Advertainment

The Power of Integrating Advertainment with Product Placement

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on August 28, 2006 - 7:30am.

Product placement is hot in Hollywood and television right now. Fueled largely by advertiser's fear of consumers fast forwarding through their ads, product placement deals are popping up everywhere. Related to this trend is the rise of "Advertainment," in which advertisers focus on creating entertaining branded content. This is not about simply placing your brand in the context of preexisting programming. Advertainment is about creating entertaining content and weaving a brand message into it. One pioneer in this space was BMW, who released a DVD of BMW Films several years ago. Since then, many others have tried this idea in different ways - including American Express with the Directors Series ads and Ford with their branded ads during American Idol featuring contestants performing songs while riding around in Ford cars. The power of this type of advertainment represents a trend in the television advertising: creating advertising that is so entertaining, people want to watch.