Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Hollywood Takes A Hint From The Internet & Moves Towards Guerilla Style ?Permission Marketing? “Reward your curiosity with new Vanilla Coke??? ? I hear actor Chazz Palminteri say that about 10 times every day. Watching American Idol every Tuesday and Wednesday, we can?t help but notice judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and the infamous Simon Cowell sip from their delicately placed Coke cups. Add in ?Ford Focus on the Contestants?, shopping sprees using a MasterCard and one wonders ? is all of the nouveau-style product placement actually paying off? ?It Has To???, says Jeff Greenfield, vice president of 1st Approach, a strategic media marketing company, ?since the explosion of the Internet and new technology like TiVO, viewers are demanding fewer interruptions.??? Greenfield is right on. With over half a million households currently using the TiVO style ?personal video recorders?, a recent study reveals users skip commercials 72.3% of the time — a much higher rate than those watching live TV or those using videotape recorders. ?Hollywood is now experimenting with guerilla marketing tactics that are well known on the Internet, says Greenfield, and we expect to see more sponsors move away from the traditional commercial where we are ?interrupted? and towards a more ?permission-based? marketing.??? Permission Based Marketing ? one of the earliest Internet developments is essentially offering people what they want when they want it. To the advertiser, according to Greenfield, people who have given their permission to receive a message are the most valuable and TV producers, like those at Fox?s American Idol, are hoping that the integrated product placement on the show will payoff for the major sponsors. Movie studios have long recognized the value of Permission Marketing for that opening box office number. Over the last 3 years, Greenfield has witnessed studios and their savvy clients budgeting more towards online community marketing in the form of building ?Branding Communities?. “Not only is it cost-effective, but since the success of the ?sleeper hit? Blair Witch Project, which was launched exclusively through online marketing, it provides an immediate response ? which is unheard of in a traditional campaign.??? New Twist In Product Placement Corporate types looking to launch the ?next big thing? ? Greenfield says stay away from TV and film and focus on celebrity events with a strong online component. ?We love celebrity events ? everything from Award Shows to charity auctions. Since events are scheduled every month of the year, we?re able to get great results in a short period of time and since we know when the event will occur ? we can plan our cross promotions.??? As for the online component, Greenfield is impressed with results from the Web Decoder. Distributed in stores at the point of sale or at a trade show, customers take them home and register at a web site to see if they have won a prize. ?When integrated with our Branding Communities, we?ve seen registration rates as high as 60% and with 5 million contest pieces, that?s a huge group of people who are interested in a permission-based advertising message.??? For the Holiday shopping season, look for Greenfield?s firm to be integrating in-store and large Internet promotions with contests to win trips to Hollywood?s A-list events ? which has my vote for the hottest guerilla marketing move I?ve seen in months. Count me in to sign up! Contact: Jeff Greenfield Phone: 888-221-7923 ext 717
