James Bond wears Omega, drinks Heineken, and drives Aston Martin. And there are 93 million reasons why. That’s how much brands paid to be part of his last film. And it makes a lot of sense. Just 12 seconds on the right screen can drive $100M’s in revenue.
But how does product placement actually work? Here’s some a cheat sheet.
1/ How it started Product placement goes back to the 1920’s when brands like Firestone and Hershey paid to have their stuff featured in movies. Radio got in on the action in the 30’s and by the 50’s, TV was full of product placement. And then things got a little fuzzy. Here’s why.
2/ Let’s talk dollars A lot of the brands you see on screen aren’t actually paying money to be there. It’s a barter system. → I’ll give you 45 Dell computers to make it look like a real office, if you shoot some pretty closeup’s of those logos. → I’ll send you 100 cases of bottled water, as long as the bottle happens to show up in a character’s hand. → I’ll give you 6 Chevy Silverado’s to blow up in an action scene, if my nameplate gets 5 seconds of screen time. Preferably without being blown up. But make no mistake — there’s also a ton of cash changing hands.
3/ Big business Today it’s a $23B industry. And most of that money comes in from just a few brands paying to be in the biggest films. Some iconic examples: 1982 – Reese’s Pieces pays $1M to be featured in E.T. Sales quickly double. Sounds like a bargain. 2012 – Heineken pays $45M to have 007 order one at the bar. They say it boosts sales big time. 2013 – A bunch of brands pay $160M to be featured in Man Of Steel, the Superman movie. This is the all time record. 2022 – Dozens of brands from the original, reappear in Top Gun: Maverick. And Ray-Ban Aviators are still flying off the shelves.
4/ My take Product placement is even more valuable in a world of infinite media. Demand for attention is at an all-time high. But let’s be clear: social media has totally transformed the game. This was actually my main insight when I founded Influicity in 2015. • Foodie creators can do product placement for restaurants • Beauty vloggers can do product placement for makeup brands • Gamers can do product placement for tech stuff Fast forward a decade and this reality is 100x stronger. Brands need to be a part of the conversation. Not an interruption. Any brand can get in on product placement. You just need to come up with stuff people actually want to watch. Then learn how to use social media to hijack attention. A can of beer looks great in the hands of James Bond. But it’s also pretty good when it pops on TikTok. #marketing #growth #brand ___
P.S. Want to learn how modern brands are doing product placement in 2024? I’ll go deeper in my newsletter and YouTube. Subscribe to my email list so you don’t miss it. Hit the link at the top of my profile.
