Digital media convergence is like a smoothie. Toss in some ice, some berries, a banana, pour in some milk and blend it all together. If one puts a blockbuster film, some popular music, a couple of trendy social references, and the promotion of big corporations' products, blends it all up then promotes it on every social media site as well as on television, one has a great example of the new age of advertising and product placement in a very large 'smoothie'. As experts define, media convergence is the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behaviour of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of experiences they want (Jenkins 2006, p.4). As convergence gains momentum, an obvious medium becomes apparent: blockbuster films.
These days, moviegoers are constantly barraged by advertising directly upon entrance into the cinema in the form of posters, then prior to the movie's start in the form of short trailers, briefly at the end in the form of logos and tag lines, as well as walking out of the cinema in the form of more posters. However, what mostly goes unnoticed by consumers is the advertising done in the film. Over the years, product placement has grown from a minor practice not followed by most movie studios to a point wherein the possibility of seeing at least one product being placed and shown as to promote and advertise that particular product in a major film is nearly impossible. Product placement is understood as the arrangement whereby a movie studio incorporates into its film the use of certain commercial products (Snyder 1992, p.1), one might ask, "what is in it for the movie studio or producers?" The answer is simple: brand awareness. If a product is seen in a box office hit, being demonstrated or talked about by one's favourite actor or actress, consumers may feel a want or need for that product.
While still small in relation to traditional media buying, the value of product placements in film and television has grown at an estimated compound rate of 30% since 1999 and accounted for over $3 billion in spending and trade deals (Kivijarv 2006). With this ever growing popularity of product placement in popular films, there are questions that must be asked: When does a movie go from being creative in their placements to becoming seen as a sell out? Does convergence work in user generated content in regards to product placement? And, does converging film making, marketing, and advertising even work?
On 27 June 2007, the hit film Transformers debuted in the United States (IMDb 2007) in front of millions of viewers. With action figures, multiple comic book series, books, and video games, the following behind Transformers was massive. However, this transmedia storyline lacked a modern film to complete the saga. Director Michael Bay and production firm DreamWorks SKG created and produced the film while fully maximising the size of the cult-like following by implementing strong product placement. This is shown in the YouTube video below. In the clip, over 15 major brands and products are displayed and promoted in just under 3 minutes. (YouTube 2011)
These days, moviegoers are constantly barraged by advertising directly upon entrance into the cinema in the form of posters, then prior to the movie's start in the form of short trailers, briefly at the end in the form of logos and tag lines, as well as walking out of the cinema in the form of more posters. However, what mostly goes unnoticed by consumers is the advertising done in the film. Over the years, product placement has grown from a minor practice not followed by most movie studios to a point wherein the possibility of seeing at least one product being placed and shown as to promote and advertise that particular product in a major film is nearly impossible. Product placement is understood as the arrangement whereby a movie studio incorporates into its film the use of certain commercial products (Snyder 1992, p.1), one might ask, "what is in it for the movie studio or producers?" The answer is simple: brand awareness. If a product is seen in a box office hit, being demonstrated or talked about by one's favourite actor or actress, consumers may feel a want or need for that product.
 |
| Series of James Bond films and his cars. Each year the cars were selected based on marketing partnerships. |
 | |
| Transformers video game and toys. |
Depicted in the form of a compilation of a few of the more obvious placements, the film seems like it was a one hundred percent sellout. Seemingly, Transformers looks as if it just opened up film time for the purpose of bringing in more revenue. However, if the entire movie is watched, one may hardly notice the various placements as they occur. Perhaps Michael Bay's directing is to thank for this?
In the upcoming video, pomegranate drink producer POM Wonderful has sponsored a movie featuring Morgan Spurlock, the actor who starred in the documentary Super Size Me. Being that the conceptual joke is that the entire project was financed by conspicuously placed products in a film that is little more than a string of ads for its sponsors, stitched together with scenes of Mr. Spurlock hustling like crazy to line them up (Holden 2011), this film may prove to go over the top with the convergence of film making, marketing and advertising.
