Pay-to-play TV product placement?

[Toolbert]

We got a call from the production company for a national "DIY" cable/satellite program. Said they wanted to feature a product in a 3 to 5 minute segment in a special theme episode, that it was a natural fit, would be a lot of fun and obviously a boost for our business. Which it would. The episode would run a couple dozen times over some years. We'd have to do considerable work, travel, lot of time to make it all happen.

Started to work through logistics and details before they dropped the minor detail of charging us $40,000 in production costs to put our product in their show. In addition to realistically another $20K in expenses for what we'd need to do in house. Its not a scam, can follow links from the network web site all the way to the caller. Getting a cold call leading to asking to write a check for $40K, scam was the first thing the came to mind.

I said sorry, forget it, out of the question, but wonder if I'm failing to think big enough. It is a high risk factor, and both the upside and downside are unattractive. It'd be a real setback if it was a dud, and likewise if we had to suddenly make 10X product to meet demand, invest in capacity, increase long term overhead, and then after 6 months sales are back to same as before, not sure which is worse. Heck of a lot easier to grow 20-30%/year.

The cost to do this is about twice our entire annual advertising budget. My left brain wants to figure the ROI and see if I declined an opportunity of a lifetime. Right brain still says run away, too many risks, and their audience is not our market, the folks who watch the show only buy cheap junk.

So I wonder if anyone else here has done this and can relate - about your experience with TV promotion, or what you may otherwise know about product placement and how the TV business works.

thanks

 

[Milland]

The cost to do this is about twice our entire annual advertising budget. My left brain wants to figure the ROI and see if I declined an opportunity of a lifetime. Right brain still says run away, too many risks, and their audience is not our market, the folks who watch the show only buy cheap junk.

I think the last part is key - if they're not your desired audience, then it's hard to see how this works for you. I like the idea of more rational growth. Just beware the tipping point where you have enough market and awareness to attract the copycats.

 

[Steven-Canada]

If the idea is still stuck in your head.

Go to a College or university with a good film program.

Talk to the department head and get them to recommend some senior students

Pay them a fraction of that and see what they can do.

They can probably use school equipment, they can probably do it as a school project.



Put it on Youtube, Vimo, it will live forever.

 

[Davis In SC]

To sum it up in a nutshell... They cannot lose, either way.. You CAN.. They have all the bases covered...

 

[adammil1]

Why not ask for references of similar companies to yours? If it is a good deal they should be able to give you some names of others who have benefited?

 

[Oldwrench]

That reminds me of the bubbas who call and want the product for free. "I'm using [competitor] but yours is so much better I'd really rather have yours..." A similar approach is used by trade publications to sell advertising: "This month we're featuring [product category] and we'd really like to interview you for the article." Yeah, along with all your competitors, all of whom have to buy ad space in order to be "interviewed" for the highly generic "article" to be written by some PR hack with zero knowledge.

I know paying for product placement in a movie is an accepted thing in that business, but I have to wonder whether anybody these days doesn't realize the decision to shoot, for example, Fords, Chevys or pick-a-rice-burner in a given cinema chase scene or TV episode was a matter of awarding the exposure to the highest bidder. The only show I know for a fact is above that shit is How It's Made, which has shown several products of ours (with even the occasional demonstration) and I never knew about it until I saw it. They sometimes show manufacturers' trademarks but they never mention them in the script, which seems refreshingly impartial. Anyway, paying somebody $40K to make a video of your stuff is pure publicity just like any other form of advertising. It might try to masquerade as editorial comment but to think it wouldn't look like PR is naive...JMO

 

[Jorgo]

I had a similar experience $20000 for a five minute spot on some show is never heard of. Nuts to that
Jordy

 

[awake]

Perhaps this is not a scam, but it sounds similar to something that I have encountered more than once, which many would feel is in the region of a scam: Sold Documentaries On Public TV, Firms Get Ads : NPR