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RESEARCH & INSIGHT
April 2011
Product Placement
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
The agenda…
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
• Background and objectives
• Methodology
• Here’s the theory
• The viewers take on Product Placement
• Creative formats
• The golden guidelines of Product Placement
• Hollyoaks case study
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Background and objectives
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Setting the scene…
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
• In February 2011, the Government relaxed the rules allowing Product Placement on UK TV for the first time
• In America, Product Placement is worth 5% of all advertising revenue
• It is clear that the presence of PP on UK television content provides Channel 4 with a new market opportunity, but equally raises many questions for advertisers, sales teams, commissioners and also the viewing audience
• Research was required to investigate the parameters of PP, both to represent a ‘best practice/ golden rules’ piece of thought leadership to the industry and to strengthen Channel 4’s position as an appropriate platform for advertisers
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Channel 4’s response
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
• Following the relaxation in the Product Placement legislation on British television 2010 Channel 4 commissioned 2 pieces of qualitative research.
1. Work Research: Expert Interviews
As PP has existed for some time overseas there is extensive expertise and numerous academic studies on the subject. Channel 4 commissioned Work to get under the skin of placement, asking neuroscientists, behavioural experts and industry specialists to share their knowledge.
2. SPA Future Thinking: The consumers view
Gauge viewers opinions of Product Placement in order to create a golden guidelines for C4 and the industry as a whole
• Fieldwork was conducted in January 2011
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Expert interviews - The objectives
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
• Trying to establish how Product Placement works.
Business Objectives
• To gain an understanding in how consumers process brand information including
• Parasocial relationships with onscreen characters• The use of PP to normalise brands• Using PP to implicitly teach us about a brand.
• To establish the similarities with and differences to traditional spot advertising and to therefore assess where Product Placement could sit within the advertising spectrum.
• Exploring brands’ association with their editorial context, and how their relationship with each other informs our understanding of them.
Research Objectives
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
• What impact does Product Placement prominence have on effectiveness ?
Business Objectives
• A number of factors had been identified that were likely to influence both prominence and effectiveness. Understanding the role and importance of these formed the back-bone of the research:
• Formats: Advertising Platforms, ‘Natural’ Usage By Characters, In-Scene Background Presence, Branded Products Within Scenes, Dialogue References
• Executions: Product Mobility, Visibility, Duration On Screen, Usage Scenarios
• Does Product Placement have a positive effect on credibility of TV content (versus fictional brands)
• Does acceptance of PP vary by genre or visibility• Relationship between PP, sponsorship and
advertising
Research Objectives
The consumer’s view -The objectives…
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Methodology
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
The Academic approach
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
• 6 interviews with leaders in the field from the UK• These included two neuroscientists, two media experts, one
professor and a HERDmeister(consultant and writer). • Each shared their expertise from a perspective informed by their
relationship to Product Placement, be it academic or professional.
9 Expert Interviews
• 3 interviews with American professors.• Three academic experts in Product Placement and Marketing from
the United States offer their insights on what is, to them, an established market.
Literature review and White Paper
• Bournemouth University conducted a literature review of studies from both commercial and academic institutions. A white paper summarising the findings was produced complete with biographies of those who’d participated.
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
A viewer’s approach…
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
• 2 hour sessions with engaged audiences to creatively develop the golden rules of PP
• Respondents were shown genre montages (each containing mocked up PP scenarios):
• Reality and gameshow• Lifestyle• Drama and soaps• Comedy
8 x Co-Creation Workshops
8 x Hollyoaks Home Tests
• Observed, ‘natural’ viewing sessions with households to explore impact and effectiveness of PP, and versus sponsorship/ advertising
• 4 x 30 minute episodes of Hollyoaks (each having MirriAd Product Placement inserted in post-production) were used for the Home Tests
• 2 episodes watched per Home test – 1st episode watched without knowledge off PP inclusion to gain spontaneous response
• Each episode contains various levels of PP (frequency and number of brands)
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Here’s the theory…
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
• There are 5 reasons why Product placement works differently to traditional spot advertising.
