In recent years, we’ve moved from offline-only advertising, such as print media, radio, television, or billboards, to a wave of digital advertising that combines with the former to meet new needs.
However, that’s not all. New technologies are changing everything. And when it comes to advertising, it was not going to be any different.
Have you ever heard of product placement? This is a type of advertising that was already used in the analog era, but which, now in the midst of the digital era, has taken on new meaning.
Throughout this article, we’ll talk about what product placement is and how it benefits brands. We’ll also talk about an example that’s surely familiar to you… the Netflix case!
We’ll tell you all about it at Mailrelay.
What Does Product Placement Mean?
You’ve probably read this message at some point while watching your favorite show: “this program contains product placement”. But… what does that mean?
This message is warning you that the series or program about to start includes advertising. However, this is a type of advertising that is barely or not at all invasive. In other words, it barely bothers the viewer, but it packs a lot of punch.
Let’s look at an example. There are series in which the actors all drive the same car brand. It seems as if, in the town or city where the story is set, only that brand’s cars are made or sold.
This is because the brand in question has paid the show for product placement. In other words, for advertising its vehicles across the show’s different episodes. Every time one of them appears, the brand is paying, just like someone paying Facebook for their campaigns.
This happens not only in TV series, but also in movies and shows. How many have you seen where the host or panelists have a specific brand’s water bottle next to them? That’s product placement too.
What Product Placement Is
If you’ve followed along this far, you probably already have a crystal-clear idea of what product placement means. In fact, from now on, you’ll be paying closer attention to the screen to spot this kind of practice.
Product placement is a type of advertising characterized by being non-invasive, natural, and not disturbing to the viewer.
In short, we can define it as an advertising technique based on including third-party products in audiovisual content. This can be a movie, series, or television show.
As we’ll see below, there are several ways to apply it.
Types of Product Placement
Now that we’ve defined what product placement is, let’s look at the types that exist. If you pay attention, in some cases the product just appears on screen, in others the actor interacts with it, and there’s also the possibility of talking about it.
Based on this, we can distinguish the following types of product placement:
● Active. This refers to examples where the actors interact with the product. For example, this happens when a character drinks a cup of Cola Cao, or an ice-cold bottle of Coca-Cola.
● Passive. In this case, the product simply forms part of the set, nothing more. This happens, for example, when scenes set in a kitchen show a milk carton with its brand visible in the background.
● Hyperactive. We talk about hyperactive product placement when the actors, in addition to interacting with the product, explicitly mention it. Imagine a character arrives at someone else’s house and asks, “Want a Corona?” And right after, they’re shown taking a sip.
● Verbal. Finally, it’s verbal placement when the product is only talked about. In other words, there’s no interaction. If, in the previous case, only the question appeared, it wouldn’t be hyperactive placement, just verbal.
In short, product placement can be active, hyperactive, passive, or verbal. We can also assume that the price brands pay will depend on the level of interaction or on-screen visibility.
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5 Benefits of Product Placement
At first glance, this seems to be an advertising technique that’s widely advantageous for brands. So what benefits can we highlight? Take note:
1) It doesn’t overwhelm the consumer:
Unlike other practices, in this case the consumer isn’t exposed to a heavy saturation of advertising impacts. Since it isn’t a disruptive model, that feeling is barely generated.
2) It’s more natural:
If we compare product placement with other techniques, we can see that it’s less intrusive. In other words, it’s advertising that doesn’t interrupt the user’s activity.
That is, if they’re watching a movie, it doesn’t cut away to show the ad — it’s built right in.
3) It shapes brand or product perception:
By inserting a specific product into a particular context, it very easily becomes associated with certain values.
For example, if it’s presented in a pleasant family setting, the product becomes associated with values like family loyalty, trust, or respect.
4) It has great reach:
Since brands choose successful shows, movies, and series, the reach of this advertising is astonishing. Imagine how many consumers saw the products placed in James Bond movies or, for example, in Stranger Things.
5) It’s an exclusive action:
One of the great advantages for brands is that, with product placement, competitors are ruled out from that audiovisual content. In other words, the same movie won’t feature the same type of product from two different brands.
But to truly make the most of all these benefits, it’s crucial that the brand’s strategy analyze the content in question and carry out actions such as the following:
● Study the buyer persona. This way, it will know what type of content it can make the most of, and invest in cost-effective product placement.
