For those interested in keeping updated about the entertainment productions in Hollywood with relation to product placement, Opptrak is something not to lose. Realised by Mark, a friend and colleague from Vancouver, based ont the same reasons as those that have pushed us to realise the Observatory about Product Placement. For sure Opptrak is much more commercial, though in a positive sense; it’s a service to the Companies to help to estimate any new production. It is possible to select them on the base of different principles, buy the details and the addresses. At last any good manager could become manager of himself in relation to brand integration. Watching the video (in English) you well understand its functioning and great potentialities. The observatory instead takes care of European productions (at the beginning Italian) from a commercial, technical (as service to the Companies as well to the Studios) and scientific point of view.

Supervising the dynamics of product placement is in fact the main aim of the Observatory that quarterly produces and publishes investigations about. To open the Observatory an investigation about placement during the FIFA World Cup, we have already dedicated a post before with quite a good success from the national press. Mark with his Opptrak has started a few months before us and is quite proud of it. We are talking about a cooperation and believe we can agree upon as the affinity between the two project is really great.

The great outing of Sex and the City girls is the right occasion to talk about Celebrity Seeding. Let’s explain it’s something between PR ad product placement, with the aim to give the products freely to the Stars of the Show Biz and more in general to the V.I.P. (normally fashion clothes and accessories, but even design products, technological gadgets, furniture, etc.), with the hope they can use them, taken pictures of, noted on the press and obtain visibility. The good sense would like each garment and object to be selected by these people with great attention. Such a category has so much money and such acquaintances to obtain the best of the best. And it’s exactly this logical supposition that is at the base of the efficacy of the Celebrity Seedings. But the truth is different: all the people I know accept with pleasure to have and use different kinds of products free. It will be not very nice to reveal the names but I have personally see people predate some departments stores. Not to talk about those who ask their agent to call the producer or some common friends to obtail products free. In a few cases the free supply is sufficient to obtain the Seedings. In other cases it is asked even a good mediatic proposal. The most frequent example is about the design objects or white goods that become the main characters within a photo session distributed to the most important furniture reviews, very happy to publish articles about famous people and their houses. And at that point the circle gets close with the perfect logic of the win-win. The Star gets the products free, the Producing House obtains good references and visibility on important newspapers with no costs and the review gets a free interesting article. But can it be possible that the Hollywood millionaires can loose their time trying to get free the clothes and accessories even from “Sex and the City II”, as the four main characters of the movie itself are revealing just these days on channel E!. The answer to such a question is unknown, even for a rational person like me, but as it works, and works well… it doesn’t matter.

The product placement as artistic or technical choice is for sure the best, being more credible, effective and often quite unexpensive. The World Cup players in South Africa for example are good testimonials for clothing and sports accessories. Sometimes they have got an agreement and are well paid, sometimes no. Not all the players get money for wearing shoes, legwarmers, gloves, hats, etc. The Companies interested by such an important event have been preparing for long time. Lots of new models have been presented on the market just at the beginning of the World Cup, and they are so visible and evident thanks to strong colors and special shapes, such as orange and gold, even for the soles and the studs, or brilliant yellow with huge brands on it. More or less the same happens with the T-shirts, where the “three stripes” of a famous German brand are present on the shoulders of almost half of the teams present. The lesson we can read is easy. To exploit such a visible and important event, it is necessary to plan in advance the placement, with well-known products, with great esthetical and/or technical content, so to make them essential for the players. Among the players who would not get the last technological shoes, or among the music stars the new guitar with vocal control pick up for his/her performance at the MTV Music Awards?

When a few months ago, with great surprise, Oprah announced the end of her famous programme, lots of people din’t think she could retire. Her programme infact has become one of the longest in the story of the American TV and it would have been absolutely no logical to stop such a successful format and all that got around her. A few time later the announcement of her new project arrived: Oprah Winfrey Network, an entire TV channel dedicated to her and like her. Even if it was not so clear how it would have been and what kind of programming it would have had, the press office of Oprah Winfrey network began to make note press releases of brand integration with the “big spenders” of the market. After Procter&Gamble, it’s the turn of Kohl’s, a sort of general store with more than 1.000 shops in the U.S.A., to which an entire programme will be dedicated with the title of “Your OWN Show”. It would be probably the first important entertainment TV channel on the base of product placement, brand integration, contingency placement, verbal mention and more. The branches interested are so many that it would be easier to underline those unsuitable. The “made in Italy” products are for sure interesting for this project. The strenght of Oprah, her far-sightedness and her incredible capability for business have converted her in a sort of King Mida of the last 20 years. And now for lots of brands which want to emerge and consolidate their image on the American market this is really a great chance.

