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ORGANIC TIE-INS: ADVERTISERS’ BOUQUET OF OPPORTUNITIES
We have the GSM and the Internet, while Coca-Cola Nigeria is already giving away iPods in some
of its promotional campaigns. MTV has finally berthed in Africa courtesy of MTV base, the network’s
100th television channel worldwide, which promises to provide advertisers with a uniquely
flexible marketing vehicle for reaching youth.
Meanwhile not far from my domicile, a satirical film on the Lagos Bar Beach was the subject of a forum.
The irony inherent in the film is the fact that a stone’s throw from the once serene beach is a tourist
edifice where we are shown films like Spiderman, Goldeneye, Austine Powers, Be Cool, XXX, etc.
What most of us probably do not know is that these movies made millions of dollars even before they were ever released!
Have you ever dreamt of the time when most of our phones will be able to handle video content and
serve as iPods? While branded content, digital media and the need for new economic models
dominated discussions at the conference of the National Association of Television Programme
Executives (NATPE) in Las Vegas toward the end of last year, the week of February 17, 2005
played host to the third annual Madison + Vine conference at Beverly Hills Hotel. One striking
thing about the latter event was the fact that it brought together branded entertainment professionals
from around the United States, who brainstormed on the many new available means of broadcasting
electronic content across a broadening range of platforms and the opportunity for branded messages
in such content streams (T.L. Stanley 2005).
As iPods and other devices for storing and playing files in the MP3 audio format are proliferated in the
U.S, a start-up like Odeo, based in San Francisco, would by now have embedded automatically generated
audio ads within downloadable files. And because the files are chosen by consumers, the company
hopes that consumers and advertisers might easily discover one another (John Markoff 2005).
The convergence of the advertising and entertainment industries is one of the hot new trends in global
marketing. It is a new form of experimental advertising characterized by long-form ad spots, which strive
to be entertainment first, and advertising second (AM 21/04/04). It is about integrating advertising into
entertainment. When you place an advertising message within the plot of a film or television show,
it can reach a wider audience than would otherwise have been imagined.
In the current dispensation, where ads are placed adjacent to entertainment, chances are like me, you try
to skip the commercials and reconnect when you assume that the programme would have resumed.
I do not blame you because most of our commercials are so boring and monotonous that we are
understandably desensitized. With branded entertainment it is different because communication is
more sophisticated, targeted and more widely seen than in traditional advertising methods ( Cocojambo 2004).
Branded entertainment enables you to communicate more complex messages; because entertainment
attracts audiences it is imperative that the entertainment industry creates quality productions.
In 2004 branded entertainment deals in film and television took an unprecedented leap in the U.S with
increasing amounts of money moving from traditional advertising to product integration. Already this year
McDonald’s has agreed to become the sole sponsor of MTV “Advance Warming”, the music network’s
first global programme. The programme, which has commenced airing in 160 countries across Europe,
the Middle East, Asia and Africa, focuses on emerging new musical talent in each of the countries.
McDonald’s possesses exclusive content, promotions and sweepstakes for chances to win music
exclusives as well as music news, food offers, etc. McDonald’s will feature on signages that appear
at the beginning and the end of the show on a composite logo incorporating the MTV and
McDonald’s “I’m Loving It” logos (Kate MacArthur 2005).
On January 25 this year MasterCard International scored another plus in branded entertainment with its
foray into scripted drama, a tie-in with the WB network’s teen drama One Tree Hill. A MasterCard logo is
seen in one restaurant and actors twice use a MasterCard debit card as part of the plot. According to Ms.
Betty McCoy, senior vice president of national buying at Omnicom Group’s GSD&M, Chicago, MasterCard’s
media agency, the WB choice is perfect for reaching the younger viewer. She notes that 35% of viewers of
the programme are in the 18-to-34-year-old demographic, while the debit card is a product popular with
younger consumers (Mercedes Cardona 2005).
That James Bond introduced us to the BMW Z3 Roadster in Goldeneye, that Spiderman almost got
crushed by a Terminix truck and that the Mini Cooper was shown in Austin Powers Goldmember were
no acts of coincidence. For example, it cost Burger King $15 million to have its products featured on MIB II!
According to Rob Gowland the new product placement (branded entertainment) culture is about
conceiving the very programmes themselves with an eye to servicing specific sectors of the market
(The Guardian 06/10/04). And this reminds me of the film Be Cool, in which John Travolta is seen
reprising his role as Chili Palmer, a Cadillac-loving gangster whose new De Ville DTS Sedan is
destroyed in the opening scene. Throughout the rest of the story Chili Palmer wishes he could get
back his caddy. The film, which features Cadillac’s XLR roadster, is the result of Travolta’s direct
involvement with MGM and General Motors Corp.
It should interest anyone that Queer Eye for The Straight Guy, a programme conceived to boost sales
of male toiletries, cosmetics and fashion aids in the United States, records increased sales of the
brands featured on it. According to Fortune Magazine, on the day after an episode of the programme
men in the U.S are five times more likely to go shopping than women! (R. Gowland).
For radio and TV programme producers in Nigeria the following tips might be of help: movie producers
should seek out product placement specialists (if any) while at script stage for experts to assess the
film’s placement potential; producers should develop entertainment properties that will seek tie-ins
with consumer brands; specifically selected partners, e.g. lawyers, agents, actors and advertisers,
should come together for the purpose of having the entertainment asset, the brand marketers and
the marketing community become a force-multiplier that is relevant to consumers (Betsy Specthman 2005);
advertisers should be willing to fund their own entertainment with all the benefits that it entails, e.g.
a new revenue stream and customized audiences for marketing communications; advertising agencies
should be ambitious enough to own entertainment companies, e.g. Interpublic has Magna Global Entertainment
whose work includes reality show, The Restaurant for NBC.
As MTV base becomes available to Nigerian viewers 24 hours a day via multi-channel operators, DST,
Trend TV, CTL and FSTV, McDonald’s is already relishing its sponsorship of “Advance Warming.”
Other components enjoyed by the food company include a dedicated microsite across MTV Europe’s
11 local websites that will feature artist profiles and biographies, screensavers and wallpapers.
Can we someday have a vibrant marketing communication industry in Nigeria?
About the author:
Yusuf Danesi is a registered advertising professional with a bias for interactive advertising and strategy
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