Can Your Business Learn From Movie Product Placements?
November 26, 2007 by Yvonne Russell
It’s no coincidence in the movies, when you see a character sip from a Starbucks or Coke. This is product placement. Product placement is big business in the visual media.
Product Placment In The Movies
Have you noticed the brand name cereal and milk on the breakfast counter in your favorite TV sitcom?
These products are not chosen at a whim. Keep an eye out next time you notice brand name items on television, movies and even commercials.
Product placement covers everything from phones, computers, games, cars, hotels, stores, clothes, toys, food, companies and services. Basically, it covers any saleable item or service. Companies pay the television and movie studios big money to have their product in the shot.
How Can I Use Product Placement For My Home Business?
Just as the visual media have partnered with other businesses to defray their costs, there are similar opportunities for your home business. In some TV advertisements, you’ll see the ad is for one product, but another product is seen incidentally or in the background. This is partnering.
Partner With Complementary Businesses
Are there complementary businesses you can partner with for your home based store displays? If your local beauty salon is doing a “Wrapped in Living” display, your gift store may be able to provide some gifts for display with a tag mentioning your business.
When I owned a bookstore, we wanted to promote a new surfing book. A local surfboard store loaned us a sufboard for our window display, and we added a sign and promotional material for their store. The surfboard store displayed the book in their store with our name, so we both benefited.
Partner With Community Groups
You can also provide items for displays in community centers, libraries or a window display at the local post office. Product placement and partnering is all about collaboration and mutual benefit.
Over To You
It’s a savvy way to do free marketing of your home business. I’d love to hear about your successes with partnering with complementary businesses or product placement.
You’ve presented some really great information and interesting ideas for promotion, Yvonne. It would be fun to learn if any of our readers have done any partnering or product placement in promoting their businesses.
I’d be interested in hearing from readers about this too, Mary Emma.
It’s a great opportunity to band together with other businesses.