We all know that commercial television is fueled by advertising revenue. The more popular the show, the higher the advertising rates. There is another vehicle for advertising on television shows and movies, and that is product placement.
Whenever you watch a television show and the star is drinking a can of Coke, Coca Cola paid to have that product used. The same goes for reality shows, streaming services, movies, and even live sports. The Netflix show, Stranger Things, averages about nine minutes of product placement per episode. Products for that show include Coke, Cadillac, Pentax, Sharp and 7-Eleven.
Is it effective? After the release of Toy Story, the sales of Etch-A-Sketch increased by 4500% and sales of Mr. Potato Head saw an 800% increase. But how much does product placement cost? Harley-Davidson paid $10M to get an electric motorcycle featured in an Avengers movie. Heineken shelled out $45M for seven seconds of screen time on the James Bond movie Skyfall.
Depending on the network show or movie, product placement can cost anywhere from $20,000 for a brief view, up to seven figures for prominent placement. After spending that much, you have to hope the show or movie is not a flop. I know this is probably a little over your local marketing budget, but it is interesting in the marketing world, and you never know, there may be some kind of local angle you can use to get your product involved.
And interesting to note, Wilson Sporting Goods didn’t pay anything to get their volleyball in the movie Castaway, they just supplied the prop. And the star of television product placement is The Office with over 1400 products placed during their nine-season run, with most of the products being subliminal props. Good money if you can get it.