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Advertising Product Placement

Watch this space: When will brand integration finally take off?

By Doug Zanger, America's Editor

October 19, 2018 | 7 min read

Back in 1982, Reese’s Pieces and ET changed the game when it came to product placement. But with streaming services offering advertisers ever more opportunities and Netflix’s Stranger Things carving out its own place in the product pantheon, but when are we really likely to see brand integration become the norm rather than the exception?

In the history of brand integration, there are a few ‘gold standards’ that come to mind when talking to industry professionals. The first, which always seems to be on lists, is the Reese’s Pieces integration in Stephen Spielberg’s classic ET. As the story goes, M&M’s maker Mars passed on the opportunity and Hershey’s snapped it up, agreeing to spend $1m promoting the film in exchange for using ET in its ads. Hershey’s tripled sales of the new product and the investment was estimated to have resulted in $15-$20m worth of brand promotion.

There are other iconic integrations. Aston Martin and Heineken with James Bond (though many other automotive brands have been part of the franchise); Mini in The Italian Job; FedEx and Wilson in Cast Away; Ray-Ban in Risky Business; Nike in What Women Want. The list is long and distinguished and, today, brand integration is arguably more critical than ever as behaviors and consumption habits change – especially in television as streaming continues to gain momentum.

According to research by Morning Consult, as of October 2017 in the US 32% of respondents were using streaming services more than traditional TV, and 14% were watching traditional TV and streaming about the same amount. Amazon Video has seen an uptick in subscribers to 64 million in the US (up from 48 million in 2016) and is expected to reach 94 million by 2022, according to Digital TV Research. Netflix has seen substantial growth, with more than 109 million worldwide subscribers – up from around 23 million at the end of 2011.

Continued growth in this space presents a unique challenge, as well as opportunities, for brands. One Netflix show in particular, the highly popular Stranger Things, seems to be next in line to carve out its place in the brand integration pantheon.

“We did more than 5,000 [integrations] last year, [which is] about 14 a day, and one that stands out is Stranger Things,” says Greg Isaacs, chief product and marketing officer at Branded Entertainment Network (BEN).

Indeed, when discussing the show, a conversation around Kellogg’s Eggo brand is sure to be among the first mentioned.

“I just thought that was such a pivotal part of [Stranger Things character] Eleven’s storyline, with her finding something of comfort,” says prop master Scott Bauer, a 20-year Hollywood veteran. “It was a brilliant piece of storytelling and product integration.”

Eggos aside, the show is proving that brands offer a savvy way in which to make an impact – Stranger Things has done impressive hookups with legacy brands that tap into its1980s vibe, such as Oreo, KFC and Reebok.

“There was a scene at a dinner table where four of the characters were talking,” says Isaacs, “and the KFC bucket, it was just sitting in the middle of the table for over two-and-a-half minutes. And not only was it sitting there, at the end the characters, and I’m paraphrasing, but they essentially said, ‘Wow, this is finger-licking good.’ That is extremely hard to do, and so authentic.”

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Being authentic matters more than ever

Authenticity is a critical component of brand integration and one that relies on a great deal of trust between brands and creators. To the brands, there is an expectation that the product will have prominence. To creators, including producers, showrunners, prop masters and transportation on productions, having brands involved helps create a more effective and authentic story.

“One of the toughest things for brands to understand when integrating their products into stories is that their brand actually can’t be front and center. If it is, the audience trusts the story less. If it’s integrated seamlessly, then the audience doesn’t care, because they’re being entertained,” says Lesley Chilcott, producer, and director of films like An Inconvenient Truth and It Might Get Loud.

“Forcing an integration where it feels and looks unnatural can seriously backfire,” adds Pattie Falch, brand director, Heineken sponsorships and events. “Content integration is not an opportunity to create a commercial — it’s about finding authentic moments that enhance the story, and the brand plays a big role in bringing those moments to life.”

The danger of? Making a viewer hop out of their comfort zone to feel as though they have to pay attention to a brand, versus the story itself, is borne out in how audiences think about advertising in general.

“One of the things we’ve seen consistently, in the research we do, is that audiences prefer integration over interruption, by massive percentages,” says Aaron Frank, vice-president of strategy and insights at BEN. “When it’s done in an authentic manner, where it’s aligned with the characters and advancing the storyline, audiences say they don’t mind that it’s there. When it feels like a commercial in the show, it turns [audiences] off. The best marketers want to create an emotional connection between the product and the audience, their customers.”

“That’s where the art comes into this whole business,” adds Isaacs.

No longer a ‘nice to have’

With the continued momentum of content creation (there was $17bn disclosed in new content creation across Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, Apple and Facebook), especially among platforms that don’t necessarily deal in traditional advertising, there are ample opportunities for brands to get on the bandwagon relatively early.

“With a 30-minute episode, whether it’s on streaming or broadcast, if you think about just how many different scenes there are, and characters, and opportunities for brands, it’s a tremendous amount. You can watch a 30-minute episode, and there might be 20 brands in there,” says Isaacs. “We did an analysis where only about 1.5%-2% of arguable impressions are being utilized today for integration. That leaves 98% available.”

Marketers continue to look for places to make an impact and, according to Isaacs, streaming audiences will be larger than broadcast. Additionally, the fact that, for the most part, brands can’t advertise in traditional ways illustrates the opportunity afforded in brand integration. Also, increasingly sophisticated measurement signals a potentially safe place for brands to dig in.

Taking a test-and-learn approach, like traditional advertising, is becoming more frequent in the integration space and improved measurement is critical for its prospects.

“We now understand the impact of these integrations on some base-marketing KPIs,” says Frank. “Whether that’s awareness of the brand, consideration or purchase intent, we’re able to do studies that give a real sense of the impact and effectiveness of integrations on audiences. That’s what marketers want — to be able to understand if they are making the right investment, and if it’s turning into ROI for them.”

With an ever-expanding playing field and content progressing at a staggering rate, in Isaac’s mind this could very well become another ‘golden moment’ for the combined power of brands and entertainment.

“Brands used to think about integration as a ‘nice to have’ or a one-off,” he says. “Today, they’re viewing them as campaigns, which means they’re in for the longer haul. I think 2018 is the year that brand integration will become a necessity.”\

This feature was first published in The Drum's February issue, the Future of TV.

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