishing, food, and beverages to the characters”.

Another aspect to consider is the brand prominence on the screen, in terms of narrative relevance and the ability to activate a network of meaningful associations.

The passion for a cult media content could lead to a rejection of brand placements that may be experienced as intrusive and, are therefore, detrimental to the perceived quality of media product.

Moreover, fans are equally engaged in searching for less visible and/or complementary brands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HpIZrOH4zc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8wAUlBz248

Fashion brands embedded in the storyline act as a stimulus for viewers’ attention and encourage loyalty and participation.

Fashion brands constitute ideal touch points with media content that facilitate the expansion of media consumption experiences beyond the very moment of vision.

Stars’ outfits, dresses and accessories, in fact, become symbolic materials to be identified and searched online, with the direct or indirect aim of symbolic or material appropriation.

Fashion brands seen on the media turn into a fetish for viewers who consequently seek to appropriate it, or fashion brands become a transitional object to manage the engagement and the loyalty relationship with TV product and its stars.

At the same time, the outfits presented on media content feed the emulative aspect that viewers may cultivate in their relationships with characters ("wanting to be like her / him"), providing audiences with symbolic materials that may be used in everyday life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOPkx1PEgYM

The first dimension involves fans detection, appropriation and poaching practices (Jenkins 1992).

Within fan culture, especially with respect to cult media, content is not simply consumed, but taken apart, analyzed, appropriated and sometimes reproduced to expand the pleasure of consumption over time.

The second dimension consists of enabling technologies and, especially mobile devices, that allow the audience to always be connected and to increase their inclination to search for information, even while watching media (especially TV) content (the so-called multi-screening phenomenon).