A few days ago on the home page of Corriere.it there was written that during the whole summer period no channel would have planned new seasons or new formats. The same on cineblog, that complains about the lack of commercial programmes in the Italian movies. After a few experimental seaons with real up and down blockbusters during the summer, it has been decided to get back to the past. In both cases there was a sort of blaming notice though I do not agree. The summer Italian season has often offered excellent opportunities. In the last two years, on RAI there are good comedies from Bollywood (that this blog always appreciates and supports), as on other channels there are “no-commercial” programmes though appreciated by many such as the old Italian comedies, the nouvelle vague, the shorts, etc. With the arrival of the digital channels this trend has becoming a sort of model to imitate and consolidate. The cinemas at the open air do the rest while proposing the movies of the last winter season, the winners of the great international prizes by quality and/or independent movies, those in original language, the classical ones, and so on. The Italian road to the summer entertainment is an excellent occasion… let’s hope someone realise this !

Despite Lollapaloosa being the oldest and most popular rock festival in the world, for sure it is the most dynamic. A few days ago the news about an agreement with GOTV for the distribution of the event even through its syindicate. Go Tv is an intelligent producer of media contents dedicated to electronics (mobiles, iPad, etc), and despite being the most qualified in its sector, for me it represents the future of the entertainment. However the agreement with Lollapaloosa comprehends three options. The first, called “Branded Video Content”, allows the sponsorship of 15 videos by Lollapaloosa in which it is possible to integrate the istitutional video of the brand sponsor. The second option is the “Sponsored Channel Takeover” where it is possible to create a channel dedicated to the sponsor through which distribute 35 videos of the event. The third chance is “Silver Package”, it allows a great visibility “on stage” and more then 50 videos distributed with the brand integration of the sponsor.

If you allow, I would suggest you to take your time to study the website and the GO TV proposal. I speak withou any personal interest (unfortunately!)

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.

During the next fall-winter TV season the Americans will watch the first season of “Chase”, the story of a marshall from Texas, specialized in chasing fugitives escaped from prison. Besides the plot (which seems to be interesting), there are other elements that make us understand the quality of the project. For example the producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, the man who more than others has realised one success after the other, such as the “CSI” (Las Vegas, New York, Miami), “Cold Case”, “without any trace” and many others. Another aspect is the distribution. For the first time with this project, Bruckheimer has been able to sell his product to NBC. A logical choice after so many successful serials for just one channel as CBS (“Dark Blue” and “The Whole Truth” for example). Meaningful for the Americans is even the title of the serial: Richard Chase infact was known as “the vampire from Sacramento”, a horrible serial killer that in few months killed 6 persons, drinking their blood and eating their bodies. Thankfully now there will be Jesse Metcalf, the main character, to free us from such concerns.

Let’s talk again about next TV season in the States to see what’s news. Let’s start from the first season of Mr Sunshine, with the coming back of Matthew Perry. Even if he has worked a lot after “Friends” (even as producer and playwright), it is quite sure that the sit-com genre is more suitable to the unforgettable Chandler. In the new project, produced by the trustful Greenlighted, he is quite a normal 40-years businessman at the San Diego Stadium that begins to think about his life. At his side the nice and beautiful Andrea Anders (Better of Ted, The Class, Joey…), the quite famous Allison Janney (154 episodes in The West Wing) and Nate Torrence (a young character actor). As other new serials, the mood of this production is light but no trivial, as it proposes a sort of revisitation os some life values, with nice and light spots. The set is New York and the shooting will begin in 3 weeks. You have really a few time.

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

You don’t hear talking about “iCarly” very often among marketing managers. On the contrary teen-agers do. A video, among the many present on youtube, has got more than 13 millions of visits, but it isn’t so difficult to find others with such numbers. In Italy it is on Nickelodeon and gets lots of fans. Its website works seriously: the blog is very popular, the visitors are many and the sell-out of its soundtrack is optimum. The story is about a young girl from Seattle that becomes a web star thanks to a web-casting. The production is sober but with taste, good dialogues, nice rhythm and nice actors. Nothing new or experimental but it has the advantage to be always updated. The plot, the speeches, the actors’ look and the set have a perfect equilibrium between what there was (and we are fed up) and what will be (not too much in advance). In a few days in the Los Angeles Studios the 4^th season will start to be shot. 26 episodes already on programme are really a lot in comparison to other web serials. Good sign of a consolidated success on one side and of a good economic rendering for the production on the other. For placement activity it is important to go on now. The products interested are those connected to teen-agers between 12 and 17 years old.

Very soon you will pay to shoot in New York a movie, a serial, a show or just a spot. The major Blooberg told this officially sometime ago during a meeting with The Hollywood Studios, the ads Agencies and the Show Workmen Union. For the Big Apple and the United States it is an important turning point from a normative as well economic point of view. The amount is quite a symbol, 300 dollars una tantum that the productions of serials and movies should pay at the beginning of the season and before the setting of the location, regardless of the hours and the days to spend in New York.

