PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN MOVIES: UNDERSTANDING AND CRITICALLY REVIEWING

PRESENTED BY MUKTA YADAV BINITA KUMARI

DEFINITION
Product placement or product integration refers to the practice of including a brand name, product, package, signage or other trademark merchandise within a motion picture, television or other media vehicles for increasing the recall of the brand and for the instant recognition at Volkswagen Beetle launched in India in Dec 2009, CNBC TV 18 the point of purchase.

NATURE OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Implicit PPL: An implicit PPL is one where the brand, the firm or the product is present within the program without being formally mentioned. It plays a passive, contextual role. In the implicit PPL the logo, the brand name, or the name of the firm appear without a clear demonstration of product benefits.

 Integrated Explicit PPL: a PPL is explicit whenever the brand or the firm is formally mentioned within the program; it plays an active role. In this type of PPL the attributes and benefits of the product are clearly demonstrated.

 Non Integrated explicit PPL: is one where the brand or the firm is formally expressed but is not integrated within the contents of the program. The sponsor name may be presented at the beginning, middle or end of the program, or it may be part of the program title.

MOVIES WITH RESPECTIVE PPL

MOVIE DDLJ (1995); clip length 2.05 min Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000); clip length 1.37 min Taal (1998); clip length 1.23 min Rajneeti (2010); entire movie PRODUCT/BRAND Stroh s beer TYPE OF PPL Integrated explicit Integrated implicit (not mentioned verbally) Integrated implicit Non integrated explicit SITUATION Central character is desperately seeking the product, comic situation Star uses the product showcasing the maneuverability and speed

HYUNDAI Santro

Coca Cola

Main stars share it, it s shown to be picked from tray of different soft drinks Thanking govt. of MP and Noor-us-Sabah Palace hotel, Jahan Numa Hotel, Oriental College Bhopal

MP Tourism

Source: Effectiveness of product placements in Indian films and its effects on brand memory and attitude with special reference to Hindi films, Prof Tapan K Panda IIM Kozhikode

 Russel 1998, classified PPL in three dimensions:

Visual (screen placement) Auditory (script placement) Plot connection Appearance of brand on screen Brand being mentioned in a dialogue Degree to which brand is integrated in the plot of story

WHY FIRMS DO IT?

SENSORY ADDAPTATION TO TRADITIONAL MEDIA PLATFORMS Ads have become so pervasive they re almost like wallpaper. People tend to block them out. COST The ever-increasing cost of broadcast advertising. TECHNOLOGY TiVo (service) and DVR , zipping and zapping

 Product placement offers companies an enticing alternative method of reaching the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of the viewing public. When people watch ads, they automatically doubt their validity. But when people are following the story line of a movie or TV show employing product placement, they re not counter-arguing in the same way they would if they were watching an ad. Product placement proponents say that audiences with an affinity toward certain characters may be more apt to purchase products that these characters use in movies and on TV.

IS IT EFFECTIVE?

EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT The iconic example of Reese s Pieces in E.T. suggests it can be highly effective. BUT . Product placement will only work if the target audience perceives it as authentic, and it is seamlessly integrated into the medium.

 The high recall, recognition and positive attitude scores suggest that brand managers seriously look at product placements in movies as a new vehicle for reaching to customers.

TRACING THE ROOTS OF PPL IN MOVIES

The earliest reference of a brand placement comes in the 1958 classic Chalti Kaa naam Gadi with the brand Coca Cola. (source: Effectiveness
of Product Placements in Indian Films and Its Effects on Brand Memory and Attitude with Special Reference to Hindi Films, Prof Tapan K Panda, IIM Kozhikode)

1982, Steven Spielberg s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial made sales executives at Hershey Foods Corp. jump with joy while Mars, Inc. want to jump off a bridge.

RESEARCH WORK DONE ON PPL

Previous research also suggests the effects of product placements on consumers can influence brand recognition, recall and attitudes (Babin and Carder 1996; Brennan, Dubas and babin 1999, Karrh, Frith and Callison 2001; Gibson and Maurer 2000; Gould, Gupta and Grabner-Krauter 2000, Gupta and Lord 1998).
Source: Babin, Laurie, A and Sheri Thomson Cader, Viewer s Recognition of Brands Placed
within aFilm, International Journal of Advertising, 15, 140-151,1996 Karrh, James A, Katherine Toland Firth and Coy Caliison. Audience Attitudes Towards Brand ( product) Placement: Singapore and United States, International Journal of Advertising, 20,3-24,2001

 Increase in product placements and institutionalisation of the industry indicate that advertisers are using the technique to sway consumer s brand attitudes (Avery and Ferraro,2000). The type of placements should look natural to the narration as consumption symbols are often used to enrich the plot, theme and characters of popular culture texts (Hirschman 1998; Holbrook and Grayson 1986).
Source: Avery Rosemary J and Rosellina Ferraro, Verisimilitude or Advertising? Brand Appearances on Prime Time Television, Journal of Consumer Affairs, 34(2),217-2444, 2000

The high level of reliance on brand recognition and recall measure presumes that the effects for memory are similar to the effects of attitude. The absence of correlation between memory and attitude measures are found in persuasion literature (Petty, Cacioppo and Schumann 1983) that challenges this assumption and suggest that memory and attitude measures are not always liner. Since recall is a poor predictor of persuasion, research on product placements should investigate both memory and attitude effects (Mackie and Asuncion 1990).
Source: Petty, Richard E, John T Cacioppo and David Schumann, Central and Peripheral Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement, Journal of Consumer Research, 10, 135-146, 1983 Mackie, Diane E and Arlene G Asunction, On Line and Memory based Modifications of Attitudes: Determinants of Message Recall-Attitude Change Correspondence, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 5-16, 1990

Et Tu, Brute?
Results of a series of experiments show that a product placement has the potential to be a double-edged sword that could generate consumer backlash. Compared to advertisements, placements increase memory for brand and claims, but result in lower trust in brand and in the medium, specifically when the consumer discerns sponsor s commercial intent.
Source: Et Tu, Brute?: A Case for Consumer Backlash against Perceived Product Placements Namita BHATNAGAR* Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

HARMS OF PPL
If consumers are indeed aware of the commercial nature of placements, then serious implications arise for the level of credence that is put in the brand, the degree of trust that is placed in the medium and feelings of betrayal as well.

ATTITUDES TOWARDS PLACED BRANDS

Consumer awareness of persuasive intent According to the Persuasion Knowledge Model (Friestad and Wright 1994), individuals develop beliefs about how, why, and when marketers attempt to influence them. Trust in brand and trust in media - consumer reacts skeptically in order to cope with persuasion attempts that are noticed.

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

PPL is a strong tool in the hands of the marketer if used efficiently and effectively Incorporating the product/brand into the movie making it an integral part of the movie

THANK YOU