On June the 27^th in Las Vegas it will be the “Daytime Emmy Award”, that will give a prize to the best main characters of the daily TV (that is morning and afternoon programs), different from the “Emmy Award” that give prizes to the best actors and anchormen at prime time. Late in August there will be even the “Late Emmy Award” dedicated to the best characters of the night programs.

All these prizes are always assigned by the “National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences” from New York and Los Angeles.

The night in Las Vegas is a nice and rich kermesse organised with great attention and programmed alldaylong with interviews, backstages, the red carpets and the final ceremony. The event will be broadcasted on the national channel CBS that last year obtained more than 8 millions of viewers with a 11% of share. To such a result it should be added the many web videos, about different millions.

A few days ago the nominees were announced, and here they are. We have had the chance to talk about many of them and with pleasure we are following their success.

 2010 Daytime Emmy Award Nominees

 Outstanding Drama Series
All My Children (ABC)
The Bold and The Beautiful (CBS)
General Hospital (ABC)
The Young and the Restless (CBS)

Outstanding Lead Actor
Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott on The Young and the Restless
Doug Davidson as Paul Williams on The Young and the Restless
Jon Lindstrom as Craig Montgomery on As the World Turns
Michael Park as Jack Snyder on As the World Turns
James Scott as E.J. DiMera on Days of Our Lives

Outstanding Lead Actress
Sarah Brown as Claudia Zacchara on General Hospital
Crystal Chappell as Olivia Spencer on Guiding Light
Bobbie Eakes as Krystal Carey on All My Children
Michelle Stafford as Phyllis Newman on The Young and the Restless
Maura West as Carly Tenney on As the World Turns

Outstanding Supporting Actress
Beth Chamberlin, as Beth Raines Spaulding in Guiding Light
Julie Pinson as Janet Synder in As The World Turns
Carolyn Hennesy as Diane Miller in General Hospital
Arianne Zucker as Nicole Walker in Days Of Our Lives
Bree Williamson, as Jessica Brennan in One Life To Live

Outstanding Supporting Actor
Billy Miller, as Billy Abbott in The Young And The Restless
Bradford Anderson as Damien Spinelli in General Hospital
Jonathan Jackson as Lucky Spencer in General Hospital
Ricky Paull Goldin as Jake Martin in All My Children
Brian Kerwin as Charlie Banks in One Life To Live

Outstanding Younger Actress
Christel Khalil as Lily Winters in The Young And The Restless
Marnie Schulenburg as Alison Stewart in As The World Turns
Molly Burnett as Melanie Layton in Days Of Our Lives
Shelley Hennig as Stephanie Johnson in Days Of Our Lives
Julie Berman as Lulu Spencer in General Hospital

Outstanding Younger Actor
Drew Tyler Bell as Thomas Forrester in The Bold And The Beautiful
Drew Garrett as Michael Corinthos, Jr. in General Hospital
Dylan Patton as Will Horton in Days Of Our Lives
Scott Clifton as Schuyler Joplin in One Life To Live
Zack Conroy as James Spaulding in Guiding Light

Outstanding Talk Show: Entertainment
The Ellen Degeneres Show
Rachel Ray
Live with Regis and Kelly

Outstanding Talk Show Host
Bonnie Hunt on The Bonnie Hunt Show
Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa on Live with Regis and Kelly
Rachel Ray on Rachel Ray
Dr. Mehmet Oz on The Dr. Oz Show
Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Barbara Walters on The View

Outstanding Children’s Animated Program
Wordgirl (PBS)
The Backyardigans (Nickelodeon)
Curious George (PBS)
Sid The Science Kid (PBS)

