• Brandweek, Monday, July 10, 2006 12:30 PM

Product placement in TV shows is all the rage among marketers seeking to break through commercial clutter and get their message in front of increasingly distracted consumers, and many of them pay considerable money to get their products into TV shows and movies. But when it comes to product placement on late night TV talk shows, it appears luck plays almost as big a factor as hard work and diligent planning. For example, in a tracking study by TNS Media Intelligence, Yamaha musical instruments were the most-seen brands on the three late-night shows: CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." On "Letterman," Yamaha shows up in shots of Paul Shaffer's band. Also seen frequently in the late-night segment were Pontiac, Coors, Toyota and Nike sneakers. Pontiac and Coors sponsor musical acts on "Kimmel," and Toyota has done the same on "Leno." TNS' brand monitoring does not distinguish between incidental appearances and ones that were paid for by sponsoring companies. The study showed that the top five total brand appearances and the number of times they appeared on late night TV talk shows from Jan. 1 to June 18 were as follows: 1. Yamaha Musical Instruments (1373); 2. Pontiac (263); 3. Nike (260); 4. Coors Light (236); 5. "Brokeback Mountain" (134).

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