New TV Advertising Includes ‘Product Integration’

Product placements may be an advertising means of the past, now replaced by a souped-up version: product integration. This method of television advertising makes a product almost another character, such as the Coke cups from which “American Idol” judges drink. Product integration occurs “when a brand becomes inextricably identified with the content of a show,” according to NPR news. Other examples of this advertising technique in reality shows include:

• Target in "Oprah's Big Give"
• Glad products in "Top Chef"
• ELLE magazine in "Project Runway" (shots of the magazine hang as posters on the wall and the magazine’s editor is a judge)

But television fiction handles product integration in a way that’s supposed to be more subtle. In "Mad Men," advertising exec characters debate a new campaign for Heineken, of course extolling the products virtues; and Christian Slater’s two personalities in "My Own Worst Enemy" each drive a different Chevy. NPR also notes these extremely subtle examples from NBC's "The Office": Michael takes clients to eat at Chili's and Dwight leaves the company for Staples.

Network executives refer to this as “natural” and “organic” because the product becomes a part of the show. Sponsored ad campaigns often include regular ads coupled with product integration and something called “podbusters,” — commercial-esque clips during commercial breaks that include a show’s characters meant to keep you watching instead of fast-forwarding.

Product integration does not come without opposition. Robert Weissman of the watchdog group Commercial Alert, says product integration is deceptive advertising, especially to children who can’t tell it apart from regular programming. Weissman and the Writer's Guild of America West advocate alerting viewers to integrated products through a crawl on the bottom of the screen.

Source:
NPR’s Morning Edition:Taking Product Placement Another Step

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Blog: Promo Product Integration