Ad agency: I want to do more product placement, but my clients are wary of local movie flops
Inspired by Morgan Spurlock’s new film The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, an advertising agency boss has said he wants to place his clients in Australian films – but admits that advertisers are worried about appearing in flops.
Rob Belgiovane, executive creative director of BWM – which has Alfa Romeo, Kmart and Weet-Bix as clients – told Encore that he would propose product placement opportunities to his clients “whenever possible from now on”, but said advertisers are reluctant to try brand integration in Australia.
“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.”
Belgiovane also criticised the Australian production business for being elusive. “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.”
He added 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.
Belgiovane hat-tipped the 1986 film Top Gun, which was heavily supported by the US Navy, as an example of product placement done well.
Bond film Golden Eye, which introduced BMW as the secret agent’s car of choice in 1995, was in his opinion a product placement fail. “Marketing put the character out of character,” he said.
A recent example of product placement in an Australia film is the use of dog food brand Pedigree in Red Dog.
Morgan Spurlock last week spoke at the Mumbrella Q&A screening of Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.
All you need to do is put a performance clause in the contract with the film that the film needs to meet certain box office numbers to justify the return on investment for the client. That way if it ends up in some film festival and never gets distribution theatrically or on DVD, you won’t be required to pay them.
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We plan to do several product placement deals for our film, “Mull Burn”. Cadbury Furry Friends, Pura milk, Coca-cola, Fourntwenty, AFL, Arnott’s Shapes, Metro trains, Yarra trams – just to name a few.
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