Movies and Celebrity News

With more and more companies wanting to integrate their products into the lives of celebrities, now seems like a good time to take a closer look at Celebrity Product Placement, describe three common approaches, and outline what steps can be taken to guarantee results.

The term “Celebrity Product Placement” is used to describe several related techniques, but its definition applies to each: free products are distributed to celebrities in expectation of a promotional benefit.

Celebrity Product Placement (sometimes called “Celebrity Seeding”) has been with us since the dawn of marketing.

Marketers have long known the power of celebrity to influence consumer- purchasing decisions.

The same concept applies to Celebrity Product Placement. But unlike celebrity endorsements, where a highly compensated personality appears in commercial advertising, Celebrity Product Placement offers marketers a more subtle and highly effective means of reaching the public – via the media they consume by choice.

Indeed, Celebrity Product Placement is as much about placing products with celebrities as it is about getting stories about those relationships into the press. Regardless of the approach, Celebrity Product Placement strategies have a common aim: to tie celebrities (thought-leaders, influencers) with consumer products in the public consciousness.

Three different techniques offer three different levels of control over that placement: gifting-the-talent (this usually involves supplying products for gift bags at live events); product seeding (products are distributed more widely in hopes of securing a promotional benefit and kicking off a trend); and, barter relationships (individual celebrities agree to participate in custom programs in exchange for valuable products).

If the goal of Celebrity Product Placement is to get press coverage, can we measure the value of gift-bag placements?

PRODUCT SEEDING

Product Seeding offers marketers more control over whom to place products with but, conversely, less control over how (or if) those products get used. And, while virtually any product – from bottled water to consumer electronics – can be seeded with celebrities, marketers are playing the odds here.

Product Seeding is the oldest form of Celebrity Product Placement. Products are distributed more widely. Of course, working with a specialist who can get your product directly to celebrities becomes paramount here.

Taken by itself, Product Seeding is a gamble.

Product Seeding remains a gamble but, if executed properly, one well worth taking. My company, which specializes in celebrity product placement, delivered gift baskets of the product to the Top 6 winners, allowing Trident to plug the celebrities in their press materials.

Here again, the company was able to use celebrities to draw press coverage for its product.

But what if you want tighter integration with celebrities? Suppose you need to forecast a return on investment in order to get approval for a Celebrity Product Placement campaign?

Celebrity Product Placement campaigns of this type work best for big-ticket items such as consumer electronics and (the loan of) cars.

Celebrity Product Placement – via barter agreements – is also among the most affordable ways to use celebrities.

Sony wanted to involve celebrities with their products and for that involvement to influence the public in a meaningful way.

Fifteen top celebrities demonstrated the practical use of Sony’s product and authorized the use of their names, likenesses and opinions about the product for press and marketing purposes (for one year).

Celebrity Product Placement offers marketers an exciting way to influence consumer-purchasing decisions.

Celebrity Product Placement: A Primer