Product Placement Article

movielighter

movielighter

Active member
Came across this early this monring, thought I would pass it on. Could be a very good thing for someone with a project that can take advantage of it.


(Video Maker's Website Good Stuff)

http://www.videomaker.com/article/1...tent=tip_enews_2009_08_3&utm_campaign=traffic


Also wanted to add that it is easy to get small amounts as well. There is a small company that had a very small budget and needed a promo video. The commercial was for hunting gear, the owner made 7 phone calls to local sports/hunting/gun stores and raised about $1200.00 just for throwing logos and graphics in on the video.
 
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Great article. The thing I like best about it was more of the "regular" everyday products like McDonalds and Coke. You can show a copyrighted product as long as that product was "incidental" or basically not the focus of the scene. So now I don't have to worry about turning around every thing in the refrigerator or blurring out products in the background (which I did and took me several hours in post to do [and make look convincing])

So the product placement was great, but the ->The Trade Marks Act of 1985 prohibits the "unauthorized use of trade marks as trade marks." Consequently, you will usually not violate the Trade Marks Act when you display a trademarked product in your production. For example, your actor may drink a cup of McDonald's coffee without infringing the McDonald's registered trademark. <- statement is even better.

I used product placement in my film mainly to get access to restaurants and other services without pay. I get a location, they get free advertisement it's a win-win.
 
Thank you for posting this. I am seeking any information I can regarding product placement. Getting ready to do a web series and I feel that if I can attract some small time guys I might be able to recover some of my costs. Grinner, did you do all of your product placement negotiations (cold calls?) by yourself or did you have an agency get things lined up for you?
 
It's both now. I do still cold-call but enough know about my show they'll now call me or approch me at an event I am covering. Many of thse are done on site when that happens. You'll be able to see what I'm talking about if you go here:
http://ModdinArt.com/sponsors.html
I do not have fixed rates yet. I'd like to but at the level I am at, my potential client's budgets vary. That aint a poker game but a reality and I simply guage my production on what they have to spend. Today, less is more. We live in a youtube world and production value smells like a commercial more often than not. This has actually become a saving grace and a selling point for what I do. I really can just hand-hold a camera and do a little interview and grab some b-roll as I'm walking by and make it look like just that... a spur of the moment walk by offering insight, not a sales pitch. They like that and it keeps my show valid. I sell nothing. I show stuff.
When interviewing a cleberity of any sort, I do make it a practice to offer hats or shirts from my sponsors. Sometimes they can do that, much of the time they can't (as they have their own contracts). This is what companies really like. I don't then call them and tell them what I have on tape. I call and ask how much it would be worth to them to have HUlk Hogan speaking to me wearing their shirt. Once I have a price locked in, I offer what I have already shot. As you can see, much of this can be made up on the fly... and should be in the name of "keeping it real".
Now does that mean I don't go shoot an event entirely for Budweiser? No, of course I do but it still needs to be an unconcious thing, not an obvious commercial.
 
So how would you go about doing product placement in scripted entertainment? It would all need to be taken care of beforehand wouldn't it? To me it would seem ridiculous to shoot a character drinking a certain kind of energy drink and then hope that company wants to pay for the exposure.

I guess you could just shoot two different scenes. One with the product placement and one without, but I think that might be too time consuming and possibly a logistical nightmare when it came to editing (especially if that particular take was the best one).

Anyone have any information regarding trying to get produce placement deals locked in for a scripted web series?
 
Zak Forsman said:
I like http://placevine.com who helps connect indies with brands. free to filmmakers.
Click to expand...

I have checked out placevine and I am definitely keeping them in my crosshairs. Have you had any luck with getting placement for episodes not already shot. I really want to shoot all the episodes during one shoot to avoid any extra costs.

From taking a look at there website it seems like if you haven't shot anything and are still in pre-production its not really for you. Am I wrong in this thinking?
 
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