Embedded marketing

Product placement, Placement Promotion or embedded marketing, is according to Business Dictionary, "an advertising technique used by companies to subtly promote their products through a non-traditional advertising technique, usually through appearances in film, television, or other media."

Product placement stands out as a marketing strategy because it is the most direct attempt to derive commercial benefit from "the context and environment within which the product is displayed or used". The technique can be beneficial for viewers, since interruptive advertising removes them from the entertainment.

In April 2006, Broadcasting & Cable reported, "Two thirds of advertisers employ 'branded entertainment'—product placement, brand integration—with the vast majority of that (80%) in commercial TV programming." It said, "Reasons for using in-show plugs varied from 'stronger emotional connection' to better dovetailing with relevant content, to targeting a specific group."

According to PQ Media, a consulting firm that tracks alternative media spending, 2014 product placement expenditures were estimated at $10.58 billion, rising 13.6% year-over-year and global branded entertainment growth is now at $73.27 billion. The firm noted that brand marketers are seeking improved methods to engage younger audiences used to ad-skipping and on-demand media usage, and branded entertainment provides omnichannel possibilities to more effectively engage post-boomers, particularly Millennials and iGens. A major growth driver is the increasing use of digital video recorders (DVR), which enable viewers to skip advertisements that interrupt a show.

Product placement began in the nineteenth century. By the time Jules Verne published the adventure novel Around the World in Eighty Days (1873), his fame had led transport and shipping companies to lobby to be mentioned in the story. Whether Verne was actually paid to do so, however, remains unknown. Similarly, a painting by Eduoard Manet (1881-1882) shows bar at Folies Bergere with distinctive bottles placed at either end of the counter. The beer bottle is immediately recognisable as Bass beer. Manet's motivations for including branded products in his painting are unknown; it may be that it simply added to the work's authenticity, but on the other hand the artist may have received some payment in return for its inclusion.

Research reported by Jean-Marc Lehu (2007) suggests that films produced by Auguste and Louis Lumiere in 1876, were made at the request of a representative of Lever Brothers in France, and which feature Sunlight soap, may be the first recorded instance of paid product placement in film. This led to cinema becoming one of the earliest channels used for product placement.

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Wikipedia