CHAPTER I

~ODB!IEW2[

PRODUCT PLACEMENT PRACTICE

PART I

AN INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Chapter 1

"It is a universal truth that a single man in possession of a good

fortune must be in want of a wife. Such men register on shaadi.com!"

(shaadi.com is one of India's best known matrimonial website)

That could be the opening line of Indian adaptation of the classic movie

Pride and Prejudice [1940} if it were to be made today, and an excellent

example of product placement!!!

Fig. I. Pictures of product placement

Scene from Hindi TV serial KBC with ICICI Bank logo visible

Scene from Hindi movie Kkrish with Star TV logo visible

Chapter 1

1.1

NEW COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

As marketers continue to vie for the attention of an increasingly

fragmented consumer market, they have turned to a variety of

communication channels in their efforts to reach consumers. One of the

communication channels which marketers have exploited more

frequently in recent years is the practice of Product Placement. While

this is not a new phenomenon, its importance has grown tremendously.

Product placement is widely applied and reported in the world of

professional marketers (Russell & Stem, 2006; Karrh, Mckee & Pardun,

2003).

In the present times, there is a multiplicity of channels from which

consumers can and are receiving messages. Selectivity of media and

globalization of media content have resulted in tremendous audience

fragmentation. Due to technological advances, consumers get their

information about products not only from traditional advertising

methods, but through word of mouth, blogs, the competition, their own

researches, their individual past experience and brand communities, all

of which are widely available to them.

This phenomenon caused companies to look for alternative methods to

capture consumer's attention, because they didn't know what was said

and how it was heard. New forms of consumer communication steadily

developed and improved all around the world, as traditional forms of

advertising supposedly lost efficiency. Product placement was one of the

various alternative strategies that marketing professionals looked at to

reach customers.

2

Chapter I

1.2

DEFINITION OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Product placement is defined as purposeful incorporation of a brand into

an entertainment vehicle (Belch & Russell, 2005). Karrh ( 1998) defined

product placement as compensated inclusion of branded products or

brand identifiers, through audio and/or visual means, within mass media

programmmg.

According to these definitions, there were two necessary elements in

defining product placement. First, product placement should be

compensated, suggesting that product appearances were not unintended

or unpaid. All product placements were carried out intentionally for

money or some promotional or other consideration. The second was that

product placement could be practiced in various media, thus broadening

the territory to include all forms of mass media such as music videos,

video games, and novels, in addition to movies and TV programs.

Product placements are commercial insertions within media programs.

These insertions are not meant to be commercial breakups, but form an

integral part of the media program.

The practice of product placement practice has been noted across

various media. The practice was found prominent in TV shows (A very

& Ferraro, 2000: RusselL 2002), movies (Gould. Gupta, & Grabner­

Krauter, 2000; Delorme & Reid. 1999; D'Orio. 1999). radio shows

(Freidman, 1985), music videos (Chang, 2003). computer & video

games (Nelson, 2002; Rodgers, 2002) and magazines (Fine, 2004). Wide

use of brand names to create humor in popular writing such as novels,

3

Chapter I

plays, songs, and mass circulation newspapers and magazines have been

documented by Freidman ( 1991 ).

Though wide spread use of product placement is found in movies and

TV, it is not restricted to these entertainment vehicles (Wasko, Phillips,

& Purdie, 1993). Hackley, Tiwsakul & Preuss (2008) referred to

product placement as entertainment marketing because it has migrated

from movies to TV and radio programming, computer games, books,

popular songs and stage plays.

The term 'brand placement' is used synonymously with 'product

placement' to distinguish marketer-specific products from others in the

category, and is considered by some researchers to be a more accurate

description, since brands are placed rather than specific products (Babin

& Carder, 1996). But 'product placement' is the most commonly

employed term within both academic and practitioner literature. Hence,

the term product placement has been used in the course of this study.

1.3

EVOLUTION OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Product placement has a long and distinguished history. The practice of

placing branded products in entertainment or mass media is not a new

concept. The earliest example of product placement is believed to be

found in the novel Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne,

which was published in 1873 (McGinty, 2008). As the author was

already a renowned figure, a shipping company persuaded him to have

the novel's hero travel on one of its ships.

4

Chapter 1

Many examples of brand names are found in the famous James Bond

novels by Ian Fleming. Brand names were included not for financial

reward but as a means of characterization of Bond, conveying that he

used the best of luxury products (McGinty, 2008).

Since 1930s, consumer product manufacturers invested in the production

of radio programs to reach their target audiences (Lavin, 1995). This

phenomenon was particularly visible in the soap opera genre, a term that

actually testifies to the blending of advertising of soap products and

programming. Radio programs were developed directly by detergent

companies, notably Procter & Gamble, to promote their brands by

integrating them into the scripts (Stern, 1991 ). When soaps opera

programs moved to television in the 1950s, the close connection

between programming and advertising continued and marketers

maintained direct control over the shows' story lines and creative design

(Barnouw, 1975).

Possibly the first movie to feature product placement was Wings [1927},

which was also the first movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture; it

contained a product placement for Hershey's chocolate (Macleod, 2009).

Hollywood movies dating from the late 1940s and early 1950s have

been using product placements ("Brands On The Screen·', 1991 ). Jack

Daniels whiskey was placed in the movie Mildred Pierce [1948}

(Nebenzahl & Secunda. 1993). In the movie Destination Moon [1950},

four space travelers rocketed to the moon drinking Coke and wearing

Lee jeans (Vollmers & Mizerski. 1994 ), whereas cases of Gordon's Gin

were shown In the movie The African Queen [1951} (Neer, 2003).

Hollywood producers like MGM Studios maintained an office for

soliciting placements in the 1930s (Rothenberg, 1991 ). From then until

5

Chapter 1

·the 1970s barter-style arrangements were in operation, in which goods

were supplied on the basis that they would be featured in movies.

Branded items were simply donated, loaned, or purchased for particular

movie scenes to enhance their artistic qualities (Spillman, I 989).

Brennan, Dubas & Babin (I 999) suggested that the original motivation

for product placements was on the part of the motion picture studios in

their effort to add a greater level of reality to the movies by having real

brands in the stories. According to McCarthy (I 994 ), product placement

was a casual business, an afterthought to most marketers and a low

priority for studios.

The first recognizable product placement having a direct impact on sales

was unintentional and negative for the undershirt industry. After the

release of the movie It Happened One Night [1938}, there was a huge

decline in undershirt sales in the United States. since the actor was

shown taking his shirt off and standing bare-chested (Time, 1970).

Product placement practice grew sharply between 1978 and 198 I when

movie producers became aware of its commercial value (Brennan,

Dubas & Babin, I 999). However, product placement as a paid, strategic

marketing tool began to receive greater attention from marketers and

movie producers during the I 980s.

In the 1982 movie ET The extraterrestrial, the alien creature was lured

from its hiding place with Reese's Pieces candy. The Pieces candy sales

increased by 65% just 3 months after the movie's release (Buss, 1998:

Farhi, 1998: Reed, 1989). In another instance, Ray Ban's Wayfarer

Sunglasses became enormously popular after its placement in the movie

Top Gun [1986} (Tsai, Liang & Liu, 2007).

6

Chapter 1

It was smce then that marketers began actively seeking their own

product placements, fully understanding its commercial impact (Caro,

1996). Marketers paid movie producers substantial amounts for product

placements as they were perceived as advantageous (Fleming, 1990;

Krasnoff, 1986).

Marketers gained progressively more control over product placement

messages in exchange for valuable consideration (Miller, 1990). For

instance, the script for the movie Rocky Ill [1982} was amended to

include a scene in which Wheaties cereal is endorsed by the actor as the

breakfast of champions (Maslin, 1982). Similarly, a scene in Cocoon:

The Return [1988} was re-shot so that Quaker Instant Oatmeal could be

displayed more prominently (Reed, 1989).

By 1991, a group of product placement agents in US formed an

American industry group called Entertainment Resources and Marketing

Association, with an aim to highlight the product placement practice and

establish a code of ethics (Karrh, Mckee & Pardun, 2003). A similar

group called Entertainment Marketing Association was established in

UK (Curtis, 1996). Product placement began to receive a serious look

from researchers during the 1990s.

1.3.1

EARLY REFERENCES OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN INDIA

The earliest reference of product placement in Hindi movies comes in

1958 classic Chalti ka naam Gadi with the placement of Coca- cola

(Panda, 2004). Coke was also placed in 1967 movie An Evening in

Paris where the actress was sipping delicately from a 200 ml bottle of

7

Chapter 1

Coke, struggling to make sure the logo was visible (Duraiswamy &

Gupta, 2001). In the movie Bobby [1973} the teenage lead pair was

shown cavorting around on Rajdoot motorbike (Adesara, 2006a). In

another successful movie Agar Tum Na Hole [1983}, the lead actor

played the role of the owner of Emami, a brand of face cream, and the

lead actress played the model for this brand. These references of product

placement in India did not have any evidence of marketers paying for

the placement.

But some product placements were known to be compensated, either in

cash or kind. For example. in the movie Mukti [1977}, a stall of Coca­

cola was put for free supply of the soft drink throughout the shooting of

the movie (FICCI, 2004)~ whereas in the movie Jeevan Saathi [1988},

Pears soap was placed for Rs. 8 lacs (FICCL 2004).

1.4

GROWTH OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Product placement grew from a casual activity to a serious marketing

effort. Trade and popular press have noted the growth of product

placement and it is getting increasing attention from advertisers, media

planners, and measurement firms attempting to assess its effectiveness

and value.

1.4.1

PRODUCT PLACEMENT TYPES BASED ON COMPENSATION

There are three types of product placements based on compensation

provided by the marketer to the program producer.

8

Chapter 1

They are gratis, barter or trade and paid (PQ Media, 2005).

>- Gratis

Gratis placements differ from the traditional definition of a product

placement, which typically requires marketers to organize such a

placement. Gratis placement simply happens, often to strengthen a

character's profile or to add richness to the plot, without the marketer

arranging for the use of the product.

An example of a gratis placement was the use of Raid, an ant killer

brand. in the TV show The Sopranos on TV channel HBO (Neer, 2003).

The marketer of the brand did not arrange for the use of their product on

the show.

Another example of gratis placement was found in Hindi movie Darna

Mana Hai [2003]. TV channel MTV did not arrange for this placement,

it happened naturally as part of the storyline (lndiantelevision.com,

2003b).

> Barter

Barter or trade placements are arranged but cash doesn't exchange

hands. The product itself serves as compensation for product placement.

Often a company agrees to barter their goods or services in exchange for

a prominent placement.

The placement of Hyundai cars in TV show Josh in Star Plus was a

barter placement. The show needed cars and Hyundai got brand

exposure by providing them through in a cashless deal (Singh, 2004).

Another example of barter placement was that of United Airlines in the

9

Chapter 1

movie The Terminal [2004}. The airline provided the use of their brand

and advice on how to make airport announcements and uniforms more

realistic; in return they got exposure for their brand in the movie (Choi,

2007).

