The Homa Files

No it’s not a coincidence.

It’s called “product placement”.

Back about 25 years ago, I was at Black & Decker and my marketing team was on the leading edge of product placements – paying to get our stuff into TV shows and movies.

Our big score was getting Marty to ogle over a Dustbuster in Back to the Future – Part 2.

Now, is iit just me, or is product placement out of control?

ABC, NBC and IFC are taking product placements up a notch in their prime time network shows.

Here are some examples …

Ford has launched a new integrated effort along with the return of Smash on NBC.

Ford featured its significantly redesigned new Fusion mid-size sedan in an ad on YouTube that wrapped real people into the action created by a flash-mob style troupe of dancers and singers who suddenly appeared, swirling around the car and the unsuspecting tire-kickers.

On ABC’s The Middle this week, the episode was practically an ode to two brands: iPad and Red Lobster.

The youngest child pines and pesters for an iPad until his parents finally relent and buy him a restored model on eBay.

Until they do, a huge chunk of the script is devoted to Brick’s description of the wonders of the iPad.

Much of the rest of the story depicts the family at a Red Lobster, naming the restaurant repeatedly and including a shot of a juicy lobster.

Meanwhile, another clever bit of in-show brande integration is Geico’s tie-in with IFC’s hipster comedy, Portlandia.

The commercial — dubbed “Piglandia” — looks a lot like the show while introducing Geico’s Maxwell the pig character. 

The goal for Piglandia was simply to stand out in a cluttered insurance marketplace and create something that people could relate to and find entertaining.

IFC is also kicking-off a new in-show integration with Virgin America.

Scenes of the sketch were shot aboard a Virgin America plane at Portland International Airport using real-life Virgin America flight attendants. 

IFC is always looking for ways to reach like-minded consumers in unexpected ways and Virgin America was the perfect partner.  A cool show, a great airline, and a unique city all benefitted.

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Excerpted from brandchannel.com’s, “ABC, NBC, and IFC Push Boundaries of In-Show Brand Integration”

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This entry was posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:59 am and is filed under Black & Decker, Mktg - Product placement, Mktg - Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.