While the film centres on product placement, marketing, and advertising, the overemphasis on these topics seems to point to either selling out or just a joke. Spurlock, in his typical prankster demeanor, goes about everything as if it were a joke, however, it is still unclear at the end of the clip if this was true. Nevertheless, the convergence of advertising and marketing in the film seems to be extremely repetitive and puts POM Wonderful in a position where it is seen to be putting forth a scheme to increase company revenue.
The convergence of resources within major box office hits in regards to product placement has generated a sizable amount of interest from researchers, however, not many conclusions on the effectiveness of it been reached. In regards to user generated videos, product placement is not nearly as prevalent, due to the uncertainty of the popularity of the produced videos. However, one might look to this next video and ask, "why not"?
With over 56,000 views and almost 6,000 likes in under 2 days (YouTube 2012), the user generated video series, The Chong Show by YouTube user ChampChong is a great place for video game producers to place their products.
Conclusion
In a world where box office hits are filling their camera time with product placements, the value of convergence is being questioned. Has the creativity in movies been lost to convergence? The answer is dependent on the direction given. Dependent on the director, the producers, and major investors in the film. If the film has a great director and production firm, such as Transformers, the film can have many placements go unnoticed. If however, the film does not have these, the film may be seen as a sellout. On the other hand, advertising and marketing agencies should start to test the user generated content 'industry'. With extremely simple and cost efficient 5 minute videos being posted weekly garnering over 50,000 views and 6,000 likes in less than two days, the reasons are endless. With the question of if film making, marketing, and advertising coming together was effective, the answer is so much more than apparent. In both major films and user generated content, product placement and convergence is extremely effective and useful.
Conclusion
In a world where box office hits are filling their camera time with product placements, the value of convergence is being questioned. Has the creativity in movies been lost to convergence? The answer is dependent on the direction given. Dependent on the director, the producers, and major investors in the film. If the film has a great director and production firm, such as Transformers, the film can have many placements go unnoticed. If however, the film does not have these, the film may be seen as a sellout. On the other hand, advertising and marketing agencies should start to test the user generated content 'industry'. With extremely simple and cost efficient 5 minute videos being posted weekly garnering over 50,000 views and 6,000 likes in less than two days, the reasons are endless. With the question of if film making, marketing, and advertising coming together was effective, the answer is so much more than apparent. In both major films and user generated content, product placement and convergence is extremely effective and useful.
Reference List
Unit Readings
• Dwyer, T. (2010). Media Convergence. Berkshire: McGraw Hill. pp. 1-23.
• Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. pp. 1-24.
Additional Research
• Chang, S., Newell, J. and Salmon, C. (2009). Product placement in entertainment media. International Journal of Advertising. [online] 28(5), pp. 1-12. Available at: http://x.louiseelali.com/bu/posgrad/jacobs/2010-2/compcomm/final%20paper%20-%20product%20placement/45658948.pdf [Accessed 28 August 2012]
• Holden, S. (2011). Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011). NY Times. [online] Available at: http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/movies/pom-wonderful-presents-greatest-movie-ever-sold-review.html?_r=0 [Accessed 29 August 2012].
• IMDb (2007). Transformers Main Details. IMDb. [Online]
Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/maindetails [Accessed 28 August 2012].
• Kivijary, L. (2006). Global Product Placement Forecast 2006-2010. PQ Media. [Online] Available at:
Available at: http://www.pomwonderful.com.au/truth/ [Accessed 28 August 2012].
• Snyder, S. (1992). Movies and Product Placement: Is Hollywood Turning Films into Commercial Speech? University of Illinois. [online] 20(1), pp. 1-10. Available at: http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/unilllr1992&div=17&id=&page [Accessed 28 August 2012].