Obviously the “once-fee movie” will be required just in case of public occupation of the ground, that this year will regard about 3000 productions. To manage the operations will be the “Film Office”, born in 1966 to promote the city, became the city-placement case of the world movie story (maybe together with Bombay).

Different and more articolated is the case of the Movie Commission in Italy and Europe, an instrument of management, promotion and incoming, run with no coordination at all. On the other side of the Ocean, the Show Businessmen bet that just Los Angeles and Las Vegas will survive. The economies of the two cities are so independent from the Show world to make fun with the producers humor that would find much more convenient to move the productions and the investments in other districts, such as Vancouver, quite often employed, or Bollywood, where Spielberg has bee working for a year.

An interesting datum that maybe is known only throughout the specialized market is that in the United States there is a huge market called “Italian Sounding” where lots of products coming from everywhere are presented as “Italian”. This fraud costs about 50 billions of euros. An example: last year while I was in New York I wanted to eat “pasta with pesto”; I went to buy some “Italian pesto” in a very famous gastronomy to realise reading the back label that it came from Chile.

Now, to regain this money there are a few solutions. One is to promote the wine and food products through TV productions dedicated to high level cuisine. Few times ago we talked about Martha Stewart, but we have to quote even “The Rocco Show”, of which I want to talk more in a future post….and the “America’s Next Great Restaurant”. A mix between a serial and a reality in which a group of future chefs get in competition to obtain the funding to realise their dream. The shootings will begin in a month and the anchorman will be chef Bobby Flay. In each episode there will be different locations to place the products, that will be managed not only in a professional contest but from a professional point of view. One month is enough to plan….

An interesting news that is going around these days is worth our attention. Even if the interested people do not know or pretend not to know anything about, it is almost sure that Microsoft and Peter Chernin (ex Chairman of News Corp, founded and managed by Rupert Murdoch) are thinking about a new TV channel for the Xbox owners. At the beginning the cost of the subscription will be almost nothing , one or two dollars maximum and it will allow to the subscribers to download updating videogames, or shows and entertainment programmes for which Fox and Twentieth Century have been reaching an agreement.

Such a novelty is interesting from a mediatic and technological point of view, as well as to fight the wild downloading through the very low cost of the subscription. Important subjects I want to talk about in the future. But this blog is connected to product placement and this is what I want to speak about. It’s well-known that a good market of the placement belongs to videogames; the banners along the cars and motorcicles circuit are with fees, as well the verbal mention and the hands on the famous people, not to speak about the brand integration operations.

At the beginning the planners and the marketing managers claimed that the audience of these products was young or very young. Maybe once but not nowadays: the first generations have grown up employing the products and with them lots of young and less young people. To think this are even Microsoft and Chernin that otherwise would have never substained such a huge investment as the creation of a new channel.

Even the agreement with Fox is an important signal of great ambitions. This background will for sure influence the price list of placement. The videogames will get a greater public and distribution, without mentioning the Tv spin-off (now that there is a dedicated channel) and other possible co-marketing operations. In terms of placement, the videogame has becoming a more consolidated channel, improving its nature.

It was the same Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), during the New York Auto Show in the Big Apple in these days, to disclose that its cars will appear in the sequel of Sex & the City. And the reasons are very simple. “It’s a feminine movie and actually one of the most important targets”. “Besides”, has added the marketing dept, “the investment has not been superior to the organisation of a series of events that would not have reached such an incredible number of persons”, maybe neither with the same efficacy and prestige we can add.Moreover this will be the first of a numbers of placement in TV (reality and sitcom we do not know any details), besides the sponsorship of the next US Open Tennis in New York (Flushing Meadows) during the summer. Their project is to have “the major visibility in terms of product placement with respect to any other luxury cars in the world”. This will be the occasion to present new models as hydrogen O emission ones or the new Class E.

About one month ago, the second season of Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami has been announced and the race to the product placements has begun. For those who do not know the serial, appeared for the first time on channel “E” in August 2009, is a spin off of the reality “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, always on “E!” since October 2007 about the events of the famous boutique .

Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami is a spin-off in any sense, as it relates the story of two sisters, owners of the boutique (Kim Kardashian), who decide to open another one D-A-S-H in Miami. The girls live confortably, waiting for a definitive accomodation, for example they live at the Bentley Beach Hotel from which they record even the programme and for what concerns “cool things do to” they are really professional.

The announcement of the second season has astonished no one, if we consider the big success obtained by its début. For the moment 10 new episodes of thirty minutes have been promoted, enough to “anticipate” a third season by the end of this year. The Show is perfect for any fashion and design products that want to be noticed in the programme and in the channel most in of our way of life.