Belgo: I want to do more product placement, but clients are wary of Australian movie flops
Inspired by Morgan Spurlock’s new film The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, BWM boss Rob Belgiovane has said he wants to place his clients in Australian movies – but admits that advertisers are worried about appearing in flops.
The creative director insisted that he would put forward product placement opportunities to his clients “whenever possible from now on”. But he noted that clients were difficult to persuade of the merits of the discipline.
“Australian marketing is all about eliminating risk. It’s difficult, in such an eye-balls driven industry, to get clients to commit to funding. There’s the risk of being associated with a film that flops,” he said.
“When Paul Hogan made Crocodile Dundee, it was impossible to know that it would turn out to be the hit that it was.”
Brand integration in Australia is not made easy by the local production industry, he added. “There just aren’t that many film production houses in Australia, and they’re not easy to get in touch with – far harder than in the US. There is no real leadership in product placement here.”
Belgiovane said that he was “very open” to being contacted by film and TV producers. “If I get calls, I will always put the case to my clients to put their brands in films or TV shows,” he said.
On The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, directed by Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock, Belgiovani said he had expected the industry “to get slammed” but had actually drawn inspiration from the film, which is a documentary on product placement and the ubiquity advertising.
“It’s more of an observation than a judgement on advertising and marketing,” he commented.
http://youtu.be/T4Ng2P3zxfM
Speaking at Mumbrella’s Q&A session, Spurlock told Australia’s ad industry: “You guys have an incredible opportunity to do really exciting things with entertainment. There’s a chance to push these boundaries… with branded entertainment, with branded advertisements, the way to create real entertainment.”
“You can come in and associate yourself with talent, with film makers with actors and do some really creative exciting things. I encourage you guys to take chances, to take risks,” Spurlock said.
Belgiovane pointed to James Bond film Golden Eye, which introduced BMW as the secret agent’s car of choice in 1995, as an example of poor product placement. “Marketing put the character out of character,” he said.
Belgiovane hat-tipped the 1986 film Top Gun, which was heavily supported by the US Navy, as an example of the discipline done well.
A recent example of product placement in an Australia film is the use of dog food brand Pedigree in Red Dog.
I’d say that the reason for being worried about being in Australian movie flops is not so much that they are Australia as it is about the failure to get a return on their cash. Whether that is real or perceived.
From my observations, the industry seems to be unable to demonstrate clearly how an investor is going to be certain of a return. Many producers expect an investor to see the value in the creative work alone, and I think that’s wishful thinking.
It seems a circular formula to me – without the investment and marketing that a brand can bring to a movie it can’t succeed as easily or get done, yet it seems to me that film makers are not able to demonstrate that the film will work enough that the investment pays off. Same issue for advertising and why research is so heavily leaned on I guess.
I would love to see a case study where the investment is clear that it will pay off and how that was proven, if anyone can suggest any I’d appreciate it. A track record of course is a good start. I’m curious about start ups and how they can prove the value of the investment.
I’m off to see this film to see if there is any big insight to support this. Unless there is some big discovery I can’t see how investing in a film is a good return on a client’s money at present. Please prove me wrong. I’ve been looking for something to believe otherwise.
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Films are full of product by nature: clothes, jewellery, shoes, cars. It’s logo placement that’s the art form. I feel an iPhone point-at-the-screen app coming on, or a catalog you pick up as you leave the theatre telling us what everyone wore or drove or drank and where to get it at a special moviegoers price – but only if you’re quick!
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I don’t know if Rob is right re BMW’s product placement being poor product placement.
apparently it was the most successful product placement in film history
” The product placement of the BMW Z3 Roadster has been considered to be one of the most successful in film history according to “The Hollywood Reporter” and the book “Product Placements” by L. Kinney and B Sapolsky.
It reportedly cost $3 million but recouped the company $240 million in advance sales, partially due to exposure in the news media.
A limited edition “007 Model” of the BMW Z3 was sold out in a day of it going on to the market.
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A solution you may consider that is currently utilized in the US is called “Pay on Performance”. It takes the risk out of investment. The client and producer agree to integrate the brand into the movie with a set fee. Upon release, a 3rd party product placement valuation company measures the quality and exposure value of the brand which is then applied against the expected reach of the film, (projected box office and DVD sales). The client only pays for the exposure quality on the screen and “eyeballs”. This opens up many options for the producer to organically integrate brands into his film and for the client to justify their investment. Most important it minimizes the “legal red tape” involved with agreements.
iTVX, a product placement valuation firm offers this solution to clients and producers.
FrankZazza@iTVX.com
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The smartest way to reduce your risk is to properly leverage your investment. Spend much more on what you do with the content than what you do with within it. It’s the old sports marketing model or the new ‘Coles Masterchef’ model. It’s the only way to mitigate risk and the best way to maximise your chances of success and get return on your investment.
As William Goldman once said, when it comes to box office ‘nobody knows anything’. If they did, then Paramount Pictures wouldn’t have turned down Star Wars.
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If Belgo thinks the BMW-Goldeneye placement was a flop, then he clearly (again) doesn’t know what he’s talking about, as Sue correctly notes.
Top Gun on the other hand simply couldn’t have been made without US Navy help. They viewed it as one, long, recruitment ad. And their ROI model differs from most brands.
More pertinently, Bollinger have never paid a cent for product placement in any Bond film, but has appeared in many.
The key (sorry Belgo) is to have a conversation directly with studios, production facilities, etc. rather than an Ad Agency. The gap between advertising and film-making is quite a large one to bridge, even for BWM.
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Should also note that it’s quite easy (and often quid pro quo) to get any product included in non-blockbuster films.
Money starts being involved when you want to have input into the context of its placement, or the rights to highlight and leverage the placement.
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Red dog is great! Take a punt PAL!
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