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The Future of Mass Marketing

October 13, 2010 | Neal | No comment

Since this entire internet thing really started to take hold in the 90s, people have been forecasting the demise of mass media advertising.  First everything was going to be banner ads.  Then interstitial ads.  You get the idea.  More targeting  via other channels combined with the rise of those alternative channels meant or at least implied that our traditional channels would soon being going the way of the dodo.  Throw in the explosion in supply of advertising inventory due to the increase in digital content and channels – advertisers wishing to attach themselves to a popular TV show can do so in a multitude of ways that were never available in the past:

  • During the show
  • On the broadcasting network’s .com site
  • On Hulu or Fancast adjacent to the show being run

The additional channels to advertise combined with the declining value of the traditional form of in-show advertising due to the ability of viewers to DVR and fast forward through ads must leave advertisers wondering if it is worth engaging with shows at all.

Facing the above change, it’s no surprise that advertisers are looking for alternatives.  In this link, you’ll find a description of how Microsoft engaged with the popular sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” in more depth than you traditionally associate even with product placement strategies.  The notion of product placement is certainly nothing new.  I can vividly remember the Nike “swoosh” being plastered all over the cast of “Friends” creating a tacit endorsement during the show.  What never happened there, or in most cases that I’ve been aware of, is that the placed product has become an integral part of the story line.  Sure, Apple computers (or other brands) have figured prominently in big movies where a computer is necessary to complete a task (think depositing the virus on the alien mothership in Independence Day) but at no point was that attributed to the actual computer.  The computer was just a prop that allowed Jeff Goldblum’s genius to deliver a virus.

What made the Microsoft/HIMYM link-up unique was the fact that Microsoft products (even a fictional branded PC) and services were integral to the story.  The main characters were using them in key elements of the story.  Two great things about this for Microsoft:

  • They get a great product demos done by popular celebrities
  • They get these done in ways that audiences who are watching the show can’t avoid as they can the traditional ads that break up the first run airing

The print media will always shy away from these types of tie-ups because they fear that concepts like journalistic integrity but since TV and movies have never been big on anything approaching artistic integrity, there should be no problem here.  Finding creative tie-ups should be happening all over the place.  Here are a few suggestions from among the shows that I watch anywhere from all the time to occasionally:

  • “Chuck” and Best Buy – Best Buy is currently the butt of the “Buy More” joke without any chance at any redeeming sides.  This one is just begging to be done.
  • “Big Bang Theory” and FourSquare/Facebook Places – The first show to either care about or glorify “geek culture” is the ideal vehicle to push geo-location services from usage by the bleeding edge social networking types and kids into the more mainstream.
  • “Two and a Half Men” and Maker’s Mark – Charlie Sheen’s character is begging for a liquor of choice and it would be incredibly easy to fit into the many alcohol-soaked storylines.  The obvious choices like Jim Beam and Jack Daniels are a little too commonplace for the wealthy Charlie Harper but a slightly higher end brand like Maker’s sounds like about the right fit.

I expect that we’ll see more and more of this.  The big question is how agencies, used to easy media-buying transactions, will react to being more creative in their deal-making.


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