,_ Paid

Paid placements are defined as those in which product placement IS

arranged in advance by marketers and financial compensation IS

provided. Prices can vary depending on the type of the product placed,

since some product categories are easier to place in a movie than others;

price also varies based on the prominence of the product placement

(McCarthy, 1994).

Various instances of Hindi movie producers accepting cash from

multinational advertisers have been noted (Kahn, 2002). American beer

company Stroh's paid Rs 15 lakh to the producers of Dilwale Dulhania

Le Jayenge [1995] for a IS-second scene in which the brand name is

mentioned while the lead actor drinks the beer from a can of Stroh's

(Bhatnagar, 2003). Movie Yaadein [2001] earned 3.5 crores from

product placements of Coca-cola and Hero cycles (Chabria & Hemani,

n.d.), whereas Audi placed its luxury car sedan A6 in the movie Baabul

[2006] for over Rs.l crore (Razdan. 2006).

In US TV show The Apprentice, brands like Burger King, Mattei,

Gillette, Intel and Nescafe paid close to $3-5 million per episode for

product placement (Adesara, 2006b ).

For the movie Somers Town [2008]. high speed passenger train Eurostar

paid a huge sum of £500,000 for shooting against the background of a

10

Chapter 1

Eurostar terminal, with the mam characters traveling by Eurostar

(McGinty, 2008).

1.4.2

GLOBAL PRODUCT PLACEMENT MARKET SIZE

PQ Media, which is one of the most respected custom media research

firms, has been tracking product placement spending since 1974. In

2005, PQ media released a first-ever report to size the product

placement market (PQ Media, 2005). In order to determine the total

market value of all product placements, non-paid product placements i.e.

gratis and barter, were quantified into financial value equivalent to their

exposure. A product placement valuation tool called the iTVX Q-Ratio

(Quality Ratio) was employed. The Q-Ratio has been established by

iTVX, a product placement valuation company. The Q-ratio measures

the quality and exposure of product placement and hence the financial

value deserved by it.

The key findings of the PQ media report in 2005 are:

,_ The report compared the share of the three types of product

placements, i.e. gratis, barter and paid in the total product placement

market in 2004 to that in 1974. A significant trend found in the

report was the growth of paid placements compared to barter and

gratis arrangements. The share of paid placements increased as

competing marketers became more willing to pay for placements in

TV programs, movies and other media that are targeted and

considered to be attractive properties by their consumers. Barter

placements also grew, but gratis placements became much less

II

Chapter 1

frequent. The break up details of the three types of product

placements is summarized in Table I.

Table I. Comparison of share of three types of product placement

Share of Market Value Year

Gratis Barter Paid

1974 24.3% 57.7% 18%

2004 6.6% 64.2% 29.2%

Source: (PQ Media, 2005)

>- Global product placements grew at a compounded annual growth

rate (CAGR) of 16.3% for the period 1999-2004, with TV registering

the highest CAGR, followed by movies and other media. Other

media in this context means media other than TV and theatrical

movies. It includes every segment of media, like prinL videogames,

online, books, radio and recorded music. The media-wise CAGR is

given in Table 2.

Table 2. Media-wise CAGR of 'product placement for the period 1999-2004

Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)

Period Movies TV Other media Total

1999-2004 11.4% 21.5% 11.7% 16.3%

Source: (PQ Media, 2005)

~ In year 2004, the total value of global product placements reached

$3.46 billion with a growth rate of 30.5% from previous year.

12

Chapter 1

In 2006, PQ Media released another report called PQ Media Global

Product Placement Forecast 2006 (BBC News, 2006). The findings of

this report revealed that in 2005, global paid product placement grew by

42.2% and reached $2.2 I billion, whereas the overall global product

placement market including the value of non-paid placements grew by

27.9% to $5.99 billion: the report forecasted that by 2010 product

placements will increase to nearly $7.6 billion, with growth largely

driven by product placements within dramas, sports and reality

programs on TV.

In 2006, PQ Media released a research study report called PQ Media

Global Product Placement Forecast Series 2006-20 I 0: Country-by­

Country Analysis (PQ Media, 2007). The key findings ofthe report are:

>- In the year 2006, global paid product placement grew by 37.2% to

reach $3.36 billion, whereas the overall value of the global product

placement including the exposure value of non-paid placements grew

24.2% to $7.76 billion. Media-wise breakup of global paid product

placement is given in Table 3.

Table 3. Media-wise global paid product placement in 2006

Global Paid Product Placement

Year Movies TV Other media Total

2006 26.4% 71.4% 2.2% $3.36 billion

Source: (PQ Media, 2007)

r While placements in other media was only 2.2% of total spending,

the report forecasted that growth will exceed 30% over the next

13

Chapter 1

several years due to increased demand for videogame and online

placements aimed at the 18-34 year old youth.

> Although US remained the largest global market for product

placement, accounting for two-thirds of spending. growth was

forecasted to decelerate till 20 I 0, although remaining in double­

digits. In European and Asian placement markets, growth was

forecasted to accelerate.

>- Key drivers of global product placement growth included loosening

of legal restraints and global brand marketers moving to capitalize on

emerging opportunities in Europe, particularly in the UK, Spain and

Italy; the evolution and growth of product placement markets in

Asia, especially in China, India and Australia; and the continuing

transition from non-paid to paid placement models in the Americas,

primarily in the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

1.5

PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN MEDIA OTHER

THAN MOVIES AND TV

Though movies and TV grab a larger share of total product placement

practice, prevalence of product placement in media other than movies

and TV is rising (PQ Media, 2007). With US being the largest global

market of product placement numerous examples of product placement

in other media are found in US. Some noteworthy instances of product

placement found in US media like books. video games and songs are

discussed next.

14

Chapter 1

1.5.1

PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN BOOKS

In 2001, the world-famous jewelry company, Bulgari, paid noted British

author Fay Weldon to write a novel that would feature Bulgari products,

resulting in The Bulgari Connection (Neer, 2003). Among several other

published works containing product placement, one of the largest genre

was children's learning books (Neer, 2003). To name a few, there was

The Hershey's Kisses Addition Book, The M&M's Brand Counting Book,

The Cheerios Christmas Play Book and The Oreo Cookie Counting

Book. The books were not merely sponsored by the marketers, but the

products were incorporated into the content ofthe book. For instance, in

The Oreo Cookie Counting Book, Oreo cookies were featured

prominently on every page including the back cover.

1.5.2

PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN VIDEO GAMES

Product placements in video games are important because they integrate

leisure activity, consumption, and everyday life. Video gaming industry

did $9.4 billion business in 2001, and its market share continues to

grow, making it a lucrative media to place brands (McLeod, 2005).

Moreover, since video games are played multiple times and reqmre

close attention of garners, it is an attractive option for marketers.

For example, brands Quiksilver Nokia and Jeep.20 Activision were

placed in one of the Hawk games series. The company that produced the

Hawk games claimed that advertisers who place their logo in their game

get one billion 'quality brand impressions' from the garners; garners are

15

Chapter 1

allowed to select branded products like shirts, shoes and other gears for

their virtual characters (McLeod, 2005). Other examples included fast

food restaurant brands Pizza Hut and KFC placed in video game called

Play Crazy Taxi, Zippo lighters and Motorola cell phones were found in

video game called Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza.

1.5.3

PRODUCTPLACEMENTINSONGS

One of the earliest examples of product placement within a song can be

found in 1908, wherein the brand Cracker Jack had a mention in the

chorus of the song Take Me Out to the Ball Game (Neer, 2003). Another

example of product placement in a song was that of Adidas brand

appearing in a video album called My Adidas which became super-hit.

The brand was not only mentioned in the lyrics but the video also

showed tennis shoes prominently. These were instances of non-paid

product placements.

There were vanous instances of music professionals being paid for

placing brands in songs. For example, Apple paid to have an iPod

prominently framed at the beginning of a video album called Love @ 1st

Sight as well as other videos, whereas Mazda paid to put its new car in a

music video (McLeod, 2005).

A study in US ofTop 20 radio hits of2003 US found hundreds of brand

name references throughout the songs (McLeod, 2005). Mercedes brand

had 112 references, while brands Cadillac and Lexus were mentioned 46

and 48 times. respectively. In just one song called The Jump Off, brand

names of Bacardi, Barbie, Bulgari. Ferrari, Bentleys, Hummers,

16

Chapter 1

Cadillac, Escalade, Jaguar, Timberland, Sprite, Playboy, Range Rover,

and Brooklyn Mint were mentioned (McLeod, 2005). It was found that

worldwide sales of Courvoisier, a brand of brandy, rose 20 percent after

the song Pass the Courvoisier featured in the popularity charts for

twenty weeks (McLeod, 2005).

PART II

PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN

MOVIES AND TV SERIALS

As discussed in the previous section, product placements are

commercial insertions within a particular media program. The medium

could be motion pictures, TV, print, videogames, online, books, radio

and recorded music. But a large portion of global budget for product

placement is spent on the media of movies and TV (PQ Media, 2007).

These two media are the focus of this research study. This section and

rest of this thesis is focused on movies and TV serials as media for

product placement.

1.6

PREVALENCE OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT

IN MOVIES AND TV SERIALS

Movies and TV serials are replete with brands these days. It is a

multimillion dollar business with every frame in a movie or TV serial

having an opportunity for branding. Movies and TV serials include

placements of all kinds of products, be it cars, cell phones, mouth

17

Chapter 1

fresheners, branded tea or almost any other category. A few instances

from international as well as Indian movies and TV serials are presented

to exemplify the prevalence of product placements.

International movies

Hollywood movie Josie and the Pussycats [2001} showed more than 15

brands only in its trailers (Neer, 2003). James Bond movie Die Another

Day [2002} promoted twenty products from BMW motorbikes to

Omega watches to Aston Martin cars (BBC News, 2006).

International TV serials

US TV reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition [2003 J had a

total of 3318 brands shown in 73 telecasts for an average of 45.5 product

placement occurrences (Brown, 2006). Another reality show The

Contender [2000} consisted of 7514 placements in a total of 15 telecasts

and each episode had an average of 500.9 products placed in it (Brown,

2006). Since 1992, MTV channel's The Real World is one of the most

heavily product-placed shows on television (McLeod, 2005). Product

placement spots were being sold for $1 million in the year 2000 for the

first season of TV reality show The Survivor, with the cost jumping to

$12 million by the second season; brands like Budweiser, Cingular,

Coors, Doritos, Dr Scholl, Frito-Lay, GMC, Mountain Dew, Reebok,

Sierra Mist soft drinks, Saturn cars and Target placed their products in

this show (Chabria & Hemani, n.d.).

18

Chapter I

Indian movies

Hindi movies m India have been heavily usmg product placement

practice. The movie Don [2006] promoted Tag Heuer watches,

Motorola, Garnier, Citibank, Oakley sunglasses and Louis Philippe

outfits; Dhoom:2 [2006] promoted Coke, Pennzoil, Pepe Jeans, Sony,

Disney channel, Sugar Free, Mc-Donald's, Speed and Suzuki Zeus;

Krrish [2006] prominently featured Singapore Tourism Board, Sony,

John Players, Bournvita, Tide, Hero Honda, Boro Plus, Lifebuoy, HP

Power, Acron Rangeela, Hansaplast and Lays chips.

