• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 16, 2006

In what appears to be a first attempt to position its new product placement valuation data as a tool for planning and positing the combined reach and frequency of branded entertainment and conventional TV advertising, Nielsen Media Research Wednesday released the findings of a study showing a high correlation between the two types of TV brand exposures.

The top line finding touted by Nielsen was that more than half (57.5%) of viewers recognized a brand when viewing a product placement in combination with a commercial. That's considerably higher than the 46.6% of viewers who recognized a brand when exposed only to a TV commercial for that brand.

The study, which was conducted in conjunction with 14 charter subscribers, including Magna Global, MediaCom, OMD, PHD, Zenith Media, and a variety of TV networks, was touted as the "largest of its kind," spanning a nine-month period between October 2005 and June 2006. However, the study was not based on live TV viewing, but on the results of more than 10,000 people who screened programs containing commercials and product placements at a Nielsen testing facility in Las Vegas.

The findings are likely to spark a new round of debates on how to measure the effectiveness of product placements and on how to determine the best way to plan them with conventional TV commercials and other forms of advertising.

As such, Nielsen is in a race with two other researchers, ITVX and IAG, which also evaluate the effectiveness of product placements in TV shows. IAG also measures the attentiveness and engagement consumers have with TV programming.

Interestingly, the Nielsen study found that while combinations of product placements and commercials in the same program do boost awareness of a brand, it does little to actually influence viewers to purchase a product.

Understanding the relationship between the two forms of TV brand exposures is critical, because marketers and agencies are spending considerable sums on product placement and the tactic is growing as a percentage of total brand exposures on TV.

A benchmark analysis conducted by Nielsen during a nine-month period between September 2003 and May 2004, found that the major broadcast networks aired 56,375 "brand mentions." During the same period, Nielsen estimated that the broadcast networks aired a total of 369,396 TV commercials, indicating that product placements represented about 15% of total brand mentions - both product placements and commercials - even at that relatively early juncture. While Nielsen has not released more recent data, the number of product placements on TV has likely grown since then.

A study released by TNS Media Intelligence in February found that the average prime-time network TV show contained four minutes and 25 seconds of "branded appearances" vs. 17 minutes and 35 seconds of national and local commercial TV times. At that rate, branded references now represent about 20 percent of all brand mentions on network prime-time TV.

Neither Nielsen nor TNS MI can determine whether product placements are paid for, or whether they occur organically within programming, but the trend line suggests they are growing.