When You Can't Interrupt Them, Join Them

Nissan is looking at a new way to integrate their marketing message into entertainment, placing their products inside video games. Starting with the launch of the new Forza Motorsport 2 game for XBox, people who buy the game at Circuit City, Best Buy or Game Spot will be able to get a free set of add-ons that allow them to download a tricked out Nissan Sentra into the game.

These kinds of extras again show how advertisers are desperate to get the attention of an audience that may possibly become interested enough to buy their products. The inclusion of marketer-sponsored areas within video games is a logical extension of product placement, albeit one that has some built in measurements.

Placing your products inside someone else's entertainment can be risky. What happens if the car you download always loses, or the game becomes less fun because of your product. The question that has yet to be answered is whether this kind of marketing brings new customers into Nissan dealerships, or whether it's just another game to be played.

When you're looking to do something new with your advertising, bring AdSymetrix along for the ride. AdSymetrix has been developed to give you the information that lets you make better marketing decisions. Simply Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor your responses. Know what works and what is just wasting your money.

Branding and Entertainment - A Way To Combat Shrinking Audiences

It seems to be a common problem: How can advertisers get their messages to an audience that increasingly doesn't want to be bothered with an ad?

Everywhere you look, there's a new solution popping up. I could be through cross cultural education at the hands of a large broadcast network, or it could come in the guise of doctored Diggs or even by way of pay for play Blog entries. The problem keeps showing itself, and it leaves many advertisers cold.

One other way to battle the shrinking audience is to change the way you view advertising. Using entertainment and branding to get people to think of your product when they're involved in something else. You'll see this as product placement in movies and television, or as co-branded games on your cell phone or even as the star of whatever you happen to be watching.

Removing the separation of advertisement and content can be helpful, but the only way to gage the effectiveness of this way of advertising is through the kind of testing that AdSymetrix can provide.

Simply Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor the responses. Knowing whether people react to your message is as important as getting that message in front of them in the first place.

Should Product Placement Be A Part of Your Advertising Strategy?

Ever notice that all the good guys in the movies or on TV always us Apple computers? Or have you noticed that the logo can always be seen on the handset of any telephone used on the air? Don't think that these impressions are by accident. Every time you see a logo on television or in a movie, you're seeing it because a company has agreed to have their logo on screen.

For some, it can direct a new product - like the red Swingline Stapler from Office Space. For others, it can redefine a brand - like the way that The Italian Job introduced (and reintroduced) the Mini Cooper.

Brand Channel looked at the recent release Disturbia and how it takes brand identity into a whole new realm, even using the amount of space on an iPod to define a character.

But what's product placement mean for you? If you are looking to raise the general level of interest in your product or company, it can be helpful. But remember that using product placement is an expensive and risky way of promoting your business.

For the ten seconds your logo may be on screen, you could spend the same amount you would creating an entire direct mail, outdoor or broadcast campaign. A campaign that could not only push your brand, but also give your potential customers a reason to contact you.

AdSymetrix is here to help, in either respect. By comparing the costs and benefits of any advertisement, you can use our tools to determine which medium is best for your business. Give AdSymetrix a try, our signup is free.

Bringing Advertising Into The Show

ABC is looking backwards in an attempt to look forward.

This week, the network is looking at ways to blur the line between advertising and television programing. The hope is that by integrating advertising - or at least by finding new ways to integrate - they'll be able to command high prices from advertisers hoping to reap the rewards of having so many people watching their messages at the same time.

The problem, as any TiVo owner will shout, is that viewers don't watch television for the commercials, but for the program. As technology advances, the ability for the user to get just what they want from their hours on the couch means that commercials are losing viewers in huge numbers.

The solution, at least one of them, is to look back at the way television was when it first started: blatently commercial. Rather than have many sponsors for each individual show, you'd have the Texaco Star Theater where Milton Berle brought vaudeville to the masses. Whether this means that What About Jim will become an ongoing commercial for anti-depresents is unclear. More likely you'll see storylines that include products and companies, similar to the way that The Office and Staples have become so inseparable lately.

Of course, the question for advertisers is whether this is worthwhile. AdSymetrix is positioned to help answer that question. Signup with AdSymetrix and see how your ads are working. Why wait for ABC's meetings to end, sign up now, it's free.