Cheeni Kum [2007] was associated with artificial sweetener brand Sugar

Free, which went very well with the movie's theme of 'Sugar Free

romance'; ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launched its new promotional

campaign 'Jeete Raho' through the movie; Spice 6 restaurants, Catch

Spices, Airtel cellular service, Sony Vaio laptops and Durex condoms

got noticeable appearance in the movie.

Pr~vasakhi [2005], a Tamil movie had placements of four big brands

like Sangini diamonds, Chlor Mint KUN Hyundai and Western Union

Money Transfer.

Indian TV serials

Hindi TV serial Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin [2003] on Sony Entertainment

Television channel showed brands like Kaya Skin Clinic, Bausch &

Lomb and Mauritius Tourism Board. Asmi diamond jewelry, Maruti

Zen, Samsung phones and Singapore Tourism, among others.

19

Chapter 1

Various companies launched their products through product placement.

Car manufacturer BMW launched many of its models in 1 ames Bond

movies (Macleod, 2009). Products have been launched through product

placement in Hindi movies too. For example, Audi's luxury sedan A6

car was launched in Baabul [2006] (Razdan, 2006); Maruti Swift car

was launched in Bunty Aur Babli [2005] (Chabria & Hemani, n.d.);

Pepsi used reality show Indian Idol on Sony TV in India to launch its

new product Pepsi Cafechino (Chabria & Hemani, n.d.).

There are many instances of product placement in movies and TV serials

bringing success to the placed brands after the exposure. For example,

there was a massive hike in demand of car BMW Mini Cooper after its

placement in the movie The Italian Job [2003] (Hackley, 2003).

Similarly, sales of car brand BMW Z3 sales increased after its

placement m the movie Golden Eye [1995]; Red Stripe beer sales

increased by 50% after The Firm [1993]; and Toy St01y [1995]

increased Etch-a-Sketch toy's sales by over 4,000 percent (Sauer, 2004).

After Ray-Ban sunglasses were placed in Risky Business [ 1983 ], sales

immediately jumped by over 50% (Sauer, 2005).

After being placed in TV reality show Big Brother in Poland, brand

awareness of Pilsner Urquell brand of beer increased by 29 per cent

(Burnett, 2003). In 2005, the web searches for Pontiac cars went up by

1000 per cent post its placement in TV talk show by Oprah Winfrey

(Hines, 2004).

To mention a few successful product placements in India, tourism from

India to New Zealand almost doubled after the release of Hindi movie

20

Chapter 1

Kaho Na Pyar Hai [2000} (Menon, 2006); sale of Goodknight brand

mosquito repellent increased heavily after consistent placement of the

brand in five Malayalam movies (Kulkarni, 1996).

1.7

MODES OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN

MOVIES AND TV SERIALS

As per Creative Entertainment Service (CES), the recognized authority

on post production product placement analysis ("Let us Put", 1996),

there are three basic modes of executing product placement as discussed

next.

' Used/Mentioned

A Used/Mentioned placement occurs when an actor or actress actually

handles or interacts with the brand or verbally mentions the brand.

Various instances can be quoted to exemplify a used/mentioned mode of

product placement.

Hollywood movie Demolition Man [1993} featured dialogues to the

effect that Taco Bell is the only restaurant chain left in the world in the

21st century. In Hollywood Bond movies Golden Eye [1995} and

Tomorrow Never Dies [1997} the actor was shown driving BMW cars.

In Men In Black [1997], Ray-Ban sunglasses were worn by actors.

In US TV reality show American Idol, judges drink from prominent

glasses of Coca-Cola. In 2005, each member of the audience of TV talk

21

Chapter I

show The Oprah Winji-ey Show was gifted Pontiac G6 cars (Hines,

2004).

In India, Hindi movie Baghbaan [2003} showed Tata Tea being used by

the actress. Another Hindi movie Swades [2004] had the actor holding a

FedEx packet while traveling in a train in India. In Virudh [2005}, the

actor insisted on using Elf brand of engine oil and Nerolac paint was

used to paint a house.

In Hindi movie Kaho Na Pyar Hai [2000], the actor asked "McDonald's

ka burger laaon kya?' (should I get you McDonald's burger?). In Koi

Mil Gaya [2003}, the actor remarked 'Main roz Boumvita peeta hun!' (I

drink Boumvita daily), whereas the line "Isko Thumps Up pilao' (give

him Thums-Up) was used in Khaki [2003}. In another movie Love Ke

Liye Kuch Bhi Karega [2001]. the actress declared she consumes

nothing but Domino's Pizza and Diet Coke.

In Hindi TV game show Kaun Banega Crorpati I [2000}, ICICI bank

cheques were shown being held by host and contestants whereas Kaun

Banega Crmpati 11 [2007] prominently showed Lenovo logo on

computers used in the show.

In a Marathi movie Navasache Por [1997}, a shopkeeper recommended

New Nihar brand cooking oil because of its cooling and stress relieving

qualities and the actress happily buys the brand (Rajshekhar, 1999).

Cadbury's Five Star brand of chocolate associated itself with a Tamil

movie ca11ed Chocolate [2001]. with a song in the movie which had the

chocolate brand Five Star included in the lyrics.

22

Chapter 1

).- Seen

A Seen placement occurs when a product can simply be observed with

its brand name visible.

To give instances of Seen mode of placement in Hindi movies, Lays

potato chips and Kellogs cornflakes were seen in various frames of Dil

To Pagal Hai [1997] whereas Ishq [1997] featured Ceilo car, Lifebuoy

Soap, Parachute hair oil and many more brands.

Hollywood movie The Matrix [1999] showed brands like Cadillac cars,

Nokia handsets and RayBan sunglasses. Whereas some of the brands

seen on US TV show Seinfeld [1989-1998] were Coca Cola, Heinz

Ketchup and Junior Mints candy.

> Signage

Signage is when brand name or logo is displayed in the background

without the actual product, eg. a hoarding or a poster.

To give examples of Signage mode of product placement in Hindi

movies, Coco-cola posters were seen several times in Kaho Na Pyaar

Hai [2000]. In Mohabbatein [2000], signages of Indian Oil, Colgate,

Coca-Cola. ANZ Bank, Sansui, Nike, Hero Honda and many more

brands were visible. In Mrityudaala [1997] a banner ofLiberty brand of

footwear was seen in one of the songs. In Awwal Number [1990], a

Garware Suiting poster was visible on the cricket ground.

These different modes have values attached to them on the basis of

effectiveness. A Used/Mentioned placement is more valuable than a

23

Chapter 1

Seen placement which is more valuable than a Signage placement. This

is as per the rating method described by CES ("Let us Put", 1996).

1.8

BENEFITS AND SHORTCOMINGS

PRODUCT PLACEMENT

OF

Product placement otTers vanous benefits and IS faced with some

shortcomings to, as discussed next.

1.8.1

BENEFITS OF PRODUCT PLACEMENTS IN MOVIES

Product placement in movies otTers various benefits to marketers as well

as movie producers. It is a win-win situation for all the parties, as

discussed next.

1.8.1.1

Benefits for marketers

Marketers view product placement in movies as an important part of

integrated marketing communications mix because of the unique

benefits it offers over traditional advertising. i.e. commercial

advertisements which are telecast through the media of print, TV, radio

or out-of-home. These benefits are as follows:

24

~ 2> Chapter 1

~ Greater Reach

Among the leading benefits associated with product placement in

movies is its greater reach than traditional advertising. Globalization

al!ows entertainment media to be accessed by local and global audiences

(Balasubramanian, 1994). Multinational marketers select product

placements over traditional advertising because the reach for a

moderately successful movie worldwide well exceeds the reach of an

average advertisement (Bhatnagar, Aksoy & Malkoc, 2004).

Moreover, a product placement in a movie has many chances to be

exposed to consumers because it is revived and revisited many times.

First, the product gets exposure in theatres when the movie is released.

Then it gets exposure through DVDs/home video/video rentals, and at a

later date it may gain a wider access when it is aired on satellite

television. The actual life of a placement, therefore. is extremely long

and the placement continues to receive exposure as long as people

continue to view the movie.

>- Low clutter

A frequent and ever-increasing problem in traditional advertising is the

over abundance of advertisements in traditional advertising media of

TV, print and radio. This phenomenon is known as clutter. A lack of

clutter is one of the key advantages of product placement. Audiences are

exposed to products in less distracted environments and become familiar

with the brands over a longer period of time (Turcotte. 1995).

>- Low obtrusiveness

Moreover, product placement in movies is less obtrusive than traditional

advertising. Since product placement is embedded into movies, it does

25

Chapter 1

not interfere with viewers' movie-watching, compared with a

commercial (Terry, 200 I). Unlike the traditional advertising which

catches the audiences in a cold-evaluating mood, movies appeal to

emotions catching audiences off-guard (Bhatnagar, 2003).

> Captive and receptive audience

Product placement in a movie has the ability to reach captive audiences

(Hulin-Salkin, 1989). The captive level of viewers is high because

consumers cannot avoid viewing the product placement, unlike the

possibility of zipping, zapping or muting the traditional TV or radio

commercials. Zipping is when consumers fast-forward through

commercials as they play back a previously recorded program and

zapping is when consumer change channels to avoid commercials

(Belch & Belch, 2001).

Moreover, movie audiences, particularly in theatre, are quite receptive.

The sense of expectation before the movie creates an atmosphere of

heightened attention with all eyes and ears focused on the screen. TV

and radio are frequently used as types of companion or ambiance which

are left on while other activities are taking place. The movie-viewing

experience, even at home, is more of an event which is thus better able

to capture the viewer or audience's attention.

>- Implied Endorsement

Marketers feel that there is tremendous advantage to be gained by

associating with movie stars through product placement in movies. It is

possible to get actors indirectly endorsing the brand at a more

economical cost compared to getting a movie star to directly endorse

26

Chapter 1

that particular brand in traditional fom1s of advertising. Moreover, these

implied endorsements are often made by major actors or actresses who

frequently do not appear in television commercials. Thus, product

placement in movies provides cost efficient communication (Deigh,

1985).

Moreover, marketers can add immense reinforcement to marketing

effort by placing those brands in movies whose brand ambassadors are

lead actors in movies (Bhatnagar, 2003). For example, Pepsi and

Hyundai Santro were placed in Hindi movie Challe Chalte [2003}

starring the actor who already was the brand ambassador of both the

brands.

Also, top movie actors can do successful repositioning of brands which

otherwise could be difficult to achieve. For example. Martini cocktail,

which was very much a ladies drink right through the 1960s. was able to

reposition itself as an acceptable male drink only through its product

placement in the James Bond movies (FICCL 2004).

>- Realistic brand portrayal

Product placement provides a venue where products can be portrayed

and possibly demonstrated realistically in the context of a movie scene

(Curtis, 1999). It is possible to demonstrate brand usage in naturalistic

settings (Loro. 1990).

>- Reaching specific target audience

Movies have always influenced popular culture. influencing fashion.

hairstyles, and language (Nelson & Devanathan. 2006). Marketers can

27

Chapter 1

place products in movies which are target specific, thus reaching highly

desirable audience.