● Identify the content’s geographic reach. In this sense, it’s worth distinguishing products with international reach from those with national or local reach. This will also determine the type of content in which to place the ad.
● Thoroughly analyze the content and its connotations. For example, imagine a movie that ends up being criticized for including content offensive to a particular group. The brand in question will indirectly be tainted by this bad press.
Either way, product placement is an action that must be aligned with the marketing strategy, as well as the company’s overall strategy.
Product Placement: The Netflix Example
A very particular case where we can study the impact of this action for brands is product placement on Netflix.
Being a platform with thousands of pieces of audiovisual content and more than 200 million registered users, it becomes the perfect setting for companies that can afford to invest in advertising (from $50,000 to $500,000).
Naturally, the success of a piece of content affects the price of the advertising. For example, product placement in Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) doesn’t cost the same as in another series that doesn’t even make it into the top 10.
On the other hand, it’s worth highlighting the impact this generates. Do you remember that famous line from Denver in Money Heist? “You don’t leave Tokyo, because Tokyo is a Maserati, and everyone wants a Maserati.”
But it didn’t end there. The metaphor continued with lines like, “Mónica, just because Tokio is a Maserati doesn’t mean you’re a SEAT 600.”
Honestly, I don’t know whether this was verbal product placement or simply part of the script, but what’s clear is that the comparison went a long way. And Maserati was a big winner.
That said, even if they paid nothing, Seat also made the most of these lines. You just have to look at the tweets they posted.
For example: “YOU’RE A MASERATI. Don’t settle for someone who treats you like a 600. Unless “treating you like a 600″ means taking care of you for the next 50 years and living the rest of your life’s adventures together.”
I’d also like to add that not all content lends itself to this type of advertising, since it’s very difficult to do in content set in past eras. Although if the brand already existed back then, it can be done as a tribute, creating a feeling of nostalgia in the consumer.
Analysis of Product Placement on Netflix
The Money Heist case is just one example. Next, I’d like to dig deeper into this one and others, to go over the total number of product placements that appear and which are the most frequent.
I should mention that this information was taken from a final degree thesis from the Faculty of Communication at the University of Seville. Its author is Celia Díaz Muñoz.
Money Heist
Since I’ve already mentioned this series, I’ll start with it. In case you don’t know, it’s about a group of people who organize to rob Spain’s Royal Mint (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre). Although they’re strangers at first, friendships form with each episode.
The study only analyzed 6 episodes, and in them 50 instances of advertising placement were found. They appear as active, passive, and verbal types. The brand that appears the most is Estrella Galicia.
Paquita Salas
This is another clear example to explain what product placement means on Netflix. This series tells the story of a somewhat peculiar talent agent looking for a new personal and professional purpose.
According to Celia’s study, in the 6 episodes she analyzed there are a total of 82 instances of advertising placement. All 4 types appear: active, hyperactive, passive, and verbal placement. The brand that appears on camera the most is Apple. Other brands of soft drinks, sportswear, and alcoholic beverages also appear.
Sense8
In this other science fiction series, a group of 8 strangers from different parts of the world discover that they’re connected. In each episode, they try to figure out what unites them.
In the 6 episodes Celia analyzed, 58 instances of advertising placement were counted. These are of the active, passive, and verbal type. The brand that appears most often is HP. Porsche and Apple follow.
Conclusions About Product Placement
When you first created your Netflix account, your goal was probably to watch any kind of content without any advertising at all. But if you think about it, advertising on Netflix is everywhere.
It’s true there are no ad breaks interrupting your favorite movie or series to show products you’re not interested in, but you’re not exempt from seeing advertising. In fact, the study we’ve seen in this article proves that the amount of advertising appearing in each piece of Netflix content is enormous.
Other studies claim that 74% of its content uses this type of activity. In other words, most of the platform’s series and movies contain this type of advertising, even if we don’t notice it.
But Netflix’s great advantage is precisely that we, as users, barely notice the advertising. In fact, if a series’ protagonist is a writer, we find it completely normal that she’s always glued to an Apple Mac.
Either way, I hope you found this article about what product placement is and how it’s used on platforms like Netflix interesting.
If your brand isn’t Coca-Cola or Apple, you’ll probably find it impossible to invest in this type of advertising. But… who knows if one day we’ll be talking about more affordable alternatives for small and medium-sized businesses?
At its core, this technique is a subtle form of branded content woven into the narrative itself.
