Product Placement Still Going Strong
Although one
might think marketers have forgotten about the tried-and-true
product placement with all the talk about new digital platforms for
video, a recent survey says it is still a healthy business.
In a new
edition of its annual survey, PQ Media reports product placement
growing worldwide at 37% in 2006 to $3.36 billion, and is
forecasting a slowdown of growth at 30% in 2007 to $4.38 billion.
The growth of
the non-paid part of the product-placement business will cool, too.
This is the biggest part of the industry, including barter and other
valued-added deals. According to the survey, it's estimated to be
just 12.5% in 2007, registering a value of $4.95 billion. By
comparison, the value was $4.4 billion in 2006.
Still, the
survey says product placement continues to be robust and will have a
strong future. One reason: European growth has been fueled by the
relaxation of rules governing placements through a "Television
without Frontiers" initiative, largely affecting the U.K., Spain and
Italy.
The U.S.
continues to be the dominant country for paid-product
placement—representing more than 66% of the worldwide business. Next
year, PQ projects the U.S. will pull in $2.90 billion.
Countries that
will follow the U.S. in terms of size include Brazil, Mexico,
Australia and Japan. China will be the world's fastest-growing
country, projected to grow by 34.5%. The next big increases will
come from the U.S., Italy, India and Canada.
TV is still the
biggest medium to place products, accounting for almost
three-quarters of the entire business. By contrast, product
placements in film are less than half that of TV, with movies
pulling $885.1 million in 2006.