• Advertising Age, Friday, March 27, 2009 9:15 AM

While product-placement deals are usually the work of TV networks and major brands, local TV stations are getting into the act. For instance, local stations that air Meredith's syndicated hour-long lifestyle program "Better" are now running customized videos that feature State Farm Insurance.

Program syndicators "are a little bit more open" to adopting branded-entertainment ideas, compared to networks, "who have to deal with their own standards and practices," says Ed Gold, State Farm ad director.

Three-to-five minute videos centered on child-care topics, such as baby-proofing the home, are integrated into Meredith's "Better" program. The videos are the creation of Meredith's Video Solutions unit, which has also created custom videos for marketers, including General Electric, Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark. Other backers of syndicated programming are seeing the value of branded entertainment. Last year the syndicated-programming arm of CBS formed a special unit to introduce product integration ideas earlier in the program development process.

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