In two weeks on theatres of the United States “17 AGAIN” will get out: it’s the last effort of Zac Efron that in this movie coact with Matthew Perry. For the trailer watch as follows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW9TkWY6Cng. 

The production, plot and actors are obviously a guarantee of success, considering that about twenty Big international Companies have decided to invest on product placement in this movie. The two most important brands are Ford and Apple, then follow Audi, Barq’s, Bose, Canon, Cap’n Crunch, Coca Cola, Doritos, Jansport, Lamborghini, M&M’s, Motorola, Pringles, Ray-Ban, Samsung, Spalding, Sprite and Welch’s.

Analysing the different marketing sectors we can find producers of drinks, snacks, breakfast products, mobiles, electronics, rucksacks, sport articles, fashion and car accessories. A carrousel of teenager desires that can influence by sure the public contributing to the boost and consolidation of the brands within the movie. Considering that the production is by Offspring Entertainment (the same of lots of comedies such as Step up 2, Step up 3, and Matador, all by Disney) and the distribution by Warner Brothers it is more than reasonable to think about a huge distribution all over the world markets. This aspect, not at all of minor importance, involves a huge mediatic impact for the brands in the movie to a very low cost.

p.latini@oratorio.biz

 For the promotion of its new product, Ominia HD, Samsung has decided to challenge the youtube community to find out how the main character can make disappear its mobile. The video, that you can watch here, does not contain any digital effect or CGI.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX8iVo5vc8o

Such a genial and innovative way to promote the new product has been soon frustrated by the intuition of a subscriber that has been able to solve the problem in 10 days, thus interrupting the game and the gossip, soon born again from its ashes such as a Arabian bird. We do not have to be amazed as maybe even this is part of the placement popularity project.

The technique employed is in fact the same of a scene in Terminator 2 (visibile on this link from the 7th minute). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZACpZzhFt8

The idea is very simple: the glass is just feigned, a cameraman (you never see) is filming the scene while a person is in front of the main character repeating each of his movement.A simple and cheap idea that attracts the navigator to watch the video more than once to understand and find out the solution.It’s worthy to say that since its publication, on April the 7th, 2009, the promo has got 550165 complete visits.

p.latini@oratorio.biz

                                        Lots of people mix up wrongly Product Placement and hidden advertising. To tell you the truth Product Placement is exactly the contrary. If it were hidden, nobody would care about it. The Clients of Product Placement want their product to be visible and recognizable; this is the only way they can exploit it for their press releases and promotions.

I want to clear this point as especially in the USA, where people love rankings and categories, it is easy to confuse Product Placement and Neuromarketing that represents one of the most blameworthy and less ethical activity. It is one of the most extreme solution still quite empty from promos and brands. The rumor that is going around these days concerns the declarations of a hip hop music producer (Russels Simmons co-fonder of Def jam label) that has declared to have received an offer by McDonald to put its name within a hit. The prize wpuld be of 1 dollar at each radio message. The agreement has not reached as the producer wanted it to remain secret, impossible thing for the huge fast food Company. Following this revelation, it has been disclosed that a few Agencies that have a “segretive division” had offered the same thing to about 30 artists (such as Lil Wayne, Keri Hilson, The Pussycat Dolls, Black Eye’d Peas, Eminem) in the last six months but with no success.The artistic integrity is much more important than a marketing project has been the general answer.

And it’s exactly what think those that work around product placement. No director, actor, screenwriter or producer would squalify his job for 15.000€ of product placement. It so unexpensive the position within an important Hollywood film, though it’s always an artistic choice, able to define a character, a scene or to interact with the plot itself.

If interested in p.latini@oratorio.biz

 Next month a new episode of the most loved space saga in the world will get out in the American theatres (the numbers of Trekkies fans seems to be more than that of “Star Wars”). “Star Trek”, produced by Paramount with an important budget, will be promoted with a huge campaign, with a very long list of Tie In that alone has been valued around 500 millions of dollars.
Among the Companies that will exploit the image of the space heroes there are Kellog’s, Burger Kings, Intel and Nokia. This one seems to have a product Placement, though still not officially. In particolar it’s really incredible the numbers upon which Kellogs’ has bet through this Creative Utilization: more than 100 millions of special pack boxes and a limited edition of marshmallow dedicated to the space saga.

Both in Italy as well in Europe there are lots of Companies that buy the Creative Utilization rights to propose and sell their products, especially on the market of the big distribution. To sense and guess the winning testimonials, able to make the public dream the next season, means to be able to reach a goal that in this moment can help to get out from such a nightmare called economical crisis. A little note: the USA marketing wizards have advised the Companies, that have obtained the Tie In, to think about gadgets both for adults as well for kids. The phenomenon has been consolidating: lots of products and habits between adults and kids are becoming more and more common (see playstation, clothing, sport, etc.), thus more important.  
Born in 1966, the Saga will be 43 years old; so both the over-50 as well as the teenagers love it in such a way that we are sure will be rightly exploited.

p.latini@oratorio.biz

There are thousands of experts in marketing and media planning that have to study and analyse people behaviours trying to capture their attention through new products, services, ideas, etc.

Sometimes such an exhausting work could be avoided with the certainty to obtain the same if not a better result than the one ensued by the above mentioned efforts.

It’s the case of “Step Up 3”, the third chapter of Disney Saga about the street dancing that has bewitched the teenagers all over the world with the two previous episodes. It’s sufficient to say that “Step up 2, the Streets” earned, during its first week, more than 24 millions of dollars, that is 4 millions of dollars more than the cost of the whole production itself… and this during an uneasy period for the cinema, that is the election week when the public was completely absorbed by the most powerful mediatic event of the century: the chance to have the first black American President.

