Product placement: Can it be a success for viewers, television and advertisers in the UK?

Okay, lets give this blog business a go…..

For the 55 years of commercial television in the UK, we have been used to seeing advertising  only during the commercial break. However today sees the start of paid-for product placement for the first time in shows produced in the UK. The first product placement was a Nescafe coffee machine on this morning. The question however is will the attentive, coffee thirsty, This Morning viewer feel the need to go out and purchase this latest offering from Nescafe (available at all good stores, and some bad ones) or will they simply stick the kettle on.

Lets look at our Atlantic neighbours……….

In America, advertisers such as Coca-Cola and Apple pay millions of dollars to place their products in films and TV programmes. Product placement has a long history in America and makes up 5% of television revenues, approximately $1.80 billion (£1.1 million). Product placement can be seen in most, if not all of our favourite American shows, with varying subtlety. For instance there is a clear difference in placement approaches between someone using a HP computer in The Office, to Donald Draper pitching how Heineken can bring its beer to the attention of American consumers in Mad Men (which was paid for by Heineken as an additional part of their advertising on the show).


 A viewer like myself would prefer to think that product placement in the UK will not intrude on the narrative in my favourite shows, and instead will stay hidden in the background for me to subliminally remember when it comes to making a purchase. Guardian TV critic Julia Raeside reassures UK viewers stating "I don't think it's going to muck up the programmes or have an artistic effect at all, It'll be much more subtle than that."

However, for an advertiser there is clear evidence in the US to demonstrate that products and brands which indeed do “intervene” or as a marketer would say “enhance” a story line sees greater and quicker reward.

For example on the American Apprentice the contestants' task on one episode was to design a brochure for Pontiac's new sports car. During the reality show, Pontiac ran a 60-second ad that showed off the vehicle and directed viewers to its Website, where they could register to be one of the first 1,000 owners, who would receive a limited-edition version of the car. Only 15 minutes after the announcement, traffic at the site increased 1,393%. Viewers could take their registration forms to their local dealer beginning at 2 p.m. the next day to pre order; the first 1,000 units were sold by 2:41 p.m.

Another not-so-subtle approach was the infamous Oprah Winfrey Car giveaway on Sept. 13, 2004. Oprah gave all 276 audience members – all of whom had been determined to need a set of wheels – a fully loaded 2005 Pontiac G6. The audience members were also able to customize their cars to their liking. The day before the episode aired, Pontiac had about 33,000 visitors to its Website. That grew to 85,000 the day of the episode and 114,000 the day after. In the six months after the placement, 27,332 G6s were sold, According to Pontiac marketing manager Mark-Hans Richer “the $7.7 million we spent on that product placement was probably the most efficient thing we did all year."

However I very much doubt we will see similar “intrusion” or “enhancement” in the big UK produced TV shows such as Coronation Street or Emmerdale. According to Campaign.com  “ITV and Channel 4 are known to be sensitive to the possibility of a public backlash to product placement, and ITV switched its focus for the first product placement deal from 'Emmerdale' to 'This Morning' last week”

Research from Vision Critical, published today, supports the broadcasters' fears.

In a survey of 2,000 viewers, they found:

61% of people were unaware that product placement will now be allowed.

54% were "comfortable" with product placement.

32% were "uncomfortable" with product placement.

38% thought TV quality would reduce.

31% thought TV quality would improve.

Older viewers were less comfortable with product placement than younger viewers.

Mike Stevens, head of research at Vision Critical London, said: "There's a real lack of awareness that commercial TV will soon be carrying paid-for promotion of brands. It's to be expected that people will feel uncomfortable at first."

Therefore it is reasonable to suggest that initially the broad rating-winning shows will see very little, if any product placement. This will be until there is an increase in awareness and acceptance of product placement. 

In the mean time satellite and cable tv shows with fewer ratings, have a great opportunity to increase and diversify revenues. The Vision Critical research discovered some channels were found to be better suited for product placement. 62% are "comfortable" with product placement being used on E4 and 64% are "comfortable" to see it on Sky Sports. It seems this younger audience (probably raised on American television imports) is more accepting and aware of product placement. For advertisers this will allow them to appeal to a more targeted audience for a fraction of the price it would on ITV or Channel 4 without fear of a public backlash. In addition to this, I believe based on previous research on television sponsorship, that if you placed a product on a show that fits with the brands personality there will be even greater acceptance and more purchase intent.

So for now, product placement can be a success in the UK for viewers, if it doesn't interfere with narrative. It can be a success for shows with younger,more accepting, audiences. It can also be a success for advertisers who can use television shows to target the more accepting demographics for now, until the mass population are more aware and accepting of product placement.