El siglo XX: desde los años treinta hasta el enfoque comunicativo en los años sesenta

Product (or brand) placement, as explained by Kaijansinkko (2003: 5, 20-22), is when a product or brand is used, featured, mentioned or seen in a movie or similar context (entertainment property) in a manner that provides the product with a positive image and role in the entertainment property. Lehu and Bressoud (2008: 1083-4) made a case for the increase and legitimate appreciation of entertainment content as producers and advertisers are looking to solve target audience fragmentation through new efficient ways of contacting and “seducing their potential customers”. They further argued that repeated brand and product exposure with heightened impact as multiple opportunities to view such entertainment are offered to the consumer (2008: 1088). Lehu and Bressoud (2008: 1083-4) described product placement as a “crossbreed technique” by which different communication techniques are combined into one, taking place in an entertainment and/or cultural environment. They continued to explain the objective of product (or brand) placement (as putting a brand and/or product into a book or movie scene where it can be read or seen and/or its name heard) is to achieve a positive effect on attitude (citing Fontaine, 2005 and Redondo, 2006) with the potential impact on brand recall (citing Brennan, Dubas & Babin, 1999 and d’Astous and Cartier, 2000) and brand image in an audience relevant context.

In addition to positive effects on brand attitude, recall and image by means of brand placement, other authors could identify more communication effects given the appropriate employment of the practice, such as brand recognition and even purchase intention (Verhellen, Dens & De Pelsmacker, 2013: 287). None of the mentioned communication effects, however, necessarily reflect any of Keller’s four dimensions of brand resonance, namely engagement, community, attachment and loyalty (Keller, 2001: 8).

There are two risks associated with product or brand placement. According to Daugherty and Gangadhatbatla (2005: 16) marketers may have a lack of control over how products are incorporated and portrayed in a storyline. This could happen if the brand or product placement is done too overtly or falsely, i.e. contrived. The brand may seem desperate and consumers may then see the brand in a negative light. Producers of entertainment properties may then also face the risk of discrediting characters or celebrities their audience “believe in”.

Sometimes non-alignment between the character or celebrity and brand identity of the product

(or service) in question could occur (Nunlee, Smith & Katz, 2012: 13). Again, this would then be harmful for either or both the brand and entertainment property’s reputation.

In reviewing a book on branded entertainment written by Lehu in 2007, Wolburg (2008: 66-67) mentioned that the text mainly focuses on product placement. Wolburg cites Lehu (2008:

33) stating that product placement bypasses viewer censorship. This insinuates that brand exposure could in some instances be seen as intrusive from the consumer’s perspective.

Martí-Parreño et al. (2015: 3-4) argued that branded entertainment cannot include product placement as the brand must exercise complete control over the content – “and is the owner of the content” – to be defined as branded entertainment as the control in product placement is marginalised. A potential solution to this perceived intrusiveness (and also to gain a stronger sense of content control by the brand owner) could be product (or brand) integration.

Hudson and Hudson (2006, in Craig-Lees & Scott, 2008: 4) defined branded entertainment as the integration of advertising into entertainment content, whereby brands are embedded into storylines of a film, television programme, or other entertainment medium, involving co-creation and collaboration between entertainment, media and brands. They stipulated that pure product placement is where the brand is not integrated into the plot, but plays a ‘passive’

role, i.e. appearing in the background and is akin to the concept of subtle or creative placements.

Branded entertainment is where the brand is integrated into the plot, according to Hudson and Hudson. They argued that making a brand intrinsic to the plot lines of existing entertainment properties distinguishes branded entertainment from the traditional use of product placement (Hudson, 2010). Martí-Parreño et al. (2015) stipulated that branded entertainment differs from product placement in that with branded entertainment the content is developed around the brand and funded by the marketer, whereas the level of control is less in the case of product placement. They would then define branded entertainment as “any entertainment content (e.g.

films, video games, books) developed by a brand – and usually around a brand – to achieve its marketing goals” (Martí-Parreño et al., 2015: 4).

Caraccioli-Davis (2005: 10-11) stated that there is a clear difference between branded entertainment and product placement. The aforementioned explains as follows: “… brands that are irreplaceably woven into entertaining content – across any number of contact points – and is invited by audiences as welcome components of media consumption and interaction”.

Product placement is explained by Caraccioli-Davis as exposure in an entertainment property with a simple visual/audio presence. She even referred to branded entertainment as “long-form branded content: Overpowering content permeating consumer consciousness”. O’Guin et al. (2009: 613) stated that the difference between branded entertainment and product placement is that in the case of branded entertainment, the entertainment would not necessarily exist without the marketer’s support. They also mentioned that marketers would mostly create the entertainment property themselves with the creative assistance of agencies and/or content producers.

Valero (2015) in his book: “Branded Entertainment: Dealmaking Strategies & Techniques for Industry Professionals”, explicitly said that branded entertainment cannot be product placement as branded entertainment seeks an emotional connection or engagement between the content and the brand that can lead to a long-term “monogamous” relationship (2015: 10), meaning exclusively between the brand and target audience without the interference of a third party, inferring brand ownership. This assimilates with two of the four dimensions of Keller’s resonance, being an emotional connection or attitudinal attachment and engagement (Keller, 2001: 8). A discussion follows on brandcasting in lieu of advertainment and product placement and how it relates to branded entertainment.

2.5.1.8 Brandcasting

Scott and Craig-Lees (2006: 367) reasoned that the traditional understanding of product placement is that the programme content is developed independently of the needs of the product or brand and that advantage is taken by the brand of the existing programme content.

In recent years, the authors argued, brand practitioners only started realising the strategic value of meaningful product placement. Hence, coming to the fore more prominently:

advertainment (or branded entertainment, which the mentioned authors see as synonyms), is seen as programme content designed to support a brand, providing the advertiser a stronger sense of control. Thus, there would be a difference in the degree of control and ownership that the advertiser has over the entertainment creation process.

The authors then suggested the “umbrella” label: Brandcasting, explained as “the inclusion of products – branded and/ or unbranded – in an entertainment program” which could take two distinct forms: advertainment or product placement, as outlined in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: The brandcasting continuum: a basic theoretical model of brandcast processing

Source: Scott & Craig-Lees, 2006: 367

The play on the word broadcasting is acknowledged by the authors. Brandcasting is a term that is still used very sparingly and only by some authors, mostly referring to television and/or audio-visual social media (Gillan, 2015). Branded entertainment can take on many forms, more than just broadcast media, for instance street theatre, flash mobs, books or video games (Kurnit, 2007; Grainge, 2012: 4; Martí-Parreño et al., 2015: 4). What is recognised here is a clear distinction between the concepts of product placement and advertainment. However, it interesting to note that advertainment, according to Russell (2007: 3), includes product placement, integration and branded entertainment, as per Figure 2.2 that is discussed later in this section.