These days, I’ve begun to savour my cinematic experiences with salty popcorn, a fizzy soft drink and a smidgeon of Direct Marketing.
Advertising to the masses through product placement in movies, as well as television, is nothing new. With existing and emerging digital technologies, there are now opportunities to actually target product placement advertising country by country, region by region. Not exactly Direct Marketing at its purest, but with the targeting capabilities made possible by digital magic, it’s close enough to get my Direct Marketing brain buzzing.
Add to that the digital product placement experiments in-game play that engage prospects, capture individual data and actually sell something online within the viewing experience. Plus at least one online site that features short films with a “brand layer” option that can lead to an immediate product sale … well, it makes my Direct Marketing heart go all a-Twitter. (Please forgive me.) Now let’s back up a bit. Allow me to give you a fictitious example of “basic” digital product placement.
The 1954 version of “A Star is Born” (There were three versions, the worst of which was the third, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson). ’54 starred Judy Garland and James Mason, which is now considered a classic (though a flop in its time). So let’s go with ’54.
Never mind the plot. There’s a scene where to-be couple Esther (Garland) and Norman (Mason) are talking about their personal idiosyncrasies.
Esther says, “Do you know the only thing I can think of right now? The only thought that comes into my mind is the way I wash my hair. You see, when anything happens to me good or bad, I make straight for the shampoo bottle. Why would I have to think of that now?” 
Well, Esther, maybe you were seeing the future. She in fact shampoos her hair later in the movie, in front of a shelf of shampoo products on her bathroom vanity mirror. And today, any number of shampoo brands (that ideally existed in 1954) could digitally replace one of them.
Now imagine you are a Brand Manager in your country and are offered a similar digital product placement opportunity in an upcoming potential blockbuster, say, the next Bond movie. But you want the placement, along with accompanying promotions and ad campaign, to be seen only by your country’s audiences. No problem. Assuming the placement makes sense within the context of the scene and story, it’s a matter of distributional child’s play.
A website called Freshen Me Up (www.freshenmeup.com) informed me about the two other digital product placement examples I mentioned earlier. The site posted news about a platform called “Flooded” which offers short films co-financed by a variety of brands. When viewers turn on the “brand layer” function during the film, icons appear on brands featured in the scene. Action will pause to allow the viewer to click-thru to a page within the site for more information about the brand.
Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 4 allows gamers to link through to Amazon to purchase any number of songs listened to by the character as he drives around causing his usual mayhem and destruction. Entertainment purists may cry “foul” at all of this – and more – that will undoubtedly grace our future. Considering the engagement advantages for marketers, and ultimately, the targeted, one-on-one interactive selling opportunities, I say bring it on. Keep it optional if you must, but give me my welcomed addition to popcorn and a fizzy drink.
By Kurt Crocker,
Creative Director Drayton Bird, Crocker & Mano Sdn Bhd (DBC&M)