• by Wayne Friedman , September 27, 2005

Alternative media is about more than just high-profile car brands seen on TV shows such as "The Apprentice." At MediaPost's Forecast 2006 panel called "Can New Media Acquire Mass or is it just so Much Media Dust?," moderators Hank Kim and Richard Linnett, who are co-directors of MPG Entertainment, suggested that out-of-home and other alternative media are good--and perhaps inexpensive--options to higher-priced, glitzier TV branded entertainment.

The general consensus from out-of-home agency and media executives on the panel was that although it's easier for convince clients to buy into out-of-home media now than in the past, old problems persist--such as finding the right audiences.

"The key for media is how to accumulate mass of audience," said Mike DiFranza, president/general manager of Captivate Network, which installs TV screens in elevators and sells advertising. "We don't think of ourselves as an out-of-home medium. We think of ourselves as a means to communicate with upscale professionals. Our competition is The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, CNBC."

Video press releases are another alternative media that have shown growth. Video press releases--which can look like regular news stories to the unaided eye--can be placed in local or national newscasts. "If there is news in your brands," said Larry Moskowitz, president/CEO of Medialink, "we'll find a way to put your brands in your news. In a sense, it's product placement, but it's earned a place on the shelf." Medialink has about 1,000 clients, including General Motors and Chrysler.

Outdoor advertising--traditionally a slow-moving media to execute--has improved its chances with marketers over the last few years because of more rapid printing and installing technologies.

"So many more people are out of the home, there are more opportunities," said Stephen Freitas, CMO of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. "You are talking about the oldest medium on the planet. It is geographically based. It's not a content-driven media. It becomes part of the environment and landscape."

OAAA's Freitas said marketers' efforts with out of home are intended to "wallpaper the community." We want to look at a number of ways to reach them." This includes all types of out-of-home advertising, such as outdoor, in-cinema, elevator media, and in-store networks. "We used to be the last of the media to present to clients--now we are moved to the first," says John Miller, chairman, North America for Kinetic Worldwide, an out-of-home agency. "We don't have to justify our medium anymore."

As an umbrella category, alternative or new media also includes branded entertainment and product integration activities. Research company PQ Media recently began tracking branded entertainment more closely--on TV, in films, magazines, music, on radio, and other media.

"The way we see the market going is what happened on 'The Apprentice' with the Pontiac Solstice campaign," said Patrick Quinn, founder of PQ Media. "Pontiac not only bought a 30-second spot on either side of a placement segment in the show--the whole show was about creating a new advertising campaign for the Solstice. Within 40 minutes of the show, they had given out 1,000 certificates to buy the Solstice."

PQ Media says product placement has shown substantial growth in 2004--now at over $3 billion. About one-third of this figure comes from paid-placement deals, and the rest from deals done by barter or other non-cash arrangements.