J Deery coined the term "Advertainment" in his semi
nal work in 2004 to describe in-film product placement and
merging of advertising and entertainment. Balasubramanian, S K (1994) in his research work, Beyond
Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid messages and public policy issues, Journal of
Advertising, defined in-film product placement/in-film promotion as a
paid product message aimed at influencing movie audiences via the planned
and unobtrusive entry of a branded product into a movie. Henceforth,
the terms advertainment and in-film promotion have been used
interchangeably. In-film promotion are more in use as consumers have become
more product-savvy and more jaded about the thousands of product
messages aimed at them each day (Balasubramanian, 1994). Hoyer
& Mac Inn through their research in 2001 have established in-film
promotions as the solution to `zipping' (the process of skipping past
commercials by fast forwarding) and `zapping' (the process of skipping past
commercials by changing the channel). In-film promotions are also in vogue to come
up with new and creative ways to keep their brands and messages visible
to the consumers.
Advertainment has a unique appeal as a marketing and
advertising tool for brand managers and producers. They help the brand managers
to connect with consumers by putting or depicting their product in a
more manageable scenario. Research has found that positive portrayals of
a product in movies can result in a positive intent to purchase the
product featured in film, while negative portrayals can be a reason for
discontinuing the use of a product (Morton & Friedman, 2002). The above
research findings serve as strong motivators for brand managers and other
product sponsors to continue to grow in this area of communication. On
the back of a slowing economy, advertainment offers a cheaper,
alternative media for greater visibility and return for promotions to
brand managers and CEOs. |
