06/30/22

Trend: Product Placement in a Post-TV Era

If video killed the radio star, then social and streaming platforms killed the TV star. The medium is often the message, and it's going to be hard to train the next generations of consumers to watch TV, glued as they are to their phones.

Organic content marketing and immersive, native experiences are becoming the strategy du jour for brands to get their products in front of engaged consumers.

To stand out in a world that skips ads, brands turn to product placement
In the age of dedicated streaming, ad-blocker tech, and a multitude of different screens to turn to when on-screen advertisements appear, product placement is helping brands get more organic eyeballs on their products. Tech companies, including Amazon, are even experimenting with digitally swapping out products after a project has been filmed. Still, brands must be careful. For every product placement success story, there is a “Sex in the City” Peloton-style backlash. NY Times

Brands are using immersive games to connect with Gen Alpha
Generation Alpha are not only consumers themselves, but also hold a strong command in influencing the purchasing decisions of senior members of their households. In order to engage younger audiences, brands are meeting these audiences where they are – playing on immersive gaming platforms like Minecraft, Roblox, and others. Brands that are active in the gaming space hope to both build stickiness with younger audiences as well as explore secondary monetization opportunities like selling branded, virtual merchandise. WCC

HelloFresh challenges brand fans with livestream show on Twitch
HelloFresh’s six-episode “Unleash the Feast” live cooking competition show on the Amazon-owned Twitch platform offers viewers the chance to win prizes and receive promotional HelloFresh meal kits by participating in the livestream comment feed and casting votes for who they want to win. Each 75-minute episode features three popular streamers competing in a series of head-to-head cooking tasks, with the goal centered around preparing a HelloFresh meal. Press Release

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