STAMFORD, CT: US product placement revenues are expected to grow 13.2% in 2015 as marketers find new ways to feature brands and products in programme content and so sidestep consumers' tendency to time-shift and avoid watching ads. The estimates from PQ Media, a media research specialist, update an earlier report which said this market grew 12.8% during 2014 to reach $6.01bn, making it by far the largest market in the world. The only other global market to exceed $1bn last year was Brazil, driven by very high use of paid placements in popular telenovelas. Among the trends PQ Media noted were – one episode of Modern Family, for example, revolved around the family using Apple products – which now account for more than two thirds of total US product placement revenues. Another strategy is to increase viewer engagement by negotiating key placement deals close to commercial breaks in which a brand's product will appear first. "There is no advertising, marketing or consumer-driven media tactic that can match the durability, consistency or growth trajectory of product placement," declared Patrick Quinn, CEO & CCO, PQ Media. "Product placement has remained a steady component of successful multimedia strategies for more than a century," he added, "because well-executed brand integrations time and again have demonstrated the ability to engage audiences and create strong emotional connections." While TV remains the most important channel for product placement, digital media integrations are growing fast, as are those in recorded music, said PQ Media. Film, too, has long been a vehicle for brands seeking lucrative product placement opportunities although some critics feel this has reached an unacceptable level in this summer's blockbuster, Jurassic World. "The movie's corporate tie-ins are relentless," , with the film even "joking about product placement while still reaping the corporate cash". Or as one reviewer summed up the movie: it "makes a tentative stab or two at rampant product placement early on, before getting down to the business of delivering rampant product placement." Data sourced from PQ Media; Washington post; additional content by Warc staff
US product placement revenues are expected to grow 13.5% in 2014 as marketers find new ways to feature brands and products in programme content and so sidestep consumers' tendency to time-shift and avoid watching ads. While TV remains the most important channel for product placement, digital media integrations and recorded music integration are both growing fast.