Product Placement comes to the UK
by Natalie Martin
Imagine it’s a Monday night and you’re sat on the sofa watching Coronation Street. Roy Cropper is cooking up 2 Walls sausages on Warburton’s bread with a dollop of Heinz ketchup for Steve McDonald. Normally we wouldn’t know which brands Roy uses in his cafe, nor see any brands at all on the street – except for fake ones like Newton & Ridley ale in the Rovers Returns! But this could soon be the future of your favourite soap thanks to the new ruling by the Government to allow product placement on UK television.
Product placement is a form of advertising that uses branded products or services placed in a context devoid of adverts – like a TV programme or a film. Previously the government had always denied commercial broadcasters the ability to take payment in return for placing products on screen; however earlier this year Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw announced that the Government would be allowing it for the first time in television programmes.
So why the U-turn?
Well allowing this form of advertising would provide huge commercial benefits to the TV industry that has been hard-hit by falling advertising revenues. Channel 4 recently announced that their year on year revenues for 2008-2009 were down by 10.5%. This suffering of commercial broadcasters has mainly been due to the recession and so product placement would prove to be huge revenue to the industry – some experts believe it could be worth as much as £125 million.
Product placement has been around for a while in US TV and films and according to Nielsen there were 117,976 individual placements across America’s top 11 TV channels in three months last year. Consumers in the UK are probably used to seeing the giant Coca-Cola cups sitting on the desk of the judging panel on American Idol or the Apple MacBook that Carrie Bradshaw uses to write her column in Sex and the City. The most famous example has to be in the film E.T in which E.T was seen munching Reese’s Pieces at the beginning of the movie. You may not know however that Spielberg originally wanted to use M & M’s but couldn’t secure the rights. Lucky for Hershey’s that they got in there instead!
So what does it hold for the future?
Critics who oppose product placement argue that it will jeopardise the integrity of UK programmes and insist that advertising and editorial content should be kept separated. However it could also be said that including branded products adds to the realism of the TV programme. Also, if we were to continue with falling advertising revenues then UK broadcasting would be jeopardised anyway as broadcasters would continue to be lacking in funds. It will also keep UK commercial broadcasting competitive since product placement is widespread in USA and across Europe; in fact, Denmark is now the only country in the European Union that does not allow it or even have plans to allow its introduction.
Media regulator Ofcom has laid down its regulations on this subject in order to stop any ethical concerns and have banned placement from children’s, news, consumer, religious and current affairs programming. There are also certain products that will be banned, including alcohol, medicines, tobacco and those products that are high in fat and sugar.
What does it mean for marketeers?
Well, product placement could be an effective way for broadcasters to generate revenue from the huge audiences available over the internet. More and more people are watching TV programmes online on video sharing websites, where adverts normally shown in the commercial break can be skipped. Watching TV programmes in this way means that the advertisers are losing out. For example, in last year’s series of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, contestant Susan Boyle’s famous clip was viewed over 100 million times on websites such as Youtube.com. If product placement was allowed and a brand had paid for their product to be placed on set then ITV could have charged a stepped fee to that brand based on the number of views that the clip received.
Some broadcasters are taking product placement even further and are launching brands specially made for a programme. In Latin America, NBC has teamed up with Telemundo’s prime-time soap operas called telenovas, including “El Clon” (The Clone) and “Donde Esta Elisa?” (Where Is Elisa?). Now viewers can buy the Telemundo jewellery that they see their favourite characters wear via a specially launched website Telemundojewelry.com. The range includes bracelets, necklaces, rings and earrings and will also be available to buy in retail stores later this year.
The popular teen drama 90210 will also be used by CBS and Bebe stores to launch a branded clothing line called “Bebe for 90210”. The new line will launch in conjunction with new episodes of the third season this autumn and includes styles worn by various characters in the show along with products inspired by the series. The collection will include dresses, tops, bottoms and accessories, which will be available to buy online and in store.
Some may argue that this type of product placement is taking it a step too far and will affect the integrity of the programmes. Is the show ruled by the gripping storyline or the advertising revenue? It’s also certainly questionable whether advertisers are taking advantage of viewer’s dedication to a show and their love for the characters. Others could simply argue that it is just clever advertising and is no different to celebrities endorsing products in their everyday life. You don’t think Kate Moss or Victoria Beckham buy their own Chanel or Fendi bags do you?
Tags: American Idol, Apple MacBook, Bebe, Bebe for 90210, Ben Bradshaw, Britain's Got Talent, Carrie Bradshaw, CBS, Channel 4, Coca-cola, Coronation Street, Digital Agency, Digital Marketing, Direct Marketing Agency, E.T, Manchester Advertising Agency, Manchester Marketing Agency, Marketing Agency, NBC, Nielsen, Ofcom, Product Placement Marketing, Reese’s Pieces, SEO Company, Sex and the City, Susan Boyle, Telemundo, Telemundojewelry.com, Youtube