Outstanding Children’s Series
Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman (PBS)
Design Squad (PBS)
The Electric Company (PBS)

Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show
Wheel Of Fortune
Jeopardy!
Cash Cab
The Price Is Right
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program
The People’s Court
Judge Judy
Cristina’s Court
Judge Pirro
Caso Cerrado

Outstanding Lifestyle Program
This Old House (PBS)
Clean House (The Style Network)
How Do I Look? (The Style Network)
Make: (PBS)
The Martha Stewart Show (Syndicated)

Outstanding Morning Program

Good Morning America (ABC)
Today Show (NBC)
CNN/American Morning (CNN)

Outstanding Talk Show / Informative
Dr. Phil
The Doctors
The Dr. Oz Show

Outstanding Game Show Host
Pat Sajak, Wheel Of Fortune
Alex Trebek, Jeopardy!
Ben Bailey, Cash Cab
Wayne Brady, Let’s Make A Deal
Carnie Wilson, The Newlywed Game

Outstanding Culinary Program
America’s Test Kitchen (PBS)
Gourmet’s Adventures With Ruth (PBS)
Giada At Home (Food)
Tyler’s Ultimate (Food)

Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host
Bobby Flay, Grill It! With Bobby Flay
Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa: Back To Basics
Paula Deen, Paula’s Best Dishes
Martha Stewart, The Martha Stewart Show
Giada De Laurentiis, Giada at Home

The product placement should grow up at the same time with the “Placement Planner”: the professional figure (adviser or agency) that studies any possible occasion for product placement, analyses, evalues and proposes them to his/her clients on the base of their profile, budget and aim. Well the bad news is that in Italy this does not happen as the Placement Planner does not exist. Really the chances to plan placements within shows, serials, movies, clips and videogames both in Italy as well abroad are concrete…it is only managed in quite an uncoordinated way, sometimes just supported by a PR activity or a few more. No structure is able to gather all the placement possibilities to propose them in a well-integrated planning of product placement that can use more productions as well more means. The other evening I was watching the Olympic Games and above all the curling game between Swiss and Danemark. Curling is a new and pleasant sport (a sort of bowling on ice): during the last edition in Turin many people have begun to appreciate this sport quite chic without being snob (as the Polo). Well I noticed two things during that game. The first is that there are quite a good number of updated fans; the other is that in a month there will be the World Men’s Curling Championship here in Italy… in Cortina to be precise. Unfortunately it is too late to think to exploit such an occasion to do some product placements; but if there had been a work of coordination, the organisers would have gathered funds not only through sponsorships but even through this channel. And the Companies would have been pleased….that night moreover, quite a quarter of an hour was dedicated to the make-up of the nice Danish athletes plus an unimprecise number os minutes to explain the technical equipment and more. An event, such as the World Championship, can be coonected to an incredible range of secondary initiatives, promotion activities and more, speaking in terms of placement big “windows” of great interest. I believe there will need time but the product placement will pass through the Planning Planner sooner or later.

As in other cases, the ways to be present with ones’ own brands are different. Considering the format of the event, the realities more interested can be those about products and brands of higher level that have the capacity and structure to develop supporting actions (before and after), with the aim to value at the best this operation beside real outsiders.

Nice place, nice event, nice products: the “rule of number three” has been respected.

 For years the new Realities have changed format and public. In Europe it is true that a few quite old titles still exist but the road towards the new generation of Shows has been opened somewhere else. Donald Trump, for example, after the great success (even in Europe) of “The apprentice” is realising a new project that will begin its shooting by the end of the month. The title is “ DONALD J. TRUMP’S FABULOUS WORLD OF GOLF” and it is about an exclusive golf tournament where Hollywood actors, singers and musicians, politicians, top managers and businessmen, several VIPs are taking part. With the typical American mentality, these characters should try to win and at the same time do two other things: Business & Charity. Business: it is quite known that on a golf field it is possible to make more affairs than during a board of directors.You can swear that Donald Trump will try his best to promote partnerships between movie producers and musicians for example, or between athletes and sponsors and so on, thus stimolating a sort of “brain storming” between one putt and the other (everything on line and under the eyes of millions of people). Then there is the other aspect, socially worthier and technically more innovative, charity. The cachet of the players and the final prize is fact will be given on charity. This is not the “Intelligent” TV but by sure the “interesting” one. And interesting it could be for that fashion Italian Company that will wear the coolest VIPs of the planet with its clothes, jewels or accessories. From now on this can be possible.

