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In Superman II, Marlboro paid a sum of US$42,000 for 22 placements. Not only did Philip Morris arrange for Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) to smoke Marlboro, but Superman II also included a classic fight scene in which Superman and the bad guys throw a Marlboro truck back and forth across Lexington Avenue. From , Apple computers in Mission Impossible to Reeses Candy in ET, we have seen almost all products placed in our movies.

So whats next for Product Placement?

Enter : Virtual Product Placement.

Product placement that is done post a movie’s production is Virtual Product placement. Images of products are digitally inserted into movie frames to make them look like they belong in the original footage. This technology can be the solution to video monetization on the web. Also, would someone be able to take the entire library of Hollywood films - from silents, to musicals to the present day movies and tag them digitally with virtual product placement? If that happens what would that mean? Can the miles and miles of archived celluloid be brought back to commercial life?

Ofcourse, any new technology poses new challenges. But, I am hopeful someday an idea like this will sound as easy as coloring our black and white movies.

Here are some brave companies that are exploring this challenge :

• SeamBi
• Coull
• MirriAd

Why all the hype over product placement? Because its a win-win situation.

When done well, product placements provide:

1. The ad industry with a powerful medium to showcase their product & illustrate the different use case scenarios of the product. Displaying the product and demonstrating its use case scenarios, is a powerful combination to introduce and promote a product.

2. The media/content creators now have an additional source of revenue that they can tap into. All kinds of producers from amateur content creators to hollywood producers stand to benefit from the extra cash that product placement brings in.

3. The viewers are entertained without interruptions and intrusions. This is great for the viewers. At the same time, they are aware of the cool products that were featured in the movie. When the entertainment is enjoyable, a well placed product has high brand retention.

Anyway you look at it, product placement is a win-win situation for both the viewers and the ad industry.

Ofcourse, this argument holds only when the product is placed well in a non-intrusive non-annoying way. Done recklessly product placement could be as much or more annoying and intrusive than the 30 second ad spot.

Such a valuable ad medium has to be protected and used correctly. Ad companies and media creators shoot themselves in the foot when they recklessly do product placement. They should become aware of this and preserve this ad medium so this entire ecosystem of ad industry, content creators and viewers continue to do sensible business and expand the ecosystem.