• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 3, 2008

iTVX, a key player in evaluation of branded entertainment on television and movies, is moving online. After months of development, the research and analytics firm has unveiled "In Web," a new tool enabling marketers, agencies and publishers to measure the underlying value of branded content and product placements appearing online.

Branded entertainment, already estimated to be a multibillion dollar part of the overall media industry, is growing fast among online media outlets for a variety of reasons, including both organic content, as well as the migration of traditional television fare from the major TV networks onto online video platforms.

"Everyone who is producing and distributing video on the Web is now producing it with branded entertainment in mind," says Frank Zazza, the founder and CEO of iTVX, adding, "This includes everything from user-generated content like the YouTubes to original online webisodes and the re-broadcast of network TV episodes online."

The exact size of the online branded entertainment market isn't clear, but industry researcher PQ Media has issued reports indicating that the total value of product placements in the major media would approach $7 billion next year, and that the Internet and gaming are its two fastest growing sectors.

"Product placement spending in other media, such as video games and the Internet, is growing faster than films in part due to the same reason, accentuated by the trend of more time being spent by consumers on these forms of media," PQ said in its "Product Placement Spending in Media" report.

iTVX's Zazza says big marketers already are trying to get a handle on the value of the Internet portion of that mix, and companies including Ford Motors Co., Daimler Chrylser, Toyota, Unilever and Dial Corp., have already signed up to evaluate their online product placements.

The new In Web service utilizes many of the same components that iTVX developed for measuring traditional media outlets such as television, but adds special components designed to factor the interactive value of online media, as well as the context of online environments.

"Sometimes, when you're watching video online the surrounding content may include things that enhance or detract from the brand," Zazza explains. "If you're watching a soap opera video on Procter & Gamble's Web site, the surrounding page may look like a box of Tide. You've got to factor that into the equation."

iTVX's chief rival in the branded entertainment measurement business, IAG Research, was recently acquired by the Nielsen Co., and iTVX is believed to be in talks with some of Nielsen's biggest research rivals, including TNS Research. Zazza declined to comment on those talks.