Brands and product placement
I’m not a big fan of product placement. Paid placement smacks of low-life commercialism. (High-life commercialism being a totally different matter.) The real problem is that conventional product placement usually violates brand context. Since brands are collaborations in context between company and customer, the arbitrary imposition of a particular beer or soda in the context of a story usually breaks the story. It reduces it (glaringly) to an ad.
If it’s a posh action flick about the good spy in a BMW being menaced by the evil oaf in a Hummer, that’s different. Those brands extend the characters, in context. But usually the placement has as much relevance as arm candy at the Oscars. The placement doesn’t make the story better. And viewers are used.
Creative placement trumps product placement
Brands used creatively can make a story richer. Movie buffs gasped in delight when Sin City’s Marv dragged a thug face down through the streets while driving a 1968 Corvair. A ’68 Corvair! Now that is placement.
Alas, all too often product placement is story defacement.
A creative option
There’s an option, though. Tell a special story yourself, in the context of your customer. In it, explore the full character of your brand. Plumb new dimensions. Raise questions. Be fearless. You—and your customers—will be the richer for it.
