Product Placement

When looking at the world of advertisement through the media, I have always been interested in how the subtle things can affect potential consumers. How things as small as moving an item from the bottom shelf to the top shelf can impact sales. From movies, to television shows, to simply walking in a grocery store, we are being influenced by the media through product placements. There is not a day where product placement does not influence our choices amongst brands in the market. These are examples of strategic placements of items to influence consumers to hopefully initiate a purchase.

As a young girl, I loved watching iCarly on Nickelodeon. What I noticed even at a young age were pears on the electronic equipment in the show. Not just that show, but all Nickelodeon show’s where characters had cell phones or laptops, they had a pear on them. Now, this wouldn’t be noticeable if the design wasn’t strikingly similar to the Apple logo. The cellphone design, the computer, the resemblance between the well-known Apple products and the Nickolodeon Pear products were hard to miss. Although this was used as a parody of the iconic Apple products, I think this decision was largely due to product placement. Having Nickelodeon use Apple products would essentially have Nickelodeon advertise the use of their products which would influence the audience. With the majority of the audience members being under the age of 18, it would be better to limit the use of actual products within their shows that could influence the audience. This is my opinion, but I do feel that product placement does have that big of an influence especially for minors. Seeing their favorite actor using an iPhone, suddenly feel the need to have an iPhone as well.

When looking at reality shows, especially ones where the actors are living in a house, I have seen many times where house hold products or shirt brand logo have been blurred out. This is because products do not want to be associated as a sponsor or a paid advertisement for the show. Do to the nature of reality television and the possibility of spontaneous situations, some companies do not want to risk their reputation with reality television. This again is due to the powerful influence that product placement. Both examples show that product placement has the power to sell. That is the root of all advertisement to sell a product and just as easy a good product placement can sell a product; bad placement can hurt the marketabilty of a product as well.

When looking at other example of product placement, I think of the movie theatre. As soon as you walk in you are bombarded with brands. You see freshly popped popcorn on an add with a huge cup of Coca-Cola and suddenly you think how that Coke would take good after eating popcorn. Even at the grocery store, have you ever wondered why drinks and snacks always seem to line the registers? In hopes to spark a purchase. The placement of those products is to generate a second though before making all your purchases that you might need to grab some gum before you leave the grocery store. It is as if we have triggers in our brain that go off at the site of brand names. You see a Coke bottle and suddenly you are thirsty, you see the McDonald’s golden arches and a Big Mac sounds pretty satisfying. Companies play on this when they create their advertisements. We see these brands everyday walking down the street, on our phones, even on elevators. We cannot escape the power of product placement. Company’s use this power to their advantage by putting items in locations where we see them, or make them more marketable so when it is time to make a purchase we know the “right” choice. Generally speaking when people crave a dark soda their mind automatically jumps to Coke not Mr. Pibb necessarily. This is primarily because the product placement of Coke is so far in the foreground that it can overshadow other companies that make similar products.

Now jumping from literal product placement, we start to look a real-world product placement. This isn’t simply putting an item out for display, its pushing it in an audience and watching it begin to buzz. The simple act of seeing a person (especially attractive) with a new or different item or product catches people’s attention. Strangers might ask questions and become interested in the product for themselves simply because they saw someone with the product. This can be seen with a new drink for purchase at a bar. Marketing would hire a select number of physically attractive actors to create “buzz” by sitting or standing around the bar holding the drink. They aren’t wearing the bars logo on their shirt or telling people to buy the drink, they just hold the drink. This creates an avenue for potential consumers to ask the actors question about the drink. These are some of tactics it takes to sell  a product.

Again, product placement is so important because it has the power to influence a consumer to buy a product. When one consumer sees that another has purchased a product now they are curious about this purchase and maybe more inclined to purchase. It is all ripple effect that starts with where your product is place.

Overall, this is probably one of the most influential aspects of advertising and marketing today. It isn’t always how much money you spend on prime-time commercials or getting a huge billboard over the highway it’s just about putting your item in a place to be seen by the right audience. That is what creates sells, people buying your product and regardless of how amazing a commercial is, if you show a televised commercial targeted for teens during a time when most that audience is in school your product was not well placed. Having the ability to understand what your audience needs not what they want is what is important in the business of selling.