If you’ve consumed any television or movies in the past 50 years (or anything on film since the 19th century), you’ve probably recognized product placement. As a refresher, product placement is the inclusion of a branded product or service in media without explicit reference to the product.  

The brand name game

 What at one time was a unique approach to advertising has become a game — can you spot the brands? Use of this strategy has increased significantly in recent years, becoming a $23 billion industry in 2020 according to FastCompany. Adam Sandler’s latest movie, Hustle, filmed in Philadelphia for Netflix, featured more product placements than any other movie reviewed by Concave Brand Tracking that year.

The New York Times dives into some examples of other product placement campaigns in a recent piece — my favorite of which has to be Zillow, which has reached the Google-like status of turning its brand name into a verb.

Why is product placement having a boom? Well as the subhead of Sophie Haigney’s piece reads, “As consumers skip ads and streaming content balloons, brands aim to be everywhere all at once.” 

Brands need to find new ways to connect with their audiences in the limited attention economy, and that’s certainly not a problem unique to big brands.

What can small businesses learn from product placement?

Even as product placement grows in popularity (and investment), it’s still largely thought of as a play for big name brands. So, what can smaller businesses learn from this strategy?

Think first about the benefits of product placement as a strategy:

1. Meeting people where they are 
2. Brand alignment 
3. Authenticity 
4. Keeping it subtle and on repeat

Let’s take these one by one.

Meet people where they are

This might sound like a line from Marketing 101 but it’s cliche because it’s true. To grab people’s attention, you need to show up where they are. Big brands are going back to TV and movies because people are consuming a lot of video content… but they are paying a premium for ad-free. Instead of interrupting their content with ads, then, why not bake the ad into the content?

Outside of product placement, meeting people where they are can look like:

1. Doing audience research to determine who your target is
2. Identifying where your audience spends the most time (this could mean which media platforms they use the most or what they physically do the most ie: commuting)
3. Focusing your budget and time on the ad types that will earn you the best ROI or most impressions, depending on your goals

Brand alignment

Another benefit to product placement has been brand associations or brand alignment. In the world of product placement, this might look like wanting your beverage in the hands of an Oscar-winning actor or your company name mentioned in a top-streamed TV series. 

While that’s out of reach for most businesses, aligning your brand with certain people and complementary or aspirational brands isn’t. Here are two ways you can do this:

1. Feature a local celebrity in an ad or get their testimonial: A beloved school principal, a well-known community leader, a consumer who is an influencer in their circles.
2. Develop a partnership with another well-respected brand: feature your product at a well-respected local store, sponsoring a local athletic team or choosing to advertise at events where the other advertisers are brands that align with your business’ values.

Authenticity in advertising  

Authenticity in advertising has been a hot topic in the last decade, with consumers quick to call brands out when they feel like they’re being lied to or manipulated, wanting to see relatable people in the media they consume, and steering clear of brands they feel are acting counter to their values. 

Product placement can be a way for brands to bypass that minefield because it’s essentially just dropping a brand into a scene as if it was always there. That’s why it only works if the product fits the time period, economic situation, character personality, etc. — if it feels authentic. 

What can we learn from that? We can find how our product or service fits into the story:

1. Use testimonials with real customers
2. Sponsor events that align with brand values
3. SHOW (don’t tell) examples of your brand values in action 

Keeping it subtle and on repeat

The last key benefit of product placement is perhaps subtly. Even though today’s consumers are more savvy to this tactic, it’s likely that you are still missing a few product placements when engrossed in your favorite series. You may not notice it until someone points out the pattern to you, or you’ve consumed so many in a row that it becomes impossible to ignore. (Go back to that NYT article to see the examples if you didn’t already!) 

Product placement then becomes like music in the background — building a feeling and creating an impact whether you realize it or not. 

With your branding efforts, you want to do something similar. You want to create a steady drumbeat, a buzz. You want to show up again and again so that eventually your product or service becomes a no-brainer, a go-to. You don’t need to do this by posting billboards all over your community, though. (Remember, you can be subtle). 

Applying the lessons of product placement

As you build your marketing strategy, keep the lessons of product placement in mind. Make an impact by showing up where people are, aligned with people or brands people trust, in ways that are authentic.  

…and if a major motion picture is filmed near you, like by all means, see if you can get in there!