I’ve just watched one of the greatest movies recently made – 500 days of Summer and it made me start thinking about product placement in the movies. To reduce costs of the movie, producers of this surprisingly good movie, agreed for product placement (or rather in this case – brand placement).

Ikea target market was supposed to be identified as young, happy, enjoying their life people. It is highly possible that many also young couples will run into Ikea just to reenact the scene as they saw it in the movie. You can check clip of the movie here: Ikea starring in ‘500 days of Summer’ .

Is it effective?

Product placement. Still hot topic and still hot embedded marketing strategy. Now, in the cinemas we are not only bombarded with ads lasting sometimes up to 45 min before the actual movie, but also some companies try to persuade us about their great products placing them IN the movie.

Its a great business for the product-placing company if the movie will be voted positively. The benefits of that kind of advertising are enormous. Product placement is not only an another way of advertising. It’s a way of integrating the brand with another medium, giving the brand the actual image people associate the movie with.
Sometimes the actual product is sometimes seen in the movie for just a few seconds, but the halo effect of it is huge if the movie becomes popular.

Look at the example of TV series House: popular, the main character is playing an intelligent, an unconventional medical genius,who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional hospital.
How does the Apple company would like to be seen? Exactly like that: for intelligent, motivated people, who know what they want and know how to get it.

Brand/Product placement in TV Series

As Michelle Nichols from Reuters called aptly Sex in the City being a ‘marketing dream’ . The film (and TV Series) about glamorous women: writer Carie, publicist Samantha, lawyer Miranda and curator Charlotte, whose friendships, loves and fashion sense in Manhattan captivated millions of viewers during six seasons on HBO. It is Sex in the City why Manolo Blahnik schoes became so popular.
Not without reason, Chris Carlisle, who is president of marketing at the film’s distributor New Line Cinema has dubbed the movie as “the Super Bowl for women”. It’s just a perfect place to advertise. Don’t you think?

My name is Bond. Sony Vaio Bond..

Another example are James Bond movies, which are famous for their product placement. Casino Royale felt almost like lasting 144 minute Sony commercial, with shiny Sony Vaio laptops used to help save the world, calls were made only on Sony Ericsson phones and the use of Sony’s Blu-Ray technology. Oh, just in case you were wondering, the film was produced by Sony Corporation.

More action-movie example? How about Ray-ban sunglasses in ‘Men in Black?’

Or whole lot of commercials in Minority Report ?

Not only image…

Product placement is used not only as a virtual placing advertised product. Some brands will be highlighted in dialogue while others will be seen on screen. Speaking about the product in the movie gives the producers the power to manipulate the opinion about the product. If some liked-by-millions- character mentions about the product and gives a good recommendation – voilà: generation of higher sales.
How many times did you see some product in the movie you really liked and you decided to give it a try? How many times did you identify yourself with the character (for example one of the girls from Sex in the City) and you had to buy what they had, to look more reliable?

Have you encounter any other blatant product placement? Did you think the brand was identified with the movie formula? How did you feel about that particular brand?