\n
In a world where ads can be superimposed onto Hollywood content, some companies are opting to stick to the old-fashioned route.<\/p>\n
Virtual product placements, where ads are inserted into shows, movies, and social media content after filming, are a hot topic of discussion as AI companies emerge with options to add custom products and signage to everything from TikTok and YouTube videos to podcasts.<\/p>\n
But even as virtual placements start to creep into Hollywood productions and make it even easier to put ads just about everywhere, some executives in marketing and production told us they\u2019re still banking on the sometimes higher-effort option of manual product integrations.<\/p>\n
Back to basics<\/h2>\n
Proponents of old-school product placements include Matt Kaplan, CEO of the production company Ace Entertainment, which has produced films like Netflix\u2019s To All the Boys I\u2019ve Loved Before<\/em>, and Harley Block, CEO and co-founder of Gen Z consultancy IF7. Together, the two work on what Block calls \u201cdeep integrations,\u201d which integrate products and brands into the story rather than just placing them in certain shots.<\/p>\n\u201cIt starts with the creative first,\u201d Kaplan said. \u201cWe work on the scripts, we build out [the characters\u2019] backstory\u2026then we\u2019re going out to a couple of brands that could fit the needs of the film.\u201d<\/p>\n
In To All the Boys I\u2019ve Loved Before<\/em>, one character loves the sandwich chain Subway, while another is a fan of the Japanese yogurt brand Yakult, which saw a spike in sales after the movie\u2019s release in 2018. In Ace\u2019s 2023 movie Love at First Sight<\/em>, disinfecting wipes are featured to highlight a character\u2019s cleanliness habits, Kaplan said.<\/p>\nLove at First Sight<\/em>, also released on Netflix, has been watched by 50 million people, Kaplan said, and held the No. 1 movie spot on Netflix for two weeks. (Netflix doesn\u2019t publicly release viewership figures, but previously said the film had 36.8 million views in its first three weeks on the service.)<\/p>\nThat high performance at the outset generated chatter on social media and helped benefit brand partners by integrating them in the cultural moment, Kaplan said. After the initial hype dies down, there\u2019s also the possibility that people may continue to watch\u2014or rewatch\u2014these movies for years to come, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s such a better value than running a commercial,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There are some limitations to manual integrations, given that, even if every character were to name-drop a brand, overt placements can generate backlash\u2014something that came up earlier this year with the Mean Girls<\/em> musical.<\/p>\n\n
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Ace tends to limit integrations to no more than two or three brands per movie, even if inbound interest is high, which is designed to prevent placements from feeling \u201cin your face and cringy,\u201d Kaplan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re willing to do what\u2019s best for the film, and if there\u2019s only going to be two scenes that fit that opportunity, that\u2019s what it is,\u201d Kaplan said.<\/p>\n
Block said that being intentional around insertions is also an effort to be respectful to audiences. \u201cConsumers are smart. They\u2019re very, very savvy,\u201d he said. \u201cThey know when [product placement is] happening, and if it\u2019s done poorly, you\u2019re gonna pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rest is still unwritten<\/h2>\n
There are some instances where post-production placements can come in handy.<\/p>\n
In the 2023 romcom Anyone But You<\/em>, Erin Schmidt, chief product placement officer at BENlabs, which handles product placement and influencer licensing, said the agency was able to get LinkedIn featured in a scene after shooting had wrapped\u2014something that would not have been possible had it been a script integration.<\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019s where you can even the playing field a little bit and make sure that you\u2019re not missing out on opportunities,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n
Still, much of BENlabs\u2019s work centers around manual storyline integrations, Schmidt said. One reason? The juice isn\u2019t always worth the squeeze.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a digital insertion, the CPM is somewhere between $50\u2013$60, whereas for storyline-driven integrations, our average is around $25,\u201d she said, adding that unaided recall tends to be higher on storyline integrations.<\/p>\n
As AI is used more in these kinds of placements, Schmidt said she wonders about the ability for creatives to realize some of the financial benefits of the insertions directly, not just distributors. Could a soda inserted into an actor\u2019s hand in postproduction, for instance, make them something of an unwitting brand ambassador?<\/p>\n
Schmidt also hopes the industry doesn\u2019t \u201coverdo\u201d it on insertions just because it could become easier to do. \u201cIf all of a sudden we\u2019re super superimposing brands all over our content, that makes me really scared as a lover and viewer of content,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Schmidt told us she\u2019s optimistic that AI can help collect audience data to inform product-placement decisions, but cautioned that it may not be the best option for all product placements moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy argument is always, \u2018Don\u2019t put all your eggs into one basket,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a world where ads can be superimposed onto Hollywood content, some companies are opting to stick to the old-fashioned route. Virtual product placements, where ads are inserted into shows, movies, and social media content after filming, are a hot topic of discussion as AI companies emerge with options to add custom products and signage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21201","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marketing"},"yoast_head":"\n
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