Now, all those Companies that are interested in pushing their products, ideas, lifestyle and philosophy of life can reach their young public through a very simple way: “Step Up 3”. It’s prestigious, cheap and innovator.

For details and suggestions about product placement and creative utilization p.latini@oratorio.biz

In the USA Martha Stewart is more than a phenomenon. For years unique diva of the domestic TV (receipts, gardening, healthcare, etc.), her image and media power has not been touched either by the period spent in prison, 5 years ago, when she was charged of insider trading. In similar cases, the American public has always been very unmerciful, while this incredible and creative woman of Show Business has got out brilliantly with new ideas and projects. The more recent intuition has been to realise a series of products for dogs and domestic pets in general.

For this reason, she has integrated her popular web site, the TV and radio show as well as the famous magazine “Martha Stewart Living” with a new section. She is not really a pioneer but at the moment she is working upon a new line of food and care dog products with her name, brand and image. Powerful Companies such as Nestlè, Purina and Petcare are negotiating with Martha to get the licensing and merchandising of the whole operation. Knowing her well you can think that the result of such operation will be able to turn over the bad economical situation of the sector, that in one year only has lost 45 millions of dollars.

p.latini@oratorio.biz

 Sometimes, you should know… when I speak with particular Companies, those that have become a sort of myth of the costumes, of the ways of life, that they use to reply: “we do not need product placement…… if they want our products, they should pay….”. Obviously, I respect their way of thinking. However I believe that if brands such as Vespa employs this instrument others should adopt it forever! 20 days ago about in the USA, there was the prime of “I love you man”, a nice comedy by John Hamburg (the brilliant playwright of “Zoolander” and “Meet the Parents”). Around this Premiere there happened to be not only a good product placement by Vespa but even a brand integration. In fact on the Myspace web site, created to promote the movie, the Vespa brand was put in an evident privileged position: the model LVX150 employed in the movie itself was the prize for the advertising contest. Moreover Paramount realised an exclusive poster of the movie dedicated to Vespa that one can be dowloaded from www.vespausa.com  I have to remember to cite it as “Case History” next time… I

p.latini@oratorio.biz

Finally somebody, among those who can really do something for the community, has begun to think about environment respect as economically favourable. The managing director of General Eletric, Jeffrey Immelt, for 2 years has been promoting a media company project to realise and promote “green” actions that has called “Green is Universal”.

The most interesting thing is that Mr Immelt has been able to involve even NBC in the production of a show series about the environment respect. From April 19^th to 26^th for example, “Miss USA Show” will be realised all around this subject; the same, the next week, for the fourth season of “Future Earth” with further 150hours of programme dedicated to ecological subjects. Even NBC top management, among which Lauren Zalaznick, President of NBC channel dedicated to women and lifestyle, has been reporting for some time a new interest by the public about commercial info regarding products and services environmentally aware. And it’s this news we are interested in.

In fact during all these programmes the ads spots will be about ecological and organic products, as well the product placement that will follow the same direction. NBC has gone further by declaring that two of its most prestigious serials, 52th Floor and 30 Rock, will take part in the operation.

This is a great occasion for all those Companies committed to the planet’s safeguard, that have always found both competitive as well as positioning difficulties. With a very low cost though of great media impact and considering the importance of such event, they would have the chance to get a memorable product placement under any point of view.

For progress: p.latini@oratorio.biz

 More than one, speaking with some colleagues and Clients, they have asked which is the best way for the development of product placement projects.

Still being a very young sector in Europe, it’s quite a right question. Though the answer is not the expected one. One can rightly think that for this kind of service the best support should be the media planner or the advertising agencies. Both these organisations manage different Clients and should know, in theory, their aims and necessities so to able to propose the right and more efficacious product placement. But it’s not like this, though last week an article on the Economist affirmed exactly the contrary. What happens in more mature markets like USA and Canada, it’s what happens here as in Bollywood as well.

The product placement agencies do not have any kind of support or collaboration by this traditional marketing operators so they have direct relations with the Clients. The result is good though a little bit more difficult. Product Placement always means activities of PR, ads, events, etc. So that the Agency is involved but only in a second time so it’s no more able to help the Client with its knowledge and creativity. Some Clients have already understood how things should go, so they put in contact their PR or the press agency with the product placement one. The results obtained from this collaboration are generally very good (for what concerns my experience). I really believe that if the ads agencies perceived product placement as an efficacious instrument, and not like a competitor, the development of this sector would be huge.

p.s. I will be on travel for a week…. I will update with new post by next Thursday…

p.latini@oratorio.biz

The two big publishing Companies like Bonnier and Discovery have made an agreement to produce “The Science Channel”, completely dedicated to popular science starting in June. At the base of this choice that both publishers have defined as “a new cross-platform approach for advertisers, readers and viewers”, there are evident editorial reasons (Bonnier is the publisher of the very famous monthly magazine “Popular Science” with more than 6 millions of readers each month) and Clients sharing, that now on could choose if planning on the review or TV media (transmitted in more than 56 millions of American houses). Both talk to the same target and now with the same “brand”. The analysts of “Advertising Age” have noted the different implication of product placement and even Brand Integration that this kind of operation has provoked. It’s likely that at the base of this agreement there are reasons of migration and brand interchanging from one media to the other. A different kind of product placement is taking place: the TV watchers of Science Channel have the chance to deepen all the arguments through the magazine, while the readers of the magazine could watch the videos and documentaries they are interested in on TV. A valuable declination of product placement that proves the validity of this strategy. If employed with ethic and in a professional way, product placement can find out solutions and innovations even in a period of crisis such as this.

p.latini@oratorio.biz