 There is one way really sure to test product placement and its efficacy: the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl, at the beginning of February, represents one of the most followed programmes not only in the USA but in all the world. A great occasion for lots of Celebrities (actors, musicians, trendsetters, Vips, journalists and buyers) to exploit this catwalk to consolidate their image in a frame that talks more about costumes and fashion than sports.

However all these ShowBiz Stars use to relax, before their public apperance, in a lounge room full of interesting objects, accessories, personal gifts, electronic gadgets, clothing, jewels, etc. All these products have to be worn during the SuperBowl, the TV reportages (E!, News Live, Extra Entertainment Tonight, Fox, etc.) and the press reports (US Weekly, Life& Style, Daily Variety, Enterteinment Weekly, LA Confidential, Hollywood Reporter etc). Both when the VIPs wear these obejcts only for fitting or really in public, it is allowed to take pictures and use them for ads or marketing strategies. It is really a unique occasion for all those brands that want to propose or re-propose themselves on the USA market. The lounge room tradition is really an old one and well appreciated by the Stars. In the last edition of the SuperBowl, there were important Vips such as Winona Rider, Samuel Jackson, Paris Hilton, Eva Longoria, Paula Abdul, Debra Messing, Jason Lee, Patrick Dempsey, Kate Walsh, Teri Hatcher and more.

 In “Sex and the City 2”, the new love of Samantha is Rikard, by Max Ryan, a charming 40 year-old actor that has already performed quite twenty movies (The League of Extraordinary gentlemen, Kiss of the Dragon, Death Race etc.), and in this period he is working on very important projects. He has just finished to perform “Dark Moon Rising”, “Fours Years Running”, “Blackline: The Beirut Contract” (all already in post-production) , while he is going to work in such execellent productions such as “Wall Street”, “The Rogue” and Double Fault”. He is engaged until 2012 under the lights of all the world, both for for the movies, on the set, on the red carpet, in a few talk-shows, in press conferences and vernissages to promote his work and productions. All this is quite interesting as the actor is available to valuate any proposal of Branding deal, product placement and celebrity seeding. Italian fashion and accessories Companies for Man should really consider this chance to have such a professional star, so charming and talented, for the next three years.

The big networks and the studios are trying to compensate the loss caused by the minor presence of the ads spots with product placement. Introducing the products directly within the show, you can avoid “flippering”, that provokes damages not only to the advertisers but even to the channel and the producers themselves thus lessening the fidelity of the public to the programme. It’s almost what’s happening in the music world. The selling out of records is diminishing, thus the managers of the groups and the singers have been thinking about a solution. Many have thought about product placement.

Gwen Stefani e Justin Timberlake for example, have a fashion collection on their own and wear it any time and this is an exceptional promotional way, maybe profitable as much as the records selling out. But Stephanie Savage tells something more and reveals a few techniques and interesting applications. A musician can sign a contract with a fashion Company in order to wear its own clothes and maybe exploit his/her image for ads (this is called Tie in), or can wear them only sometimes and be shooted by the press (Cameo) or once more make a fashion collection with his/her name (partnership).

All these examples should be divided into two big categories, “Inside the Show or Outside the Show”, that is during the concerts or the private life (that most of the time is public). The choices of the different kind of placement are planned by marketing strategies, depending on the budget, on the wish to monopolize more or less the same star or to the desire to be a little bit underground, something that the stylists still like.

If I were a European Fashion Company, interested in the USA market (or the Canadian, English and Japanese one), I would try to exploit this magazine without any doubt for two purposes: 

1. to offer my products for their shooting;

2. to consider a creative consultancy by their editors; 

The point 1. above all is common and it is called Celebrity Seeding and it has the purpose to offer the product to VIPs or important persons so that they use it in public to make famous and prestigious.

If the dynamic is correct and apt to somebody’s goal please write to paolo@placement-post.com