Photos
• Davies, C. (2007) Blended iPhone appears on eBay - bidding exceeds cost new [photograph] Available at: http://www.iphonebuzz.com/gallery/files/5/2/2/Will_it_blend_eBay_iPhone_3.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Davis, V. (2012) All students are not = [photograph]
Available at: http://undeadastronauts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/equal.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Hepburn, J. (2007) Video Game Review - Transformers: The Game [photograph]
Available at: http://laist.com/attachments/tony/transformersgame1.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Hughes (2012) BMW Z3 Goldeneye [photograph] Available at: http://dailynewsdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/BMW-Z3-Goldeneye.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Last, K. (1995) James Bond's Cars. [photograph] Available at: http://www.klast.net/bond/twine/bmw_z8.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
Unit Readings
• Dwyer, T. (2010). Media Convergence. Berkshire: McGraw Hill. pp. 1-23.
• Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. pp. 1-24.
Additional Research
• Chang, S., Newell, J. and Salmon, C. (2009). Product placement in entertainment media. International Journal of Advertising. [online] 28(5), pp. 1-12. Available at: http://x.louiseelali.com/bu/posgrad/jacobs/2010-2/compcomm/final%20paper%20-%20product%20placement/45658948.pdf [Accessed 28 August 2012]
• Holden, S. (2011). Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011). NY Times. [online] Available at: http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/movies/pom-wonderful-presents-greatest-movie-ever-sold-review.html?_r=0 [Accessed 29 August 2012].
• IMDb (2007). Transformers Main Details. IMDb. [Online]
Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/maindetails [Accessed 28 August 2012].
• Kivijary, L. (2006). Global Product Placement Forecast 2006-2010. PQ Media. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pqmedia.com/global-product-placement-2006-unitedstates.html [Accessed 29 August 2012].
• POM Wonderful (2012). POM Wonderful - POM Truth. POM Wonderful. [Online] Available at: http://www.pomwonderful.com.au/truth/ [Accessed 28 August 2012].
• Snyder, S. (1992). Movies and Product Placement: Is Hollywood Turning Films into Commercial Speech? University of Illinois. [online] 20(1), pp. 1-10. Available at: http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/unilllr1992&div=17&id=&page [Accessed 28 August 2012].
Photos
• Davies, C. (2007) Blended iPhone appears on eBay - bidding exceeds cost new [photograph] Available at: http://www.iphonebuzz.com/gallery/files/5/2/2/Will_it_blend_eBay_iPhone_3.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Davis, V. (2012) All students are not = [photograph]
Available at: http://undeadastronauts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/equal.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Hepburn, J. (2007) Video Game Review - Transformers: The Game [photograph]
Available at: http://laist.com/attachments/tony/transformersgame1.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Hughes (2012) BMW Z3 Goldeneye [photograph] Available at: http://dailynewsdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/BMW-Z3-Goldeneye.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Last, K. (1995) James Bond's Cars. [photograph] Available at: http://www.klast.net/bond/twine/bmw_z8.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• POM Wonderful (2012) POM Juice. [photograph] Available at: http://www.pomwonderful.com.au/pom-juice/ [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Remarkable Cars (2002) James Bond Cars. [photograph] Available at: http://www.remarkablecars.com/main/aston-martin/james-bond-cars-1.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
• Wired Magazine (2008). The 10 Coolest Bond Cars Ever. [photograph] Available at: http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_bondcar/AstonMartin_DB5.jpg [Accessed 28 August 2012] Rights Information: Attribution License.
Videos
• Grand Theft Auto 5 & GIVEAWAY!! (2012). The Chong Show (released 27 August 2012). Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM9rOjT1FAU&feature=b-mv [Accessed 29 August 2012] Standard YouTube License.
• POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Trailer (2012). POM Wonderful (released 4 April 2011). Available from: http://vimeo.com/21941834 [Accessed 28 August 2012] Creative Commons Vimeo License.
• Transformers Product Placement (2011). Big Banana Bomb (released 28 October 2011). Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVUipHYKKrU [Accessed 27 August 2012] Standard YouTube License.
No comments:
Post a Comment