| synopsis |
| The Ten Second Commercial |
| Andrew Folks |
To save time and money, media companies of all types advertise products - right in their shows. The technique, called "embedding messages," is growing in popularity with marketers, and to date, OK with the consumer.
The concept of embedding goes back to the days of The Price is Right, and even before. Companies would pay to have their products featured during the game shows as prizes or tools in games. So it is not a new idea, just one that is getting more attention at present. Now we still see embedding in game shows and talk shows though a little more sophisticated. For example, at the end of the show when you hear the words "some of our contestants will leave with…" or "wardrobe provided by," guess what? You've just witnessed embedding at its most obvious.
A more cunning form of embedding includes putting the product or service right in the show, be it television, movies, radio, etc. One of the best examples of product insertion into a TV show that I can remember is A&W Root Beer and Cream Soda and Baywatch. The break room at Baywatch Headquarters (That's right, I was doing marketing surveys!) always seemed to have a giant A&W machine in the background. And remember the episode where Hobie won a huge supply of A&W Cream Soda? I do not drink A&W today. But, I do remember their brands!
There might be some fears on the part of clients with embedding a product into a show. For example, products might only be featured very quickly or in smaller segments of only 10-15 seconds. Clients might be thinking, how can I get my message out there in such a short time period? But there is good news. Steve Berger, President/CEO of PIC-TV, writes: "A study conducted in 2002 by the MSW Group in New York concluded that 10-second spots were 75%-80% as effective of a 30-second spot in brand recall and persuasion, an no difference existed between a ten and 15-second spot."
There is even more good news. The federal government has declared that all local programming in the nation's top 25 markets must be closed captioned by 2006! Clearly, close captioning is growing. Sponsorship of closed captioning is an excellent way to get your name out in television at a low cost. It is another great example of product embedding. (Closed captioning is also a form of community service, so your business or non-profit can score extra points by sponsoring it in your local market.)
If you'd like to learn more about product embedding and its cost and opportunities, give us a call here at Semaphore. We'll be glad to talk to you about this and other marketing techniques for your business or non-profit.
The article above is based on concepts from and is a general synopsis of an article composed by Steve Berger entitled "Embedded Messages in Program Content…So What Else is New?" found in the e-newsletter edition of The Marketing Forum and eMarketing Forum. The direct quote in the article above also came from that article.
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