>- Opportunity for banned products

Product categories like liquor are faced with dwindling avenues to

advertise their products, with certain media banned for advertisement of

these products in many countries, including India. Product placement in

movies offers a welcome opportunity for promotion of these products

(Chatterjee, 2003).

Alcohol brands McDowell No 1 's association with Stumped [2003],

Bagpiper with Dum [2003 1 and Zingaro beer with Jism [2003 1 were all

examples of such placements. Several cigarette brands have been

promoted by consciously placing cigarette packs or brand names/logos

in scenes in movies like God Mother [19991, Tere Mere Sapne [1996},

Chasme Baddur [19811 and Katha [1983].

>- Cross-promotions

Product placement in movtes offers vanous opportunities for cross­

promotions wherein marketers can orgainize a bouquet of activities

around the placement (Prasad, 2006). Marketers benefit from the

excitement factor surrounding the movies. The publicity got from these

promotions adds credibility to the business (Williams, 2007).

Hollywood movie Men in Black [19971 and Hindi movies Dostana

[20081, Baabul [20061, TaRa Rum Pum [20071 were but a few

examples of successful cross-promotions done for the products placed in

the movie.

28

Chapter 1

1.8.1.2

Benefits for moviemakers

Product placement in movies offers benefits to movie makers also.

> Clean Finance

Product placement has the potential to offset movie production cost

(Alsop, 1988). Product placement offers an increasingly popular way of

getting finance from marketers. For example, Movie Yaadein [2001]

earned 3.5 crores from product placements of Coca-cola and Hero cycles

(Chabria & Hemani, n.d.). Baabul earned more than Rs. I crore from

Audi's placement of its luxury car sedan A6 in the movie (Razdan.

2006). Coca-Cola paid about 20% of production cost of Taal [1900]

(Duraiswamy & Gupta); Kn·ish [2006] also raised 12 crores from

various product placements (Chatterjee, 2006).

Moreover, money from product placements can bring in liquidity to co­

create marketing activities for promoting the movies (Adesara &

Snelleksz, 2006). For example, revenue from brands like Audi, Kotak

Insurance, Eros Jewellery and Taj Mahal Tea which were placed in

Baabul [2006] took care of most of the promotion costs for the movie

maker (Screen Weekly, 2007).

> Realism

Product placement has the potential to create more realistic movie

settings (Sapolsky & Kinney, 1994).

29

Chapter 1

1.8.2

SHORTCOMINGS OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN MOVIES

However, the practice of product placement is not without its share of

risk for marketers and moviemakers. Both parties have still to reach a

common ground in terms of understanding each other's strength.

Product placement has disadvantages that stem from marketers' general

lack of control over the placement process. In spite of increasing

professionalism in movie-making, a lot of marketers were skeptical

about commitments not being met. Various shortcomings for marketers

are discussed next.

> There is no guarantee about the release date or success of a particular

movie, which can have devastating effects for promotional tie-ins at the

retail level (Hulin-Salkin, 1989). For example, Cadillac CTS Sedan

vehicle was placed in the movie The Matrix Reloaded [2003] and its

launch promotional activities were to be coincided with the release of

the movie. But the release date of was delayed for almost a year due to

9/11 terrorist attack, and the movie was released long after the vehicle

was launched (Burnett, 2003).

,_ There is possibility of the placed brand being edited from the movie

(Bergman, 1989; Solomon & Englis, 1994 ).

> There is risk of negative or unclear brand portrayal in the movie

setting (Fleming, 1990; Terry, 200 I) or overuse of brands (Adesara,

2006a)

30

Chapter 1

>- Brands placed in movies take a long time before the consumer gets

to see them. Time taken from the brand getting incorporated into the

script, to it being featured in the movie and the movie being released can

stretch to more than a year; meanwhile brands could have changed their

entire positioning (Khan, 2008).

>- There is difficulty in measurement of quality of each product

placement with respect to brand awareness, increasing brand equity, and

intent to purchase (Sauer, 2005).

On the other hand, moviemakers often complain that marketers usually

try to impose themselves into the script, and in a worst-case scenario do

not pay up at all. For example, in Hindi movie Baghban [2003}, two of

the brands which were associated with the movie backed out at the last

moment after the movie was made and the producer had to forego the

amount expected from the marketers (Menon, 2005).

1.8.3

BENEFITS AND SHORTCOMINGS OF PRODUCT

PLACEMENT IN TV SERIALS

Product placement in TV serials offers various benefits to marketers and

serial producers, some of which are similar to those offered by movies.

Like placements in movies, product placement in TV serials also helps

marketers in countering the advertising clutter in traditional advertising

space by capturing surfing audiences in a more receptive mood, and

provides opportunities for cross-promotions (Singh~ 2004).

31

Chapter 1

But product placement in TV serials offers some benefits that are not

offered by movie placements, as discussed below (Singh, 2004 ).

;.;... Product placement in TV serials is cheaper.

~ TV offers a more controllable medium than movies since marketer

can see the result of their TV placement effort within 4 to 6 weeks as

compared to a placement in movie, which takes a longer time to

release.

>- Placements m TV help to reach a more specific target audience

compared to movies, since TV serial audiences are better defined

than movie audiences.

~ Product placement in TV offers an accommodating arrangement

between channels and marketers. Since deals are by and large a two­

way negotiation between the TV channel and the marketer, if product

placement in one program does not work out, the client can be

accommodated by the channel in another program. Thus the

relationship between the channel and the marketer is not a one off

deal as in movies, but an accommodating long term arrangement.

Product placement in TV serials also suffers from shortcomings like

systems and processes not in place, no set parameters for valuing

placement, lack of structured format for in-program placements and

apprehensions that programming sanctity. like editorial sanctity, may get

compromised (Singh, 2004).

32

Chapter 1

1.9

EXPERT SUGGESTIONS FOR PRODUCT

PLACEMENT

A lot has been written on product placement by practitioners and

academicians. Experts have suggested various dos and don'ts for this

practice. Many instances of product placement in movies and TV serials

which support these suggestions are available. The salient points of

these expert opinions are presented next.

1.9.1

SUGGESTIONS FOR BRAND INTEGRATION INTO MEDIA

CONTENT

Practitioners and academicians give utmost importance to seamless

integration of a brand into the program content. There is. unanimity

among marketers and producers that advertising of this kind needs to be

as unobtrusive as possible, with product placement woven into the

program and not contrived or unnatural. The challenge is to make sure

that the brand message is conveyed without interruption and without

irritating the consumer. keeping the artistic integrity and entertainment

value intact. In short, product placement should be subtle.

According to Dr John McCarty, head of marketing at the College of

New Jersey, product placement works best if it's not perceived as forced

and unrelated (McGinty, 2008).

33

Chapter 1

According to Sanjay Bhutiani, Head of Leo Entertainment, one bad

product placement can wipe out 25 good ones; audiences hate a

contrived placement as creative integrity of the program is abused

(Burnett, 2003).

According to Jagdeep Kapoor, Managing Director of Samsika

Marketing Consultancy, brands should be integrated in the program

script with a natural flow, making the brand communication easily

acceptable and more effective (Kapoor, 2005).

According to Sanjeev Handa, director general, marketing, Maruti

Suzuki, the brand has to remain true to the consumer also; if an Omega

watch is shown in a middle class family, the consumer will not relate to

it (Khan, 2008).

There are many noteworthy instances of product placements from

movies and TV serials that exemplify seamless integration of brands in

the content. Two very famous examples are from Hollywood movies

You've Got Mail [1998] and Cast Away [2000].

"'r In the movie You've Got Mail [1998], AOL Internet service was an

essential part of the movie and was intimately connected to the plot

throughout the movie. The relationship between lead actors primarily

took place on their AOL e-mail accounts; the familiar phrase "you've

got mail" was heard numerous times whenever anyone of the main

characters signed on to Internet service for communicating with each.

AOL even played a persuading role to change the movie's original title

from "You Have Mail" to "You've got mail" in order to match with the

AOL phrase exactly.

34

Chapter 1

,_ In the movie Cast Away [2000], FedEx couriers and Wilson Sporting

Goods were well integrated in the script. One of the notable characters

in the movie was Wilson, a volleyball that was found in one of the

FedEx boxes while deserted on an island.

Various instances of well integrated brands in Hindi movies and TV

serials are given below.

-, Baghban [2003] creatively integrated three brands, namely, ICICI

Bank, Archies Gallery and Ford. The lead character of the movie was

shown as ICICI Bank employee; he was shown spending a lot of time in

Archies Gallery while writing a pivotal novel; another character was

shown owning a Ford showroom .

.,_ Lage Raho Munnabhai [2006} featured radio serice Worldspace as a

crucial location. with the lead actor uttering Worldspace's familiar call

'Good morning, Mumbai' as part of her scripted dialogue.

>- Taal [1999} had a very romantic scene wherein the lead pair shared a

bottle of Coke with the line 'Pyar Badta Hai' (love is strengthened) with

Coke; thus integrating the brand in the script while reinforcing the brand

values .

.., In Namaste London [2007], the aspect of speed with which money

can be transferred at Western Union Money Transfer was shown. Also,

matrimonial website bharatmatrimony.com was used to upload the

resume of the lead actress.

35

Chapter 1

r In Dastak [1996}, the lead actress (who had won Miss Universe title

m real life) while attending a press conference after winning Miss

Universe Contest in the movie was heard saying that the secret behind

her looks is none other than Emami, a brand of face cream .

., In a very popular TV soap opera Kahin To Hoga, a fashion show

sponsored by Lux soap was woven into the storyline.

>- In TV soap opera Kumkum, a Fair & Lovely commercial was shown

as part of the storyline .

., In a popular TV game show Kaun Banega Crorepati - II, every time

a participant phoned a friend for assistance, Airtel cellular service's

signature tune was played till time the friend came on line.

1.9.2

SUGGESTIONS FOR CROSS PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES

Experts opine that placement of a product in a movie or TV program

could be used for various cross promotional activities built around it.

Marketers must utilize the placement to activate the consumer to

respond. Product placement should be considered as a long term

strategic investment and a property created for the brand. Creative, even

simple, low-cost cross promotions can turn a throwaway placement into

valuable exposure. Cross promotions lead to consumer awareness about

the placement and they are more likely to notice the placement when

they see it, which is especially true for products that are not immediately

recognizable, or that do not have distinctive branding (Sauer, 2004).

36

Chapter 1

According to Pranay Athwal, General Manager of Starcom

Entertainment, marketers can orgainize a bouquet of activities around

product placement in a movie, including meet-and-greets with the star

cast, special screenings, autographed CDs, movie merchandising, co­

branding in theatres, promotions and contests, satellite/cable TV and

DVD releases (Prasad, 2006).

According to Leo Entertainment Head Sanjay Bhutiani, product

placement could be followed by a 360 degrees marketing plan for cross­

promotions during the various stages of the movie's release

(Indiantelevision.com. 2003).

According to Ruben Igielko-Herrlich, founding partner and co-president

of product placement group Propaganda GEM, product placement

should not be in a vacuum, but should be a component of a

comprehensive marketing mix. Such cross-promotions can take the form

of expansive campaigns. or creation of a simple website page to

highlight the placed brand, or posting the product placement information

on a discussion board or well-trafficked film website. A cross-promotion

is the best way to follow up a product placement. allowing brands to use

the movie's artwork and/or characters in its advertising (Sauer, 2005).

