Product placement

Article • WARC Best Practice, September 2020

Examines key insights on product placement, the subtle form of advertising for promoting branded products and services, which can enhance brand awareness, recall and drive sales.

Jumanji, The Next Level: Taking TV to the Next Level

Case Study • Tamara Cross, Stephen Cooke, WARC Awards, Shortlisted, Effective Innovation, 2020

Entertainment company Sony Pictures launched the second film in the Jumanji franchise in the UK through an integration with one of the country’s most popular reality shows.

How brands can flourish in an ad-free video streaming world

Article • Joy Bhattacharya, WARC Exclusive, April, 2020

AI-driven embedded marketing can help SVOD providers to monetise content, and enable brands to reach consumers in environments where conventional advertising is not possible.

In defence of influencers

Opinion • Ed East, January 2020

Following the censuring of an influencer for Pretty Little Thing for posting about the brand outside of an advertising context, Billion Dollar Boy’s Ed East explores where the rules suggest some murky standards.

Knorr: The Irreplaceable Home Taste

Case Study • Alana Zervos, WARC Media Awards, Gold and Early Adopter Special Award, Effective Use of Tech, 2019

Seasoning brand Knorr employed innovative AI In-Video Ad Insertion Technology to embed ads within popular Hong Kong sitcom Come Home Love: Lo And Behold to increase sales and boost brand awareness.

Can-Am Ryker: A ride like no other

Case Study • Touché!, WARC Media Awards, Entrant, Effective Channel Integration, 2019

Vehicle brand BRP took an unconventional approach to publicise the launch of its latest model to a younger target audience, teaming up with pop culture icons to increase awareness and drive trial.

The golden age of product placement

Opinion • Faris Yakob, November 2019

Is the world of advertising about to come full circle, Faris Yakob wonders? The period known as the ‘golden age of advertising’ starts at the creative revolution in the 1960s and runs through the end of the 1980s.

Product placement landing stronger marketing punch

Article • David Ward, ANA, ANA Magazine, October 2019

As consumers' entertainment consumption patterns continue to change dramatically, a growing number of brands and organizations are starting to look at product placement in a new light, fueled by integrated marketing.

Google Home: OK Google! Lets have some Koffee!

Case Study • Emvies, Gold, 2019

Google, the technology company, successfully launched its Google Home digital speaker in India by partnering with talk show Koffee with Karan.

Product placements move to streaming services

News • 03/10/2019

As more viewers take to streaming services around the world, there is a growing need to market to them through the available channels.

Knorr: Masterchef

Case Study • Valentina Carracedo, Daniela Maspole, Agustina García, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Content Strategy, 2019

Cooking solution brand Knorr used an innovative partnership approach in Uruguay to increase awareness and boost trial of its new products.

Missguided: Missguided Styles Love Island

Case Study • Sarah Rostron, Alydia Noble, WARC Awards, Silver and Partnership Award, Effective Innovation, 2019

Missguided, the UK-based online female fashion retailer, drove brand awareness, purchase intent and increased sales by partnering with the UK smash-hit TV programme, Love Island, to make its clothes instantly saleable to viewers on a dedicated app.

Kellogg’s meets Netflix: Earned media lands in shopping cart

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, ANA Data and Measurement conference, September 2018

The Kellogg Co., the FMCG manufacturer, has built strong research and analytics capabilities to help its brands flourish in a complex marketplace.

Unilever taps native in-video ads

News • 20/09/2018

A campaign in Hong Kong for Knorr is making use of dynamic ad insertion technology on local OTT channel myTV SUPER that allows the Unilever-owned food ingredients brand to appear in popular video at scale without disrupting the viewing experience.

Integration over interruption: Product placement is booming

Article • Sharon M. Goldman, ANA, ANA Magazine, August 2018

Outlining the five ways product placement in TV shows can best work in an age of shifting viewing behavior.

Porsche: Panamera O2O brand repositioning

Case Study • AME Awards, Finalist, 2018

Porsche, a car brand, launched the Ode to Joy campaign to increase awareness of the Panamera model in China.

McDonald's: Dual Combo on Twitch

Case Study • Joy Weng, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2017

McDonald's, the fast food chain, found a niche 'hunger' to serve in Taiwan by targeting live webcast viewers when it launched a new menu.

Tan Hiep Phat: 5s Online and THP go from the living rooms to fans' hands

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Finalist, 2017

Tan Hiep Phat Group (THP), Vietnam's leading non-carbonated beverage company, launched a campaign to raise brand awareness.

McDonald's: Dual Combo on Twitch

Case Study • Joy Weng, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Content Strategy, 2017

This case study describes how fast-food giant McDonald's partnered with online live webcast platform Twitch, to launch its Dual Combo menu in Taiwan.

Hedonic Contamination of Entertainment: How Exposure to Advertising In Movies and Television Taints Subsequent Entertainment Experiences

Research Paper • Cristel Antonia Russell, Dale Russell, Andrea Morales and Jean-Marc Lehu, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 57, No. 1, 2017, pp. 38-52

These three studies found support for a process termed hedonic contamination, whereby exposure to advertisements before a movie or television show activates persuasion knowledge, directs attention to the product placements, and reduces consumption enjoyment.

McDonald's: Dual Combo on Twitch

Case Study • Serena Lee and Joy Weng, WARC Prize for Innovation, Entrant, 2017

This case study describes how fast-food giant McDonald's partnered with Twitch, the biggest online game live webcast platform in Taiwan, to launch its Dual Combo menu.

NRG Solar Forecast

Case Study • Case Studies on WARC, 2016

This case study describes how NRG Energy, an energy company, improved perception of solar power in the United States with its Solar Forecast.

Chewbacca Mask Star Wars

Case Study • Rosa Llamas, WARC Media Awards, Shortlisted, Effective Channel Integration, 2016

This case study describes how toy manufacturer Hasbro turned a viral phenomenon featuring its Star Wars Chewbacca mask into a 360º communication on TV and social networks in Spain.

How to mix brand placements in television programmes to maximise effectiveness

Research Paper • Nathalie Dens, Patrick De Pelsmacker, Peter Goos and Leonids Aleksandrovs, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 58, No. 5, 2016, pp. 649-670

This research, based on 20 brand placement campaigns for 17 brands in 11 Belgian entertainment shows, uses the mixture modelling technique to identify the optimal mix of brand placement types in a programme.

Comparing Brand Placements and Advertisements on Brand Recall and Recognition

Research Paper • Davit Davtyan, Kristin Stewart and Isabella Cunningham, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 56, No. 3, 2016, pp. 299-310

Despite the popularity of brand placements in television programming, little is known about their effectiveness when they are used separately compared with when they are combined with television commercials.