Beyond Product Placement
What would I do without MediaPost? This morning I read Erik Sass's article about a MediaVest panel discussing the future of product placement.
It became abundantly clear that editorial staff still have not quite got their head around where branding can be integrated into content. They seem to think that the only way one can conceivably 'place' a product is by writing a glowing article about the benefits of some new-fangled broom. They appeared to be universally opposed to it.
Eric Bader from MediaVest -not a writer, himself- was initially the lone voice of dissent. "There is absolutely a role for brands and advertisers in print content... We've all seen bad examples of brand integration in story lines and content where it's ham fisted and not very natural..." He gones on to talk about an integration where the end user does not just consume the content, but acts on it.
It is this 'Activation' that will ultimately take the place of clunky product placement. Incorporating appropriate brands into an appropriate content experience, rather than generating content around a specific product.
And low and behold there was apparently a turnaround of opinions from the staunchly opposed fourth estate types. The internet was brought up as an ideal environment for an 'Activation' approach, ESPN gave some examples of content that was co-created with Agencies, etc.
See... Clearly I agree with Eric from MediaVest. That is not the point of this post. The point is that it will always be advertising that drives innovation in any mediascape. It was advertising that led to colour printing, it was advertising that led to the first gloss magazines and it will be advertising that drives the seamless integration of branding and content in an online space. Much of the print industry is staring death in the face due to a rapidly changing media marketplace and they are still thinking like it is the 1950s and Betty Crocker has personally asked them to shill her latest cake mix.
Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell's intended purpose for the telephone was to play classical music down the line to a remote audience? Sometimes creators are too close to their creation to get any sense of perspective. And that is where those of us that are in the business of spruiking new-fangled brooms come in.
It became abundantly clear that editorial staff still have not quite got their head around where branding can be integrated into content. They seem to think that the only way one can conceivably 'place' a product is by writing a glowing article about the benefits of some new-fangled broom. They appeared to be universally opposed to it.
Eric Bader from MediaVest -not a writer, himself- was initially the lone voice of dissent. "There is absolutely a role for brands and advertisers in print content... We've all seen bad examples of brand integration in story lines and content where it's ham fisted and not very natural..." He gones on to talk about an integration where the end user does not just consume the content, but acts on it.
It is this 'Activation' that will ultimately take the place of clunky product placement. Incorporating appropriate brands into an appropriate content experience, rather than generating content around a specific product.
And low and behold there was apparently a turnaround of opinions from the staunchly opposed fourth estate types. The internet was brought up as an ideal environment for an 'Activation' approach, ESPN gave some examples of content that was co-created with Agencies, etc.
See... Clearly I agree with Eric from MediaVest. That is not the point of this post. The point is that it will always be advertising that drives innovation in any mediascape. It was advertising that led to colour printing, it was advertising that led to the first gloss magazines and it will be advertising that drives the seamless integration of branding and content in an online space. Much of the print industry is staring death in the face due to a rapidly changing media marketplace and they are still thinking like it is the 1950s and Betty Crocker has personally asked them to shill her latest cake mix.
Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell's intended purpose for the telephone was to play classical music down the line to a remote audience? Sometimes creators are too close to their creation to get any sense of perspective. And that is where those of us that are in the business of spruiking new-fangled brooms come in.
posted by Gordon White at 4:05 pm
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