For example. in Hollywood movie Men in Black [1997], actors were

shown wearing Ray-ban sunglasses right through the movie. This

product placement was coincided with worldwide parallel launch of

Rayban sunglasses. During the movie's release in New Delhi, special

premiers. contests and promotions were organized in the city, making

the sunglasses a fashion statement. Thus. product usage in a movie was

37

Chapter 1

leveraged by marketers outside the movie space (FICCI, 2004: Haridas,

2000).

Various cross promotional activities have been carried out around

product placements in Hindi movies also.

,_ Lifebuoy soap, which was placed in the movie Krissh [2006}, did a

co-branded TV commercial (Shah, 2008).

~ Coke, which was placed in the movie Aap Mzljhe Acche Lagne Lage

[2002]. participated in the movie's promotion before its release,

including meets with the lead actor in New Delhi and Mumbai (Dhar,

2002).

).- Thums Up, which was placed in Kaantein [2002}, did a joint

television and ground promos with the movie (Dhar, 2002).

-, The leading strong beer brand Zingaro which was placed in the

movie Jism [2003} leveraged the placement further by producing a

calendar featuring the lead actress and giving it free of cost to

consumers who bought a case of Zingaro beer (Chatterjee, 2006).

-, Many brands extracted extra mileage out of their placement in the

movie Baabul [2006} (Screen Weekly, 2007: Razdan, 2006). Audi's

sedan A6 car, Chivas Regal and Eros Jewellery which were placed in the

movie sponsored a fashion show during the movie's music release. Audi

also showcased the car at theatres and ran brand commercials at cinema

halls. Another brand Kotak Life Insurance which was placed in the

38

Chapter 1

movie released a joint TV campaign with the line 'Spirit of Baabul is

celebrated with Kotak Life Insurance'.

).- Verve, a fashion and lifestyle magazine which was integrated in the

script of Dostana [2008}, had a special issue called Dostana special, in

which at least 40 pages were devoted to the movie. The magazine cover

page was inspired by the movie along with the editor's column having a

special mention of the movie. The issue contained interviews with

producer and director of the movie. details of fashion shoots of the

movie and fashion and beauty features inspired by the movie's theme

(Shah, 2008).

r Two brands - General Motors's Chevrolet car and Good Year tyres -

found ideal placements in TaRa Rum Pum [2007}, considering that the

movie revolved around racing. The movie· s lead pair was already the

brand ambassador for Chevrolet A veo. General Motors organized a

contest enabling viewers to test drive any Chevrolet model at any

General Motors dealership in India and participate in a lucky draw

which could possibly win them a Chevrolet A veo. Good Year launched

a new TV commercial built around the movie's theme, starring the lead

pair. At multiplexes, Good Year engaged audiences through activities

such as fitting tyres on cars (BusinessOfCinema, 2007).

1.9.3

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

There are some other noteworthy suggestions from various experts on

more etTective use of product placement in movies and TV serials.

These suggestions are presented below.

39

Chapter 1

)- Marketers should keep out of certain programs that may project a

product in a defamatory light; not every program presents an ideal

environment for promoting their products (Brook, 2000). For example,

beer companies were especially sensitive about not wishing to see their

products misused by violent or underage characters. Beer company

Anheuser-Busch turned down placements E. T [1 982} because the beer

was used to intoxicate a child (Anderson. 2006).

>- There should not be an overdose of the brand in a program,

otherwise, it would become boring and seem forced (Kapoor, 2005) .

.,. Products that require more than a visual identity will benefit less

from product placement (Sauer. 2004). A sports car is a highly visual

product and its performance benefits can be seamlessly incorporated in a

program; whereas a laundry detergent requires a vocal endorsement on

why it cleans better, and that will probably be a hard fit in a plot.

Moreover, because identifying with a movie is personaL basic needs

commodities such as drain cleaners will benefit less than lifestyle

products such as sunglasses (Sauer. 2004) .

.,. Comparatively speaking, smaller and lesser known brands have a

chance of benefiting most from good product placement but have a

slimmer chance of being seamlessly placed because audiences don't

know them; the more recognized a brand is within its product category,

the more likely it will be that the brand will get seamlessly placed.

(Sauer, 2004).

>- The choice of program for product placement should be closely

considered. The marketer should take into account the track record of

40

Chapter 1

the program producer, director and star cast, story line, and choose

programs, especially movies, which have a greater probability of being a

hit rather than being a flop (Kapoor, 2005). If a brand is associated with

a hit movie it increases !ts reputation and image and, of course, its

effectiveness. On the other hand, a flop movie makes even a good brand

look bad.

1.10

PRODUCT PLACEMENT PLAYERS

Product placement was quite an adhoc and casual effort by marketers

before its enormous success in the 1980s in the movies ET The

extraterrestrial [1982} and Top Gun [1986} (Buss, 1998; Farhi, 1998:

Reed, 1989; Tsai, Liang & Liu, 2007). The rising popularity of product

placement fueled a thriving and orderly industry involving various

groups of professionals, with more than 350 business enterprises in

Hollywood dedicated for product placement (Burnett, 2003). An

industry body called Entertainment Resources & Marketing Association

(ERMA) was formulated in the US in 1991, wherein various groups of

product placement professionals joined together to ensure standards of

operation and establish good business practices (Galician. 2004).

1.10.1

PRODUCT PLACEMENT AGENCIES

After the surge m product placement practice, vanous product

placement agencies flourished in the US. These agencies served as

middlemen between marketers and movie producers. Among the largest

independent placement agencies in US were Norm Marshal and

41

Chapter 1

Associates, Unique Product Placement and Davie-Brown (Adamson,

1996). Advertising agencies and public relations firms may also become

involved in negotiations for their clients (Pardun & McKee, 2000).

1.10.2

PRODUCTION STUDIOS

By the early 1990s, maJor Hollywood studios established in-house

divisions for product placement, enabling studios to contact marketers

directly (Segrave, 2004). Marketers felt a sense of security in dealing

directly with studios. By the year 2000, nearly all big Hollywood studios

like Columbia and Walt Disney had their own department devoted for

handling product placement opportunities and working with placement

agencies (Brook, 2000).

1.10.3

CORPORATE DIVISIONS

With marketers realizing the commercial impact of product placement,

maJor corporate businesses like Coke, Budweiser and AT&T began

doing product placements in-house (Segrave, 2004). For example,

Coke's association with Hollywood has been for more than 20 years and

it has its offices near major Hollywood studios for this purpose

(Bhatnagar, 2003).

Larger corporations have dedicated personnel to scout out opportunities

for product placement within movies, television shows and other media.

There are specific corporate positions whose sole or major part of job

profile is focused on product placements (Williams, 2007).

42

Chapter 1

1.10.4

PRODUCT PLACEMENT PLAYERS IN INDIA

Increase in advertising clutter on TV in India gave rise to avoidance of

advertisement (Mitra, 2008), thus reducing the effectiveness of

traditional TV commercials. Advertising agencies in India had to work

harder to get brands in front of consumers and product placement

became an attractive option. In order to cater to the increasing need of

product placement, advertising agencies established entertainment­

marketing divisions, formed joint venture companies or purchased

product placement agencies.

In India, advertising agency Leo Burnett was the first to step into

specializing in product placement and other marketing services, by

establishing a division called Leo Entertainment in 200 I, which was

responsible for product placement deals for movies such as Kaante

[2002], Raju Chacha [2000}, Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai [2002}. Jism

[2003} and Baghban [2003} (Bhatnagar, 2003).

Other advertising agencies like Lintas, Starcom, Group M. JWT.

Madison, Percept and FBC Worldwide followed suit by setting up units

for offering product placement services to marketers (Menon, 2005).

Show M, a joint venture company from advertising agency Group M.

concentrated on the medium of TV along with other mediums for

product placements, while Starcom's entertainment marketing unit called

Starcom Entertainment specialized in marketing brands using various

media of entertainment (Adesara. 2006a).

43

Chapter 1

1.10.5

PROCESS OF STRIKING PRODUCT PLACEMENT DEAL

To efficiently locate a product placement opportunity, marketers usually

hire a placement agency to act as a liaison with program producers and

secure story scripts far in advance of program production. For example,

Leo Entertainment, the product placement agency in India, secured

product placement deal for cola brand Thums Up in Hindi movie Kaante

[2002] six months before the movie went for production (FICCI, 2004).

The agency, along with the producer and director of the movie, studied

the whole script and found the more macho brand personality of Thums

Up to be appropriate for the movie, rather than Coke or Pepsi; and thus

the placement deal was done (FICCI, 2004).

If the agency has a script in hand which requires product placement,

suitable clients could be approached for pitching the association.

Similarly, clients also give the agency a brief as to what kind of

placement they are looking for and the agency can develop a format of

product placement around it (Adesara & Snelleksz, 2006).

In certain cases, production studios look for appropriate brands to be

placed in case the script demanded it. For example. there was need to

include a fashion magazine in Hindi movie Dostana [2008]. Dharma

Productions Pvt. Ltd., the production house, wanted to work with a real

magazine which could bring authenticity to the movie. rather than some

random, fictitious title. The company approached a few suitable

magazines before zeroing in on Verve. Verve had undergone a re­

branding exercise and was looking to launch an international edition

44

Chapter 1

around the time of the movies's release, and thus the deal worked out

(Shah, 2008).

Mr. Sanjay Bhutiani, General Manager of Leo Entertainment gave an

elaborate description of the process of product placement as discussed

next (lndiantelevision.com, 2003). According to him, each effective tie­

up between a brand and a movie involves hectic negotiations of around

3-6 months. There is no fixed formula but the factors that are taken into

consideration during the negotiation stage include: cast and credits, size

of the projects and the producers, timing of the release, brand impact,

number of screens during release and post-release phase and possibilities

of brand associations through contests and promotions. Depending on

the content of the movie and its story line, the placement agency can

sketch a profile of viewers who are likely to see the movie. Then the

agency approaches all those brands who could appeal to the targeted

viewers. This is followed by a 360 degrees marketing plan for cross­

promotions during various stages of a movie's release.

According to Tejaswini Aparanji of P9 Entertainment, rather than

having one-off product placement deals, the marketing plans of big

brands includes allocation of a fixed amount of money to be divided into

product placements and outside the program association

(Bollywoodhungama, 2007).

Not only can product placement deals happen before the production of

the movie or TV show, it can take place even after the program is shot.

In recent times. there are digital and virtual product placement agencies

which go one step further by using computer technology to add products

to scenes post-production. For example, digital and virtual product

45

Chapter 1

placement service in India was launched in 2006 by a tie-up between a

product placement valuation company called Media e2e and Spanish

digital animation company specializing in post-production product

placement called 3-D Media International (Shashidhar, 2006b). Digital

and virtual placements powers new opportunities for brands to be placed

in a movie or television show even after it is shot.

1.11

PRODUCT PLACEMENT EVALUATION

While product placement gained popularity in the 1980s, it became

important for marketers to evaluate the impact of the placed brands.