1. Because we can develop ‘Para-social’ relationships with characters we see on television, product placement allows brands to use those characters to reinforce existing preconceptions, or to instigate new ones
2. Product placement helps normalise brands by putting them into everyday situations
3. Product placement used consistently and across multiple programmes can create ‘prototypical’ brands – in the same way that people refer to vacuum cleaners in general by the brand name Hoover
4. Product placement works on an implicit level
5. Product placement doesn’t prime consumers in the same way that traditional advertising does, allowing the audience to assess the brand without consciously feeling the commercial overtones
The key findings…
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
The viewers take on PP…
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
1. Product Placement is not a new concept for viewers – Viewers are used to seeing PP in Films and American TV shows
2. Audiences welcome Product Placement because it has it has the potential to enhance content credibility
– It makes programmes more realistic
3. Viewers recognise that Product Placement can work for the both the viewer and the brand
4. Overall, Product Placement is likely to have long term benefits for a brand
– Much like sponsorship, it is likely to build relationships over time
5. Viewers see Drama and Soaps as being the most natural fit for Product Placement, however Lifestyle programmes have the most potential to educate
– There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ policy
The key findings…
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
PP is not a new concept to Viewers as they are easily able to recall examples in American TV shows and films. However, there is confusion between PP, sponsorship and incidental use of brands on UK television
Films British TV (assumed PP)
Examples recalled…
US Content
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
What product placement can deliverOverall feeling that Product Placement has the potential to deliver benefits to both brand and viewer that are not possible through other forms of advertising
What It Delivers For The Viewer
Validate Consumers’ Relationships With Brands / Products
Unique potential to increase a viewer’s enjoyment of a show
Less obtrusive than other forms of
advertising
What It Delivers ForThe Brand
Allows brands to engage with rejecters
of traditional advertising
Increase sense of aspiration around a
brand
Builds familiarity with the brand/product
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Sensitivity to Product Placement
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Whilst Product Placement is predominantly welcomed, there is recognition that when taken too far it risks undermining the viewing experience
PP must not…
PP must…
Add realism
to a show
Be sensitive
Be credible
Be seen to drive content
Be too overt or
obtrusive
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Creative formats
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
Format overviewAll formats of Product Placement are in principle perceived to be acceptable to the viewer and positive for the brand on a general level, however natural usage is the format that has the potential to deliver the most for both brand and viewer
Positive forViewer / Content
Positive for Brand
Ads in Situ
In-scene Product/Lo
go Placement
Natural Usage by
Characters
Referencing Brand
Style/Colours
DialogueReferenc
e
Need support
from other formats
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
PP Golden guidelines
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Reality
Viewer benefit
Supports the sense of realism
Tread carefully to avoid undermining credibilityRule 1
Avoid dialogue referencesRule 2
Product needs to behave as it would in real lifeRule 3
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
Drama and soaps
Viewer benefit
Enhances plot and character
credibility
Natural usage are appropriate creative routes to support plot
Rule 1
In-scene product/logo creates a more realistic environment
Rule 2
May need to work harder due to viewers engagement with the content
Rule 3
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
Comedy
Viewer benefit
In sitcoms can be used to support
character development
Natural usage are appropriate creative routes to support plot
Rule 1
Opportunity for high visibility placementsRule 2
Low fit with stand up comedyRule 3
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
Lifestyle
Viewer benefit
High audience receptivity to
product ‘education’
Natural usage by characters has particular relevance
Rule 1
Must not be seen to be endorsing productsRule 2
Placements can be more subtleRule 3
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Hollyoaks case study
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
What we did…
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
8 x Hollyoaks Home Tests
• Observed, ‘natural’ viewing sessions with households to explore impact and effectiveness of PP, and versus sponsorship/advertising were conducted in January 2011
• 4 x 30 minute episodes of Hollyoaks (each having MirriAd Product Placement inserted in post-production) were used for the Home Tests
• 2 episodes watched within each session
• Episodes used Product Placement (coupled with Sponsorship) in different ways
• 2 x episodes with just one brand with Product Placement• 1 x episode with matching brand for sponsorship and Product
Placement• 1 x episode with different brands for sponsorship and Product
Placement
• 2 x episodes with multiple brands with Product Placement
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
Episode 1 – Single Brand
Episode 2 – Single Brand
with Sponsorship
The placements
Episode 3 – Multiple Brands
Episode 4 – Multiple Brands
RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT
The placements
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
February 2011
What we found
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
PP fit with Hollyoaks content
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Hollyoaks viewers positively welcome Product Placement as a mechanism to enhance content realism and credibility
• There was a strong support amongst viewers that Hollyoaks was an appropriate show in which to feature Product Placement as it attempts to reflect everyday life, therefore it feels entirely natural that brands should feature on the show
• However, our research process revealed that heavier/ more engaged viewers were very unlikely to recall any examples of PP in their first, ‘natural’ episode view – the true levels of awareness will need to be tested over a longer period of time• Whereas lighter viewers had greater awareness after one
episode
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
PP fit with Hollyoaks enjoyment
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
• There was no feeling that the use of Product Placement within Hollyoaks would undermine viewer enjoyment of the show, examples used were generally felt to be in-keeping with the scenes in which they were placed
• In fact, having brands and products in the background of scenes as well as being interacted with by characters has the potential to impact positively on enjoyment of the show, in terms of:• Helping the village to feel more ‘real’• Acting as identity markers to define personality traits of characters
• However, given that viewers watch Hollyoaks to lose themselves in the storylines, it was felt to be very important that the use of Product Placement remains sensative
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
Different approaches to PP…
RESEARCH & INSIGHT
•Not seen as a negative for viewers and…
•Stand-out and recall improve for all viewer types when viewed both unprompted and prompted
Single Brand with sponsorshi
p
•No negative reaction to multiple brands within a single episode as long as the ‘Golden Guidelines’ are adhered to
Single Vs. Multi-brand
There are a number of different approaches that can be taken to Product Placement, all of which are acceptable to the viewers
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• Hollyoaks performs well against Strategic Considerations as a ‘home’ for Product Placement
Soaps have high fit with PP given their foundation in enhanced realism
Does it fit with the programme genre?
Is it congruent with the context within the
show?
Does it fit with the target of the show?
How many different brands can be
included?
How will this fit within a whole campaign?
Usage of real products and brands fits with the show’s environment
This audience identifies with aspirational characters and seek validation of their own tastes
Presence of multiple brands is permitted, providing the context is credible
PP within Hollyoaks can be used within a brands’ overall Marcomms armoury
Strategic Considerations
Why it works…