RESEARCH & INSIGHT

April 2011

Product Placement

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

The agenda…

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

• Background and objectives

• Methodology

• Here’s the theory

• The viewers take on Product Placement

• Creative formats

• The golden guidelines of Product Placement

• Hollyoaks case study

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Background and objectives

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Setting the scene…

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

• In February 2011, the Government relaxed the rules allowing Product Placement on UK TV for the first time

• In America, Product Placement is worth 5% of all advertising revenue

• It is clear that the presence of PP on UK television content provides Channel 4 with a new market opportunity, but equally raises many questions for advertisers, sales teams, commissioners and also the viewing audience

• Research was required to investigate the parameters of PP, both to represent a ‘best practice/ golden rules’ piece of thought leadership to the industry and to strengthen Channel 4’s position as an appropriate platform for advertisers

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Channel 4’s response

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

• Following the relaxation in the Product Placement legislation on British television 2010 Channel 4 commissioned 2 pieces of qualitative research.

1. Work Research: Expert Interviews

As PP has existed for some time overseas there is extensive expertise and numerous academic studies on the subject. Channel 4 commissioned Work to get under the skin of placement, asking neuroscientists, behavioural experts and industry specialists to share their knowledge.

2. SPA Future Thinking: The consumers view

Gauge viewers opinions of Product Placement in order to create a golden guidelines for C4 and the industry as a whole

• Fieldwork was conducted in January 2011

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Expert interviews - The objectives

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

• Trying to establish how Product Placement works.

Business Objectives

• To gain an understanding in how consumers process brand information including

• Parasocial relationships with onscreen characters• The use of PP to normalise brands• Using PP to implicitly teach us about a brand.

• To establish the similarities with and differences to traditional spot advertising and to therefore assess where Product Placement could sit within the advertising spectrum.

• Exploring brands’ association with their editorial context, and how their relationship with each other informs our understanding of them.

Research Objectives

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

• What impact does Product Placement prominence have on effectiveness ?

Business Objectives

• A number of factors had been identified that were likely to influence both prominence and effectiveness. Understanding the role and importance of these formed the back-bone of the research:

• Formats: Advertising Platforms, ‘Natural’ Usage By Characters, In-Scene Background Presence, Branded Products Within Scenes, Dialogue References

• Executions: Product Mobility, Visibility, Duration On Screen, Usage Scenarios

• Does Product Placement have a positive effect on credibility of TV content (versus fictional brands)

• Does acceptance of PP vary by genre or visibility• Relationship between PP, sponsorship and

advertising

Research Objectives

The consumer’s view -The objectives…

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Methodology

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

The Academic approach

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

• 6 interviews with leaders in the field from the UK• These included two neuroscientists, two media experts, one

professor and a HERDmeister(consultant and writer). • Each shared their expertise from a perspective informed by their

relationship to Product Placement, be it academic or professional.

9 Expert Interviews

• 3 interviews with American professors.• Three academic experts in Product Placement and Marketing from

the United States offer their insights on what is, to them, an established market.

Literature review and White Paper

• Bournemouth University conducted a literature review of studies from both commercial and academic institutions. A white paper summarising the findings was produced complete with biographies of those who’d participated.

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

A viewer’s approach…

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

• 2 hour sessions with engaged audiences to creatively develop the golden rules of PP

• Respondents were shown genre montages (each containing mocked up PP scenarios):

• Reality and gameshow• Lifestyle• Drama and soaps• Comedy

8 x Co-Creation Workshops

8 x Hollyoaks Home Tests

• Observed, ‘natural’ viewing sessions with households to explore impact and effectiveness of PP, and versus sponsorship/ advertising

• 4 x 30 minute episodes of Hollyoaks (each having MirriAd Product Placement inserted in post-production) were used for the Home Tests

• 2 episodes watched per Home test – 1st episode watched without knowledge off PP inclusion to gain spontaneous response

• Each episode contains various levels of PP (frequency and number of brands)

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Here’s the theory…

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

• There are 5 reasons why Product placement works differently to traditional spot advertising.

1. Because we can develop ‘Para-social’ relationships with characters we see on television, product placement allows brands to use those characters to reinforce existing preconceptions, or to instigate new ones

2. Product placement helps normalise brands by putting them into everyday situations

3. Product placement used consistently and across multiple programmes can create ‘prototypical’ brands – in the same way that people refer to vacuum cleaners in general by the brand name Hoover

4. Product placement works on an implicit level

5. Product placement doesn’t prime consumers in the same way that traditional advertising does, allowing the audience to assess the brand without consciously feeling the commercial overtones

The key findings…

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

The viewers take on PP…

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

1. Product Placement is not a new concept for viewers – Viewers are used to seeing PP in Films and American TV shows

2. Audiences welcome Product Placement because it has it has the potential to enhance content credibility

– It makes programmes more realistic

3. Viewers recognise that Product Placement can work for the both the viewer and the brand

4. Overall, Product Placement is likely to have long term benefits for a brand

– Much like sponsorship, it is likely to build relationships over time

5. Viewers see Drama and Soaps as being the most natural fit for Product Placement, however Lifestyle programmes have the most potential to educate

– There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ policy

The key findings…

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

PP is not a new concept to Viewers as they are easily able to recall examples in American TV shows and films. However, there is confusion between PP, sponsorship and incidental use of brands on UK television