Marketers raised questions like what is the return on investing in product

placements, is product placement measurable and how to measure

product placement. The largest challenge faced by product placement

practice was accurate measurement of quality of each product placement

with respect to brand awareness, increasing brand equity, and intent to

purchase (Sauer, 2005).

For many years the method of product placement evaluation remained

quite unsophisticated. Evaluation measures were memory-based,

generally employing aided or unaided same-day and day-after recall.

CinemaScore, which is the primary product placement research

technique, incorporated after-viewing recall of placements into a

formula consisting of projected box office receipts to output a price for

the placement; using that formula a product placement fee of $28,130

was calculated for Coca-Cola in the movie Crocodile Dundee [1986}

(Law & Braun-LaTour, 2004). However, reliability of this system was

questionable (Gupta & Lord, 1998).

46

Chapter 1

Another system to measure every product placement exposition was

created by Poland based firm called Expert-Monitor, enabling marketers

to evaluate each exposure for general and target audiences (Burnett,

2003).

The most recognized firm for product placement evaluation in many

countries including US, India, Japan is New York based iTVX (Burnett,

2003). iTVX was formed in 2001 in response to the growing trend

towards product placement in the entertainment industry, most notably

in TV. Q-Ratio or Quality Ratio, which was a proprietary system of

iTVX, measured the quality of a placement in terms of worth and

effectiveness and hence the value deserved by it. The Q-ratio can be

applied in a number of ways by marketers for media measurement to

guide prognosis or diagnosis of what they got for their money (Adesara,

2006a).

Q-Ratio or the Quality Ratio determined the value deserved by a

placement by carrying out frame by frame study of the quality of the

placement, the visuals, how well it was integrated into the story, the

quality of exposure of the brand and how such exposure helped the

brand. Around 50 characteristics of placement were taken into account

to arrive at the right value (Burnett, 2003). Various levels of product

placement are considered - whether the product is in the background,

background plus close-up, foreground, foreground plus close-up, hands­

on wherein actor touches product, hands-on plus close-up, implied

endorsement wherein actor uses product, wardrobe wherein actor wears

product. verbal wherein actor mentions product, and verbal plus wherein

actor mentions and touches the product: at the implied endorsement

47

Chapter 1

level, commercial advertisements and product placements are

considered equal (Burnett, 2003).

In order to provide a product placement valuation metric service for

media professionals in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka markets, iTVX and

Media e2e, a strategic media studies group based in Mumbai and Hong

Kong, set up a joint venture in 2006 ("iTVX, Media e2e team up",

2006). A tool called Branded Entertainment Suite for Indian market was

launched with technical assistance from iTVX. The tool can trace

product placement quality in all forms of branded entertainment,

including television, radio, movies, games, print, live entertainment and

sports sponsorships. A valuation service can help a great deal in cutting

transaction time and thus increase the number of product placements.

1.12

PRODUCT PLACEMENT

REGULATIONS

ETHICS AND

The rise of product placement brought with it a whole host of issues and

controversies ranging from public policy debates to unsolved legal

problems. The proliferation of product placements gave rise to the need

of legal regulations that guide all stakeholders. i.e. producers, marketers

and consumers.

The increase in number of paid product placements gave birth to the

issue of creative control, pressurizing the producers to defer some

creative control to marketers. Much controversy existed over whether

brand-controlled productions would remain artistically viable and hold

48

Chapter 1

an audience while refraining from becoming nothing more than

infomercials (Lee, 2008).

Moreover, the trend of mass-integration of brands in entertainment

programs raised the ethical question of whether these heavily-branded

productions were little more than advertisements disguised as

entertainment for which consumers were already paying to view them

(Lee, 2008).

Product placement also gave rise to public policy concerns. Critics

argued that product placement was a kind of stealth advertising

embedded within media programs of which consumers are essentially

unaware (Gupta, Balasubramanian & Klassen, 2000; DeLorme & Reid,

1999; Karrh, 1998). For example, Commercial Alert, a US based

nonprofit organization, argued that product placements are an affront to

basic honesty and inherently deceptive; this is because many people do

not realize that they were advertisements and targeted them m an

unaware, relaxed and vulnerable state (Commercial Alert, n.d.)

Thus, product placement faced various Issues and controversies and

ditTerent countries adopted different approaches and regulations for this

practice, as discussed next.

1.12.1

REGULATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA

Broadly speaking, US government does not prohibit product placements

in broadcast television or motion picture industries (Lee, 2008). Unlike

other countries, US product placements is not condemned or viewed as

inherently dishonest. According to Washington Legal Foundation,

49

Chapter 1

product placements do not cause any consumer harm or injury because

in a free-market economy, consumers may decide for themselves

whether or not they want to see a specific product (Lee, 2008).

But even in US, emphasis is placed on proper disclosure of product

placement to consumers, especially in TV programs (Schatz, 2005).

Payola laws require that broadcasters and cable channels announce when

they are airing programs for which they have received payment. The

term payola has become standard for commercial bribery without

disclosure of consideration, a practice that is illegal in US (Schejter,

2004). The exceptions to this rule include donated products, nominal

consideration in return for product placement, or promotion of realism

as the pufpose of the product's placement (Mulcahy, 2006). Moreover,

major tobacco companies have entered into agreements with many

states. consenting to a nationwide ban on paid product placements

(Savare, 2004).

In Canada, product placements are allowed only m general

entertainment genre and not in programs for kids (Shashidhar, 2006a).

1.12.2

REGULATIONS IN EUROPE

The European approach to product placement vastly differs from that of

the, with product placements viewed with a higher level of suspicion.

The European Union's landmark legislation - Television Without

Frontiers (TWF) Directive governs audiovisual and media sector in all

member nations of European Union. The TWF Directive disallowed

surreptitious advertising (EUROPA, n.d.). Product placements have

50

Chapter 1

generally been considered by European countries as surreptitious

advertising. Such an inherently negative connotation gave rise to stricter

controls than those existing in the US.

Various European countries have taken different approaches to product

placements. but the unifying theme is that these approaches are usually

stricter than those adopted by US.

Since years, British made TV programs were subject to laws preventing

it from accepting funding for placing brands in its productions. If goods

were used on a show, brand names were carefully concealed so as not to

outwardly promote any particular product. This kept viewers free from

any suggestion of buying one particular brand over another

(Bizcovering, 2009).

Spain commonly used product placement practice while Germany is a

critic of its application (Laitner, 2007). In Austria, the law bans product

placements on public channels, unless the placement is external to the

broadcaster; the ban is absolute for children's programs (Lee, 2008).

Denmark and Italy mandated that the appearance of advertising be

distinguishable from regular programming content (Lee, 2008). This

efTectively ends up in prohibition of product placements because there is

no way to distinguish appearances of product placements from program

content without disturbing the flow of the program.

Finland and Ireland have made product placements illegal outright,

whereas in Portugal and Sweden. product placements are allowed within

the parameters of sponsorship rules, provided that such placements are

51

~ ~-~-~:...:-.:~.:.~.:.:~~fl-1&;,,.· ~ ~-,·-~·~·· i' ':1'11 ·., -:..:: Cl ;.._,..,.,,. ~

& .r;· ~11J • .._.,..j, ·>"~'?"}:.:

• .J ~,'~~ ... ~~~· • -

' ·-

Chapter 1

not prominent (Lee, 2008). In Sweden, the law creates a per se ban on

product placements because of the clause of ban against programs

showing an undue favoring of commercial interests.

But the response of European countries to product placement is on way

to become positive. Paid product placement is expected to grow

substantially in Europe due to relaxing of regulations and the passage of

the TWF directive (CarvajaL 2005; 2006).

The European Commission conducted a public study of TWF Directive

and concluded that revisions were necessary to account for the

substantial changes in audiovisual market and advertising industry (Lee,

2008). Restrictions on product placements are becoming increasingly

difficult to enforce due to a variety of reasons (Pfanner, 2005). First,

European broadcasters are increasingly importing American shows that

are abound with product placements. As such, European producers opine

that they feel compelled to follow suit and give their own programs the

same degree of realism. Second, product placements are common m

independently-produced works and imported feature films.

According to a study conducted by The Office of Communications, the

regulator of UK's communications industries, product placements

should be allowed for certain programs. such as sports, contemporary

dramas, game shows and magazine programs. while other genres, such

as news. current affairs, religion and children's programs, should be

deemed ofT limits (Ofcom. 2005). Furthermore, the consultation sets

forth that disclosure should be done in the beginning rather then the end

of a program so that viewers are alerted beforehand and to minimize the

52

Chapter I

negative effects of the great speed at which end-credits usually run

(Ofcom, 2005).

UK Law is set to allow television producers to accept payment for

product placement in the television shows for the first time

(Bizcovering, 2009). The proposed change to the law would allow

British television makers to accept product placement funds in certain

cases. It is only acceptable for commercial channels; i.e. not the BBC,

and cannot be used on children's television (Bizcovering, 2009).

1.12.3

REGULATIONS IN INDIA

Product placement is not bound by any stringent regulation in India, like

disclosure that the product placements are advertisements (Singh, 2004).

Nonetheless, since May 2005, there is ban on display or use of tobacco

products in movies or television; health warning scrolls are compulsory

in case of such scenes present in movies and TV programs produced

before the notification (Tiwary, 2009).

1.12.4

EFFORTS FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION

As seen previously, different countries have different levels of tolerance

towards product placement. But the aim across the countries is concrete

adherence to protecting the consumer, as can be seen from the following

statements of American Marketing Association, Direct Marketing of

Asia Association and European Association of Advertising

Communications.

53

Chapter 1

The American Marketing Association states that it "commits itself to

promoting the highest standard of professional ethical norms and values

for its members. In this role, marketers should embrace the highest

ethical norms of practicing professionals and the ethical values implied

by their responsibility toward stakeholders. We will represent our

products in a clear way in selling, advertising and other forms of

communication; this includes the avoidance of false. misleading and

deceptive promotion" (American Marketing Association, n.d.).

The Direct Marketing of Asia Association echoes this credo by stating,

"Representations which, by their size, placement. duration, or other

characteristics are unlikely to be noticed or are difficult to understand,

should not be used. And all otTers should be clear. honest and complete

so that the consumer may know the exact nature of the what is being

offered" (Direct Marketing of Asia Association. n.d.).

These views are repeated by the European Association of Advertising

Communications which claims to "promote honest, effective

advertising, high professional standards, and awareness of the

contribution of advertising in a free market economy and to encourage

close co-operation between agencies, advertisers and media in European

advertising bodies" (European Association of Communications

Agencies, n.d. ).

1.13

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER

Part I of this chapter introduced the practice of product placement, its

definition, evolution and growth. With reducing effectiveness of

traditional forms of promotion, this practice grew tremendously since

54

Chapter 1

the late 1980s. Though product placement practice is most popular in

movies and TV serials, it is also prevalent in other media like print,

videogames, online, books, radio and recorded music.

