There have been a lot of column inches recently on the practice of product placement - its value, its credibility, its legality and its legitimacy.
When it works, product placement can do wonders for a brand. When products are placed well, when they complement the programme environment and when they enhance the viewer offering then everyone is happy: happy viewers (they get to watch quality shows), happy TV channels (they didn't have to pay too much for the show and have happy viewers), happy TV producers (they could afford to produce their show) happy advertisers, happy agencies, I could go on.
When done badly, or when it's too obvious, it makes you switch channels.
Who's happy in this scenario? Other TV channels and your competitors mainly.
A large number of studies carried out by media agencies all point to the diminishing attention being placed on commercial breaks as against the increased awareness and recall of brands appearing within TV shows.
Surely, therefore, if treated correctly and measured with more traditional media yardsticks or by way of product sales, then advertisers should be happy to pay a premium against the norm. Easy,tiger!
The TV industry welcomes product placement with open arms. Offering the ability to place products in relevant settings opens up the medium to new brands which, hitherto, I would argue, would never have considered advertising on the box. This should also be viewed in light of the fact that more digital set-top boxes are being produced that automatically erase ad breaks thereby potentially making the TV commercial redundant.
Remember also that product placement doesn't simply help advertisers shift product and media owners increase their belt sizes. As TV channels continue to squeeze their programme acquisition budgets in the face of increasing competition, programme producers need to source new and inventive ways of funding their shows and maintaining quality levels. Throughout Asia, other traditional forms of revenues available to production companies such as the sell-through market to video/DVD still remain non-existent due to rampant piracy.
Product placement is with us to stay and it's not going away. Everywhere you look - be it on TV, in the cinema, inside music videos and within sports features - there's always going to be someone, somewhere trying to sell you something. So let's treat it as it should be treated, as a well thought out, planned and executed media buy, evaluated the same way and treated the same way. Everyone wins. Everyone's happy. Well, maybe everyone except Carrie, who needs a new pair of shoes.