• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 5, 2005

Hitwise analyzed traffic to Web sites of sponsors of "The Apprentice" for the current season, finding that with the increasing numbers of consumers skipping commercials due to the popularity of digital video recorders, the reality-television revolution has provided marketers with a critical new-generation of product placement. They conclude that NBC's "The Apprentice" is an innovator in combining in-show placement with Internet calls to action.  

"The Apprentice advertisers have created the next generation of product placement," said Bill Tancer, vice president of research at Hitwise. "As reality TV product placement increases, advertisers should leverage the interactivity of the Web by employing this new type of cross-media advertising and promotion."

The most successful episode thus far featured Dove Body Wash, and the market share of Internet visits to Dove.com increased 1,512 percent the week ending Feb. 12, 2005 versus the prior week.

Traffic to Dove.com from search engines also increased during the week of the show; the level of Internet searches on the term 'dove' increased 1,062 percent for the week ending Feb. 12, 2005 versus the prior week.

In another episode, the show featured a link to Pontiac.com where users could pre-order the vehicle, contributing to a 180 percent increase in visits the week ending April 16, 2005 versus the prior week. In addition, the share of searches for the terms "pontiac solstice" and "pontiac" increased by 190 and 369 percent respectively, for the same week.

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