Part II of this chapter discussed product placement practice specifically

in movies and TV serials, which is the focus of this research. Various

modes of placement were explained with suitable examples. The

benefits of placing brands in movies and TV serials were discussed.

along with the problems faced by marketers in using this practice. The

biggest challenge faced by marketers was evaluating the impact of the

placed brands. Noteworthy suggestions from experts for good product

placement practice were highlighted. The role of various product

placement industry players was discussed. Lastly, various ethical issues

raised by product placement and the regulatory framework prevalent in

different countries were discussed.

55

Chapter 1

REFERENCES

Adamson, D. (1996, September 15). Ads in Sheep's Clothing from Beer to Cars: Product Placements in Movies and TV Enriches Artistic, Corporate Partners and Spawns New Industry. Los Angeles Daily News, p. B1.

Adesara, H. & Snelleksz, R. (2006, August 18). Branded entertainment challenge is not about saliency, it is about strategic & seamless integration. Retrieved from http://www. indiantelevision.com/interviews/y2k6/executive/rajeev _ b erry.htm

Adesara, H. (2006b, August 26). AFP: The International Scenario. Retrieved from http://www.indiantelevision.com/special/y2k6/branded _ entertainmen t intemational.htm

Adesara, H. (2006a, August 26). Branded Entertainment: The India St01y. Retrieved from http:/ /www.indiantelevision.com/special/y2k6/branded _ ente11ainmen t india.htm

Alsop, R. (1988, February 23). Consumer Products Become Movie Stars: Marketers Gain as Filmmakers Try To Cut Costs. Wall Street Journal, 23.

American Marketing Association. (n.d.) American Marketing Association Statement of Ethics. Retrieved from http://www .marketingpower.com/ AboutAMA/Pages/Statement%20o f0/o20Ethics.aspx

Anderson, C. (December 2006). Recall and recognzt1on of brand­modified product placement in movies. (Master's thesis. Brigham Young University, US).

Avery, R. 1., & Ferraro, R. (2000). Verisimilitude or advertising? Brand appearances on prime-time television. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 34. 217-244.

Babin, L.A. & Carder, S.T. (1996). Viewers' recogmtton of brands placed within a film. International Journal of Advertising. I 5, 140-151.

56

Chapter I

Balasubramanian, S. K. (1994). Beyond Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid Messages and Public Policy Issues. Journal of Advertising, 23(4), 29-46.

Bamouw, E. (1975). Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television. New York: Oxford University Press.

BBC News. (2006, August 17). Product placement 'set to triple'. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4801135.stm

Belch, G. & Belch, M. A. (2001). Advertising and Promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective. Boston. US: McGraw-Hill.

Belch, M. & Russell, C. A. (2005). A Managerial Investigation into the Product Placement Industry. Journal of Advertising Research, 45(1). 73+.

Bergman, C. (1989, July 28). Tobacco's Cloudy Image on the Silver Screen. Christian Science Monitor, 19.

Bhatnagar, M. (2003, July 29). Brand with Bollywood. Retrieved from http:/ /www.domain-b.com/industry/entertainment/20030729 _ brand.html#

Bhatnagar, M. (2003, July 29). Driving the brandwagon. Retrieved from http://www.domain-b.com/people/profiles/20030729 _san jay_ bhutiani.html#

Bhatnagar, N., Aksoy, L. & Malkoc, S. A. (2004). Embedded brands within media content: the impact of message, media, and consumer characteristics on placement etlicacy. In L. J. Shrum (Ed.). The Psychology of Entertainment Media (pp. 99-116). Mahwah. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bizcovering. (2009, September 15). Product Placement on TV. Retrieved from http:/ /bizcovering.com/marketing-and-advertising/product -placement -on-tv I

57

Chapter 1

Bollywoodhungama. (2007, January I5). Branding the Guru. Retrieved from http://www. bollywoodhungama.com/features/2007 /0 I I I5/2096/index .html

Brands on the Screen: Rocky the Salesman. (199I, April). The Economist, 70-75.

Brennan, I., Dubas, K. M., & Babin, L. A. ( I999). The influence of product-placement type and exposure time on product-placement recognition. International Journal of Advertising, 18,323-337.

Brook, T. (2000, November 25). Hollywood for sale. Retrieved from http:/ /news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1 039I3 7 .stm

Brown, K. (2006). Top 3 Shows for Product Placement. Real Screen Magazine. Retrieved from www .realscreen.com/articles/magazine/2006030 I /page9b.html ?word =Top&word=Shows&word=Product&word=Placement

Burnett, K. (2003, November 2I). WORLD: MEDIA ANALYSIS -Product placement thrives as advertisers look for subtlety. Retrieved from http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/rss/I96260/WORLD­MEDIA-ANAL YSIS---Product-placement-thrives-advertisers-look­subtlety/

BusinessofCinema. (2007, April 25). GM India in top gear with TaRa Rum Pum. Retrieved from http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=3256

Buss, D. D. (1998, December). Making your mark in movies and TV. Nation's Business, 86, 28-32.

Caro. M. (1996, August 20). Of all the Jim Beam joints. Chicago Tribune, EI7.

Carvajal, D. (2005, December I3). EU's proposed ad rules back product placement. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www .nytimes.com/2005/ 12/13/business/worldbusiness/ 13 iht­tv.html? r=1

58

Chapter 1

Carvajal, D. (2006, December 13). EU lawmakers approve overhaul of TV advertising standards. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www .nytimes.com/2 006112/13/techno I ogy 113 iht­eurotv.3888113.html

Chabria, K. & Hemani, D. (n.d.). Product Placements Global Scan. Retrieved from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/40853958/Product­Placements--G lobal-Scan

Chang, S. (2003). Product placement deals thrive m music videos. Billboard, 115(48).

Chatterjee, P. (2006, June 29). In association with Krrish. The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved from http://www. thehindu business line .com/catalyst/2 006/06/2 91 stories/20 06062900 160200.htm

Chatterjee, P. (2003, January, 17). Zingaro gets into in-film branding with Jism. The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved from www. thehindubusinessl ine .com/ .. ./2 003 0 11 70062 0600 .htm

Choi, S. (2007, May 23). Effectiveness of Product Placement: The Role of Plot Connection, Product Involvement, and Prior Brand Evaluation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA, San Francisco, CA. Retrieved from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p 172808 _index.html

Commercial Alert. (n.d.). Product Placement. Retrieved from http://www. commerc ialalert.org/issues/ culture/product -placement

Curtis, J. (1996, November 28). Taking Pride of Place. Marketing.

Deigh. R. ( 1985, October 28). Softest of sells: Placing Products in Movies Can Be a Lucrative Business. Washington Times, A9-A10.

Delorme. D. E., & Reid L. N. (1999). Moviegoers' Experiences And Interpretations Of Brands In Films Revisited. Journal of Advertising 28(2), 71-95.

DhaL A. (2002, April 8). Bollywood scripts cameo roles for FMCG firms. Retrieved from www.business-standard.com/ .. ./bollywood­scripts-cameo-roles-for-fmcg-firms/1 08590/

59

Chapter 1

Direct Marketing of Asia Association. (n.d.). Code of Ethics. Retrieved fromhttp://www.dmasia.org/ethics.php?PHPSESSID=d8C2997b6d3 c7c7b059bccfa9b164306

D'Orio, W. (1999, March). Clothes make the teen. American Demographics.

Duraiswamy, D. & Gupta, S. (2001, September 28). Who Moved My Product? Retreived from http://www.iimcal.ac.inlimz/archive/imz­archive/article.asp?id=PP

Farhi, P. (1998, December). AOL gets its Message out m Mail. Washington Post, 17.

EUROPA. (n.d). Television broadcasting activities: "Television without Frontiers" Directive. Retrieved from http:/ /europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/1241 0 1.htm

European Association of Communications Agencies. (n.d.). Welcome to EACA. Retrieved from http://www.eaca.be/

FICCI. (2004). Synopsis of FRAMES 2004: Tapping the opportunity between Movies and Marketing. Retrieved from www .ficci-frames. com/ Archive/2004/synopsis04/1 O.htm

Fine, J. (2004). Publishers Finally Unite to Rally Behind 'Engagement.' Advertising Age, 75(44), 3-4.

Fleming, M. ( 1990, May 9). Product Pluggola Padding Pie Producers' Budgets. Variety, 339.

Friedman, M. ( 1985). The Changing Language of a Consumer Society: Brand Name Usage in Popular American Novels in the Postwar Era. Journal of Consumer Research, 1 1(4), 927-38.

Friedman, M. (1991) A 'Brand' New Language. New York: Greenwood Press.

Galician, M. (2004). Harry Potter, Coca-Cola, and the Centre for Science in the Public Interest: An Interview with Michael F. Jacobson. In M. Galician (Ed.), Handbook of Product Placement in the mass media: New strategies in marketing theory, practice, trends and ethics (pp. 227-231 ). NY, USA: Haworth Press.

60

Chapter 1

Gould, S. J., Gupta, P. B. & Grabner-Krauter, S. (2000). Product Placement in Movies: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Austrian, French, and American Consumers' Attitudes toward This Emerging International Promotional Medium. Journal of Advertising, 29( 4): 41-58.

Gupta, P. B., & Lord, K. R. (1998). Product placement in movies: The effect of prominence and mode on recall. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 20(1), 47-59.

Gupta, P. B., Balasubramanian, S. K. & Klassen, M. (2000). Viewers' evaluations of product placements in movies, public policy issues and managerial implications. Journal ofCurrent Issues and Research in Advertising, 22(2), 41-52.

Hackley, C., Tiwsakul, R.A. & Preuss, L. (2008). An ethical evaluation of product placement: a deceptive practice? Business Ethics: A European Review. 17(2), 109-120.

Hackley, C. (2003, November). IMC and Hollywood - what brand managers need to know. Admap, 2-4.

Haridas, N. (2000, March 8). Corporales, cinema in sync for mutual benefit. Retrieved from www.rediff.com/money/2000/mar/08movie.htm

Hines, M. (2004, September 17). Oprah's auto giveaway fuels Web spike. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/Oprahs-auto-giveaway­fuels-Web-spike/21 00-1026 _3-5371325.html

Hulin-Salkin, B. (1989, June). Movie Tie-Ins. Incentive, 163, 36-41.

Indiantelevision.com. (2003b, July 29). Channel [V} refitses to become a 'Bakra' in 'Darna Mana Hai'. Retrieved from http://www. indiantelevision.com/marnlheadlines/y2k3/j uly /julymam 92.htm

Indiantelevision.com. (2006. August 18). Global paid product placement spending up 42% to S2 bn+ in 2005: PQ Media. Retrieved from http://www. indiante levi si on.com/mam/headl ines/y2k6/aug/augmam 7 7.htm

61

Chapter 1

lndiantelevision.com. (2007, March 19). India will be the fourth fastest growing product placement market: Study. Retrieved from http:/ /www.indiantelevision.com/mam/headlines/y2k7 /mar/marmam 66.php#

lndiantelevision.com. (2003a, January 14). Leo Entertainment capitalises on film placements. Retrieved from http://www.indiantelevision.com/specially2k3/valuecreation5.htm

iTVX, Media e2e team up to offer brand placement valuation services. (2006, February 8). The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved from http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/02/08/stories/200602080 271 0800.htm

Kahn, G. (2002, September 4). India's Hollywood has a new focus -product placement. Wall Street Journal, B5C.