Films British TV (assumed PP)

Examples recalled…

US Content

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

What product placement can deliverOverall feeling that Product Placement has the potential to deliver benefits to both brand and viewer that are not possible through other forms of advertising

What It Delivers For The Viewer

Validate Consumers’ Relationships With Brands / Products

Unique potential to increase a viewer’s enjoyment of a show

Less obtrusive than other forms of

advertising

What It Delivers ForThe Brand

Allows brands to engage with rejecters

of traditional advertising

Increase sense of aspiration around a

brand

Builds familiarity with the brand/product

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Sensitivity to Product Placement

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Whilst Product Placement is predominantly welcomed, there is recognition that when taken too far it risks undermining the viewing experience

PP must not…

PP must…

Add realism

to a show

Be sensitive

Be credible

Be seen to drive content

Be too overt or

obtrusive

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Creative formats

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

Format overviewAll formats of Product Placement are in principle perceived to be acceptable to the viewer and positive for the brand on a general level, however natural usage is the format that has the potential to deliver the most for both brand and viewer

Positive forViewer / Content

Positive for Brand

Ads in Situ

In-scene Product/Lo

go Placement

Natural Usage by

Characters

Referencing Brand

Style/Colours

DialogueReferenc

e

Need support

from other formats

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

PP Golden guidelines

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

Reality

Viewer benefit

Supports the sense of realism

Tread carefully to avoid undermining credibilityRule 1

Avoid dialogue referencesRule 2

Product needs to behave as it would in real lifeRule 3

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

Drama and soaps

Viewer benefit

Enhances plot and character

credibility

Natural usage are appropriate creative routes to support plot

Rule 1

In-scene product/logo creates a more realistic environment

Rule 2

May need to work harder due to viewers engagement with the content

Rule 3

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

Comedy

Viewer benefit

In sitcoms can be used to support

character development

Natural usage are appropriate creative routes to support plot

Rule 1

Opportunity for high visibility placementsRule 2

Low fit with stand up comedyRule 3

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

Lifestyle

Viewer benefit

High audience receptivity to

product ‘education’

Natural usage by characters has particular relevance

Rule 1

Must not be seen to be endorsing productsRule 2

Placements can be more subtleRule 3

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Hollyoaks case study

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

What we did…

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

8 x Hollyoaks Home Tests

• Observed, ‘natural’ viewing sessions with households to explore impact and effectiveness of PP, and versus sponsorship/advertising were conducted in January 2011

• 4 x 30 minute episodes of Hollyoaks (each having MirriAd Product Placement inserted in post-production) were used for the Home Tests

• 2 episodes watched within each session

• Episodes used Product Placement (coupled with Sponsorship) in different ways

• 2 x episodes with just one brand with Product Placement• 1 x episode with matching brand for sponsorship and Product

Placement• 1 x episode with different brands for sponsorship and Product

Placement

• 2 x episodes with multiple brands with Product Placement

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

Episode 1 – Single Brand

Episode 2 – Single Brand

with Sponsorship

The placements

Episode 3 – Multiple Brands

Episode 4 – Multiple Brands

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

The placements

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

February 2011

What we found

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

PP fit with Hollyoaks content

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Hollyoaks viewers positively welcome Product Placement as a mechanism to enhance content realism and credibility

• There was a strong support amongst viewers that Hollyoaks was an appropriate show in which to feature Product Placement as it attempts to reflect everyday life, therefore it feels entirely natural that brands should feature on the show

• However, our research process revealed that heavier/ more engaged viewers were very unlikely to recall any examples of PP in their first, ‘natural’ episode view – the true levels of awareness will need to be tested over a longer period of time• Whereas lighter viewers had greater awareness after one

episode

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

PP fit with Hollyoaks enjoyment

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

• There was no feeling that the use of Product Placement within Hollyoaks would undermine viewer enjoyment of the show, examples used were generally felt to be in-keeping with the scenes in which they were placed

• In fact, having brands and products in the background of scenes as well as being interacted with by characters has the potential to impact positively on enjoyment of the show, in terms of:• Helping the village to feel more ‘real’• Acting as identity markers to define personality traits of characters

• However, given that viewers watch Hollyoaks to lose themselves in the storylines, it was felt to be very important that the use of Product Placement remains sensative

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Different approaches to PP…

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

•Not seen as a negative for viewers and…

•Stand-out and recall improve for all viewer types when viewed both unprompted and prompted

Single Brand with sponsorshi

p

•No negative reaction to multiple brands within a single episode as long as the ‘Golden Guidelines’ are adhered to

Single Vs. Multi-brand

There are a number of different approaches that can be taken to Product Placement, all of which are acceptable to the viewers

RESEARCH & INSIGHTRESEARCH & INSIGHT

• Hollyoaks performs well against Strategic Considerations as a ‘home’ for Product Placement

Soaps have high fit with PP given their foundation in enhanced realism

Does it fit with the programme genre?

Is it congruent with the context within the

show?

Does it fit with the target of the show?

How many different brands can be

included?

How will this fit within a whole campaign?

Usage of real products and brands fits with the show’s environment

This audience identifies with aspirational characters and seek validation of their own tastes

Presence of multiple brands is permitted, providing the context is credible

PP within Hollyoaks can be used within a brands’ overall Marcomms armoury

Strategic Considerations

Why it works…