[opendtv] Products Slide Into More TV Shows, With Help From New Middlemen
- From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 12:26:27 -0400
Products Slide Into More TV Shows, With Help From New Middlemen
By EVELYN NUSSENBAUM
September 6, 2004
Leslie Moonves loves to talk about the Steven Spielberg movie
"Minority Report." Mr. Moonves, the co-president and co-chief
operating officer of Viacom , which owns CBS, Paramount Television
and Showtime, still sings the praises of the movie two years after he
saw it. But it was not the cinematography or Tom Cruise's star turn
that moved him. It was all the brand names - Lexus, Gap, Reebok,
Guinness and American Express - that found their way into the film.
"That movie was packed with brands," he said. "I sat in the movie
theater and thought A, the movie's working, and B, if Spielberg can
do it without compromising the artistry, we can, too."
Television networks have worked hard in the last two years to strike
their own product placement deals, closing the gap with the movies.
CBS plans to broadcast product-themed nights, with a single brand
featured on consecutive shows, although Mr. Moonves declined to offer
details. Entire episodes of NBC's "The Apprentice" will revolve
around one brand: instead of selling lemonade or giving rickshaw
rides, the aspiring business tycoons will sell Mars's newest candy
bar, hawk Crest toothpaste and construct a new toy for Mattel .
Campbell's Soup has been written into "American Dreams," with NBC and
the soup maker sponsoring a real-life essay contest mirroring one in
the show's plot.
The new emphasis on product placement in television has brought new
players into the business - brand wranglers who work with programmers
and advertisers. They are pushing the placement, which they like to
call "brand integration," into new territory, sometimes acting as
co-producers and even building new programming around the brands.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/06/business/media/06placement.html
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