Month: Oct 2019

The Last of Product Placement

When it comes to product placement as mentioned in the previous post, we can’t merely limit it to movies and reality shows. It happens to be present in a lot of places. Recently, video games have become a tool for brands to increase their visibility and exposure.

But, could this underused industry be the new platform for showcasing the brand’s products and making a major impact?

It has been noted that the e-Sports and video gaming market have already outpaced the music and movie industries combined. It is even expected to grow and become a billion-dollar industry, as reported by CNBC.  This also comes hand in hand with the growth of live-streaming apps like Twitch and YouTube channels that are especially made for gamers.

Such platforms should be leveraged in order to get a massive brand exposure especially when some games get millions of live-streaming viewers as the case with Fortnite and League of Legends which happen to be some of the most watched games.

Also, with gamers spending hours and months on their video games, it could be an opportunity for product placements or some marketing efforts.

However, it is important to note that such placements need to be cohesive with the brand and the video game’s story-line as well.

Recently, most of the newest video games are trying to differentiate themselves with their story-lines and narratives. Some are even relying on character building. There are also many brands like Coca-Cola that go an extra mile by creating their own game with all of their logos and symbols.  

All of these scenarios, when implemented right, could provide a new platform where marketers can increase the brand’s familiarity and recall in the minds of the consumers.

Who knows? It might even cause consumers to react subconsciously to such marketing efforts.

Product, Places, ACTION!!

Product Placement or “Embedded Marketing” happens to be a modern type of marketing strategy where brands get to reach their target audience. There are a lot of companies who pay movie or TV program makers to have their products displayed on the show for a certain period of time. It has become very common across TV shows nowadays. It also happens to be present in game shows and reality competitions as well.

But, to what extent does Simon Cowell sipping from a cup of Coke in American Idol has an effect on the consumers? Is product placement really worth all of the millions of dollars spent on it?

The effectiveness of product placement lies in the context of the environment surrounding the products. Such exposure tends to affect the consumers’ perceptions and attitudes towards the brands featured. It might even allow for the consumers to react subconsciously or to enforce the existence of such brands in their consideration sets especially when making purchasing decisions.

Based on research, product placements are not always entirely effective. They certainly do not increase brands’ recall unless they were integrated in a context which happens to make sense and is consistent with their brand.

For example, in American Idol, Coca-Cola’s brand is present everywhere. From the ads shown in commercial breaks to the cups placed in front of the judges, and the couches that look like a bottle of Coca-Cola. Although other brands like Ford also happen to be present in the show, the placement of Coca-Cola’s products seems to be the most effective and the most memorable by the consumers. It even inhibits the recall of different brands from the same category as well.  

Brands should play a key part in the story-line and be fully integrated into the narrative they’re included in so that they do not get lost in the background.

It’s either you make an impact or become part of the noise. It all depends on the consistency of the story-lines and the narratives you embed your brand’s products in. After all, wasn’t it E.T. which tripled the Hershey’s Reese’s Pieces sales and profits?

Do You Really Need That?

Do you?

One of the key things in marketing is to identify and meet the consumers’ needs profitably. However, it is necessary to identify the types of such needs beforehand. Customers have different types of functional, symbolic, and hedonic needs.

To start off, a functional need tends to be the most basic and the simplest need which is required for survival. It motivates the search and purchase of goods which cater to the practical needs and to the consumption-related problems of the consumers. Symbolic needs are related to the way we perceive ourselves or to how we want the others to perceive us. It is a motivator to purchase in order to communicate a certain message about ourselves or to relate to an affinity group. A hedonic need adheres to the sense of pleasure and reflects our inherent desires.  

Brands’ products always try to cater for such different consumers’ needs. They try to appeal to their customers by providing them with the adequate products. This is mostly due to increase the customers’ brand loyalty and to develop positive relationships with them.

Some brands like Harley Davidson build communities around their products in order to appeal to their customers’ needs of belonging to a certain group. Some customers might purchase a product just as a marker of their social status and to signify where they stand in the society. In fact, most of the consumers’ purchases of the luxury goods tend to be due to their hidden desire to actually belong to such affluent groups as discussed in the previous post.   

Purchasing products might be due to a lot of reasons. It is important for each brand to understand their consumers beforehand and the real reasons behind their purchases. This would increase the customers’ retention and their loyalty to the brand as well.