Kapoor, J. (2005, Jun 30). In-film branding is the in thing. The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved from www. thehindubusinessl ine .com/ .. ./2 005 063000260400 .htm

Karrh, J.A. (1998). Brand placement: A review. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 20(2), 31-49.

Karrh, J .A. ( 1995). Brand placements in feature films: The practitioners' view. In Madden, C.S. (ed.), Proceedings ofthe 1995 Conference of The American Academy of Advertising (pp. 182-188). Waco, TX: American Academy of Advertising.

Karrh, J. A., Mckee, K. B. & Pardun, C. J. (2003). Practitioners' evolving views on product placement effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, -13(2), 138-149.

Khan, T. (2008, September 9). Why hasn't injilm placement taken ojj? Retrieved from http://www. thebrandreporter.com/perl/news/story .html ?sid=22 097

Krasnoff. R. (1986, June 1 0). Focus on Product Placement: From a Simple Idea to a Complex Marketing Tool. The Holly1vood Reporter, 292, s.23.

Kulkarni, N. (1996, September 27). Shopping at the Movies. Financial Express.

62

Chapter 1

Laitner, S. (2007, July 15). EU eases product placement rules. Financial Times. Retrieved from

http://search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=product+placement&y=O&aje= false&x=O&id=070524006941 &ct=O&nclick check= 1

Lavin, M. (1995). Creating Consumers in the 1930's: Ima Phillips and the Radio Soap Opera. Journal of Consumer Research 22(1), 75-89.

Law, S. & Braun-LaTour, K. A. (2004). Product Placements: How to Measure Their Impact. In L. J. Shrum (Ed.), The Psychology of Entertainment Media (p. 64). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Lee, S. (2008, March 24). Product placement in the United States: A revolution in need of regulation. Retrieved from http://www.cardozoaelj .net/issues/08/lee. pdf

Let us put you in movies. (1996, September 16). Brandweek, 3 7, 2-10.

Loro, L. (1990, February 5). Philly Products Angle for Ringside m Rocky V. Advertising Age, 61, 20.

Macleod, M. (2009, July 8). Products' film roles can help company stocks. The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved from http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/71520--products­film-roles-can-help-company-stocks

Maslin, Janet (1982, November 15). The Art ofPlugging Products in the Movies. The New York Times, C-11.

McCarthy, M. (1994, March 28). Studios place, show and win: Product placement grows up. Brandweek, 35, pp. 30-32.

McGinty, S. (2008, October 27). Does this mean Bond's past his sell-by date? The Scotsman. Retrieved from http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Does-this-mean-Bond39s­past.4630875.jp

McLeod, K. (2005). Freedom of Expression: Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity (pp. 188-197). New York: Doubleday. Retrieved from http://brandhype .org/MovieMapper/Resources/ProductPlacementAn dTheRealWorld.jsp

63

Chapter 1

Menon, R. (2006, January 5). The merchandising of cinema. The Hindu Metro Plus Chennai. Retrieved from http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/01/05/stories/2006010500470100.ht m

Menon, N.D. (2005, January 20). Saying it on film. The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved from www .thehindubusinessline.com/ .. ./20050 120000301 OO.htm

Miller, M. C. (1990, April). Hollywood: The Ad. The Atlantic Monthly, 257,41-68.

~itra, P. (2008, May 15). Ad avoidance on TV fails to dampen spend. Retrieved from http://www .financialexpress.com/news/ad-avoidance-on-tv-fails-to-dampen-spend/309724/

Mulcahy, B. R. (2006, May). That's Advertainment!. Los Angeles Law, 44-50. Retrieved from http://www.sheppardmullin.com/assets/attachments/31 O.PDF

Nebenzahl, I. D. & Secunda, E. (1993). Consumers' Attitudes Toward Product Placement in Movies. International Journal of Advertising, 12( 1 ), 1-11.

Neer, K. (2003, July 4). How Product Placement Works. Retrieved from http:/ /money .howstuffworks.com/product -placement.htm

Nelson. M. R. (2002). Recall of Brand Placements in ComputerNideo Games. Journal of Advertising Research, 42(2): 80-92.

Nelson. M. R. & Devanathan, N. (2006). Brand Placements Bollywood Style. Journal ofConsumer Behaviour, 5. 211-221.

Ofcom. (2005, December 19). Product Placement - A Consultation On issues Related to Product Placement. Retrieved from http://www .of com. or g. uk/ consult/condocs/product_placement/

Panda, T. K. (2004 ). Consumer Response to Brand Placements in Films Role of Brand Congruity and Modality of Presentation in Bringing Attitudinal Change Among Consumers with Special Reference to Brand Placements in Hindi Films. South Asian Journal of Jovfanagement, 1 1(4), '7-25.

64

Chapter 1

Pardun, C. J. & McKee. K. B. ( 1997). What advertising agency media directors have to say about placing clients' products in motion pictures. Proceedings of the 1997 Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Anahem, California.

Pardun, C. J. & Mckee, K.B. (2000). Product Placements as Public Relations: An Exploratory Study of the Role of the Public Relations Firm. Public Relations Review, 25(4), 481-93.

Pfanner, E. (2005. October 3). Product Placements Cause a Stir in Europe. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved from http://www .iht.com/ articles/2 00 511 0/02/business/products03. php

PQ Media. (2007). PQ Media Global Product Placement Forecast Series 2006-2010: Counlly-by-Counlly Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.pqmedia.com/global-product-placement-2006.html

PQ Media. (2005). Product Placement Spending in Media 2005. Retrieved from http://www.pqmedia.com/about-press-20050329-placement.html

Prasad, G. (2006, December 15). Bollywood adds twist to brand story. Media. Hong Kong, 22. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=120 1883121 &sid=5&Fmt=3& clientld=58533&RQT=309& VName=PQD

Rajshekhar, M. (1999, August 3). Hidden Persuaders. Business Standard.

Razdan, A. (2006, November 16). Audi A6 to debut through Baabul. The Economic Times. Retrieved from http:/ I econom ictimes. indiatimes.com/N ews/News-By­Industry/ Auto/ Automobiles/ A udi-A6-to-debut-through­Baabul/articleshow/459584.cms

Reed J.D. (1989, January 2). Plugging away Hollywood. Time, 103.

Rodgers, A. L. (2002, May). More than a game. Fast Company.

Rothenberg, R. (1991, May 31). Critics seek F.T.C. action on products as movie stars. New York Times. 140, Dl.

65

Chapter 1

Russell, C. A. (2002). Investigating the effectiveness of product placements in television shows: The role of modality and plot connection congruence on brand memory and attitude. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 306-318.

Russell, C. A. & Stem, B. B. (2006 ). Consumers, Characters and Product, A Balance Model of Sitcom Product Placements Effect. Journal of Advertising, Vol. 35(1), 7-21.

Sapolsky, B. S. & Kinney, L. (1994 ). You Oughta Be in Pictures: Product Placements in the Top Grossing Films of 1991. ln K. W. King (Ed.), Proceedings of the i994 American Academy of Advertising Coriference. Athens, GA: American Academy of Advertising.

Sauer. A. (2005. September 26). Product Placement: Making the Most of a Close-Up. Retrieved from http://www. brandchannel.com/features _ effect.asp?pf_id=282#more

Sauer, A. (2004, September 27). Brand,~;p/oitation: A New Genre in Film. Retrieved from http://www. brandchannel.com/features _ effect.asp?fa _ id=231 #more

Savare, M. (2004). Where Madison Avenue Meets Hollywood and Vine: The Business, Legal, and Creative Ramifications of Product Placements. ii UCLA Entertainment Law Revie·w, 331, 333.

Schatz, A. (2005, June 8). FCC's Adelstein talks product placement. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www .aef.com/industry /news/ data/2005/3119

Schejter, A. M. (2004, October). Product Placement as an international Practice: Moral. Legal, Regulatory and Trade implications. Presentation at Telecommunication Policy Research Conference. Retrieved from http:/ /web. si. umich.edu/tprc/ papers/2 004/3 04/product%2 Op lacement %20tprc.pdf

Screen Weekly. (2007. February 26). Branded entertainment in Bollywood. Retrieved from http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2007/02/26/2300/index .html

66

Chapter 1

Segrave, K. (2004). Product Placement in Hol~vwood Films: A histmy. North Carolina, USA: McFarland & Company.

Shah, G. (2008, November 7). Media brand<Jlook to hollywood to promote their brands. Retrieved from http://www.livemint.com/2008111 /06214 727 /Media-brands-look-to­Bollywood.html

Shashidhar, A. (2006b, July 15). Media e2e offers digital product placement service. The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved from www.thehindubusinessline.com/ .. ./200607150 121 0700.htm

Shashidhar, A. (2006a, March 2). A service of value. The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved from http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2006/03/02/stories/20 06030200170300.htm

Singh, R. (2004, February, 19). Wedding the plug to the program- will television say I Do? Retrieved from http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/special/y2k4/brandplacement. htm

Singh, R. (2004, February 19). Wedding the plug to the program- will television say I Do? Retrieved from http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/specially2k4/brandplacement. htm

Solomon, M. R. & Englis, B. G. (1994). Reality Engineering: Blurring the Boundaries Between Commercial Signification and Popular Culture. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 16(2). 1-17.

Spillman, S. ( 1989. July I). Marketers Race to Leave Their Brand on Films. Advertising Age, 56(3). 55.

Stem, B. B. (1991 ). Literary Analysis of an Advertisement: The Commercial as 'Soap Opera'. In R. H. Holman & M. Solomon (Eds), Advances in Consumer Research. 18. Provo. UT: Association for Consumer Research.

Terry, M. (2001, September). When is a Prop Not a Prop: The Advantages ofProduct Placement? SportsMarketing, winter, 14-15.

67

Chapter 1

Time. ( 1970, September 7). Modem Living: The Breakout of the Undershirt. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171.902714,00.html

Tiwary, A. K. (2009, March 9). Policy initiatives related to smoking in movies in India. Presentation at 14th World Conference on Tobacco OR. Health, Mumbai. Retrieved from http://www.l4wctoh.org/abstract/abstract/NCPA/09%20-%20March/l 030%20-%20 1200%20hrs/Tata%20Theatre/ Atul_ WCTOH _Presentation. pdf

Tsai, M., Liang, W. & Liu, M. (2007, March). Effects of Subliminal Advertising on Consumer Attitudes and Buying Intentions. International Journal of Management.

Turcotte, S. (1995). Gimme a Bud! The Feature Film Product Placement Agency. (Master's thesis. University ofTexas at Austin).

Vollmers, S. & Mizerski, R. (1994). A Review and Investigation Into the Effectiveness of Product Placements in Films. In K. W. King (Ed.), Proceedings of the 1994 American Academy of Advertising Conference (pp 97-102). Athens. GA: American Academy of Advertising.

Wasko, J., Phillips, M., & Purdie, C. (1993). Hollywood Meets Madison A venue: The Commercialization of US Films Media, Culture, and Society, 1 5(2), 271-93.

Williams, G. (2007, January 16). Landing Media Placement for Your Product. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingideas/article 1730 86.html

68