If you’ve been around for the last century, you’ve probably seen brands and products (or similar versions) be subtly advertised in everything and everywhere from movies, tv series, comics, books, restaurants, commercials, and even marketing-related articles like this. If you haven’t, you should book a session to learn more about how you can improve your business with the marketing experts, over at Alpha Co. Marketing and Media. But, what is product placement? Why is it a popular technique in marketing? Also, in what ways can it help your business?
Introduction to Product Placement
Product placement is the act of presenting items subtly that would allow viewers and consumers to preconceive needing that item, turning them into potential purchasers for that item. This technique allows brands and businesses to psychologically influence viewers of purchasing goods from that brand in the future.
One example is the use of fake brands named chips that are constantly used in tv series like “Let’s”, which represents the real brand “Lays”. With similar designs and having the characters constantly consuming the chips while showing the bag, viewers will be enticed by the action taking place in front of them and will most likely want to purchase a bag of similar chips.
Common Forms of Product Placement
Of course, Product Placement doesn’t have to be as intricate. You most likely see at least one type of product placement daily. If you’re a fan of sports, you’ve likely seen banners with various business names. This is a form of product placement and advertisement. As the viewer is mostly focused on the match, possibly not realizing that the brain is absorbing the information in the background, as well. It’s a neat trick that marketers use to fill the empty background blank space with certain info. This way, the viewer can likely purchase goods and services from those product placements, which leads to the venue, event managers, and businesses generating more money.
Another common form of product placement you might notice are at restaurants, small businesses, gas stations, etc. The next time you visit your local business establishment, check out if they carry or present anything out of the ordinary. Sometimes, restaurants will have posters on their windows for local events like cultural festivals or music events, gas stations may sell certain music on cd’s, and businesses, in general, may even promote certain brands or products blatantly in the open, like a cardboard cut-out of a sports star holding a can of a certain sports drink beverage.
How Can Benefit Your Business
So, how does this help your business? When it comes to product placement, the goal is to influence the viewers/consumers’ purchase from your brand, by exposing them to it, as much as possible. You can start small by collaborating with a local business that would allow you to post posters, fliers, and other noticeable items for your brand. Some businesses allow other businesses to share and drop business cards so that customers can mix and match certain services and goods.
