• by David Goetzl , May 1, 2006

Is product placement better off married or single? Put another way: Do marketers benefit more by placing products in shows where the maneuver stands on its own, or by reinforcing the placements with advertising and billboards during commercial breaks?

As with many issues concerning matrimony, opinions differ. Generally speaking, the debate is between product placement purists and media buyers.

The so-called purists--a group that loosely includes production companies, other members of the creative community, and strict brand integration agencies--feel that product placement's strength is its ability to deliver a subtle message without bombarding a consumer with promotional messages. The effectiveness comes from the clever placement and its seamless integration into the show. It cuts through the clutter by taking a low-profile route in this age of carpet marketing (bombing?).

Media buyers tend to differ, perhaps based on the old "frequency" tenet that the more a consumer is exposed to a message, the more it's likely to resonate. Plus, there's a feeling that it's risky to allow a product placement to stand on its own--it's important to drive home the message with a "brought to you by" billboard and accompanying commercials during the show. There's also another more practical reason: the deal itself. In order to secure product placements, media buyers often must increase the number of spots they will buy from a network. That can be good news for them if their compensation rises as more spots are purchased.

The debate manifested itself in product placements last week for Oreos, Maybelline New York, and Verizon's V Cast (evaluated and ranked via research firm iTVX as three of the five most effective product placements last week). All three executions followed placements in the story lines with billboards or call-outs during breaks making it clear that the cookies, cosmetics brand, and cell phone service didn't appear in the programs by accident. Marketers took the more overt route, opting to augment their brand integration with conventional advertising.

On the April 17 episode of The WB's "7th Heaven," Oreos played a pivotal and near-omnipresent role. The show focused largely on secrets, and how Oreos with milk are sort of like liquor: When people enjoy the treats in groups, they feel so comfortable they'll reveal some of their most closely held thoughts. Barely a scene went by without an Oreos bag in the shot; eight different characters took a bite out of the cookies. Some of the scenes appear as if they had been lifted from an Oreos ad and inserted directly into the show: Lead character Rev. Eric Camden (played by Stephen Collins) says excitedly, "Oreos are my favorite!" Earlier, Camden's wife asks her prospective daughter-in-law, Rose, if she'd like some Oreos. "My favorite," Rose says. "Hey, mine too!" says Annie Camden with an ear-to-ear smile. Even as Oreos are impossible to miss, a billboard and voiceover pop up during a break just to make sure: "7th Heaven is brought to you in part by Oreo--Milk's Favorite Cookie."

The April 17 episode of ABC Family's drama "Beautiful People" has a similar dynamic. The show focuses on an aspiring model, Karen Kerr, who competes in a contest to do a campaign for Maybelline New York. Besides Maybelline's integration in the story line and dialogue--Karen and her family are ecstatic about the opportunity to plug lipstick and nail polish ("This face could be front and center in a national Maybelline ad," Karen exclaims)--the cosmetics marketer receives extensive exposure with its logo present on signs and other displays throughout the show. Once again, a viewer would be hard-pressed to miss the Maybelline brand during the hour broadcast. Yet, twice, commercial breaks included the billboard and voiceover, "ABC Family's 'Beautiful People' is brought to you by Maybelline New York."

Unlike the Oreos and Maybelline examples, Verizon's V Cast played a minor role in the April 20 episode of Fox's "The O.C." On the show, one of the characters, Seth Cohen (played by Adam Brody), produces a comic book about his friends and family called "Atomic County." And in the recent episode, an ex-flame, Anna, informs him that a video version is now available on V Cast--a service that allows people to view video on cell phones. "That V Cast was hilarious," she says. Seth is confused. "What the hell is a V Cast?" he asks. Then, Anna whips out her Verizon phone and shows him the video version.

In this case, the product placement is part of a broader marketing initiative. Outside the show, Verizon is offering an array of "O.C." content for V Cast subscribers, including a 14-episode series of "Atomic County" shorts. Although the product placement is a bit twisted--the character doesn't know his intellectual property is on V Cast?--Verizon is interested in using the show's characters to make the service seem cool. Soon after the Seth-Anna interchange, the product placement is augmented by a promo: "Watch never-before-seen 'Atomic County' episodes on your V Cast phone only from Verizon Wireless."

While the product placement/advertising marriage in "The O.C." may have made sense--if for no other reason than the confounding nature of the marketing play--adding advertising to the placement for Oreos and Maybelline seems to be a case of overdoing it. Reinforcing a placement with an ad may increase viewer recall. But recall only means awareness, not positive feeling toward a brand. With consumers more savvy about marketing and marketers' intentions than ever, perhaps it's best to take a less in-your-face approach and let the product placement attempt to nudge a message across, rather than hammer it home with advertising. In general, product placement does better as a bachelor or bachelorette.