Chris Abraham

Tom Biro and I think product placement is pretty cool, “an absolute coup.” Nicole Rogers believes that product placement is going on the down low. It really doesn’t need to.

To me, embedding products deep into the show so that they don’t glare just means the industry is becoming more sophisticated and not more covert. It is not about sneaking message so much as it about not inconveniencing the viewer. It is about giving more than you take. It is all about flow, seamlessness, mediadynamics.

I love product placement because it reminds me of the radio shows of the 30s and 40s, which I love. Why should there be any shame surrounding product placement? I honestly believe that most people don’t care. Those who do, live in the urban centers and are loud and obnoxious. Ignore them.

In the radio shows, there was a level of healthy and straight forward communication that Madison Avenue no longer employs:

the price of this free entertainment is having sponsors, selling products and services (Horlicks, anyone?), promoting upcoming movies (why else would the stars be there?), and the like.

I honestly believe that someone with a lot of influence and charm has sold Madison Avenue that the only way to advertise and market is delivering client message using subliminals and NLP — the kind that is supposed to register on the subconscious level.

I am sure it was a genius doctor of clinical psychology who did the research and discovered that there are some message delivery vehicles against which we have no protection.

And that is true, of course.

But I like ads and most of my friends watch them. Half the fun of paging through most magazines is looking at what people are selling. Investing a little in the fantasy of the glossy Rolex ad for the GMT-II Oyster Perpetual in solid gold!

Drool.

So, before everybody spends all their time going on the down low with their advertising and marketing, it is also important to explore the up and up as well. Oftentimes, stating loud and proud, “this is my product and I think you should buy it because it is better, different, cooler, newer, lighter, sturdier, more stylish, more reliable, and safer than anything else, and here’s why.”

Mind you, I am a member of the viral and buzz marketing association and man, what a powerful method of marketing buzz markeing, viral marketing, guerilla marking, grassroots marketing, etc, is but its not for everyone and certainly not for every product or service.