Awareness of the Product Placement

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays it is almost impossible not to be exposed to advertising. We switch on the television and even if we do not encounter advertising block we still come across clearly recognisable brands on shows, movies etc. The bigger and bigger amount and speed of information are leading advertisers to use innovative and different forms of advertising. The usual billboards and TV ads are simply not enough. Traditional forms of advertising are not interesting for consumers anymore. The new-age commercials are surprising the consumers on the strangest places, times and situations possible, with intention to shock, surprise and subliminally penetrate in our minds.

One of more successful forms of advertising, although not new, is definitely product placement. Product placement or brand is a form of advertising in which products; brands, packaging, labels and corporate names are deliberately placed in films and television programs. Placement can be in the form of verbal mention, the actual use of products, visual placement, or even in the form of extracts from the actual radio and television commercials. Such placement of products is also called as "stealth advertising", but not all placements are subtle and unobtrusive. Regardless of the used variant is the root purpose of product placement reminding consumers of the product.

Whilst it is commonly practiced in the US, Slovenian population still holds prejudices against it. For a while product placement was forbidden, because it was supposedly misleading consumers. Nowadays, they are slowly permitting more and more of it. This issue has a huge ethical question which deals with whether product placement misleads people or does not. According to this, the purpose of our research was to explore if people are actually aware of it or they do not recognise its existence. And further, does it affect them or do they stay objective when purchasing? Does it elicits a desire for a product or leave us coldblooded? And finally, is it true that the increasing amount of ads means lower level of consumer tolerance, which especially reflects in television ads, making product placement more than welcome substitute or complement to classical advertising?

Research, dealing with those questions began by examining the literature. It was divided to two parts. The first was conducted by showing a music video to participants without explaining what the survey was about. This was followed by survey containing structured and unstructured questions and the explanation of term product placement.

PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEDIA

Product placement can appear in different types of media. Some of them are listed and analysed below.

MOVIES

The reason why products are being placed in movies is their power of persuasion. Movies reach a big number of people; they are in narrative form which makes them more persuasive. When viewers watch movies they usually do not get the filing that somebody is trying to influence them, which makes them more susceptible for persuasion. Movies promote values, popular culture, they create behaviour, promote audience's identification (the viewer has similar experiences as the main character in the movie, that's why he can identify himself with character) and they build stereotypes.

It has been found that consistency between a brand and the movie story has a significant impact on the consumer's values and their ethical judgments. Meaning that high consistency between the brand and the script, consumer acknowledges the placement appropriate. In this case the Impact of product placement is high, but if the product is not placed within the context it can often have a disturbing impact on the audience.

SERIES AND TV PROGRAMS

Also series draw attention of numerous viewers since not everybody has the time or the will to watch movies which last 90 minutes or more. Because of good ratings, the movies and series budgets are comparable as is their quality. Because of that, series are perfect for product placement. Product appears numerous times and becomes a part of the series, which makes it more memorable for the audience. Because every series has their own audience it is possible to place specific brands adjusted to the segment of the viewers. It means that with product placement in serials we certainly reach our focus group.

Various products can be integrated in reality shows. Their story is very flexible which makes them ideal product placement material. Furthermore, some reality shows depend on product placement, because without its financial support they could not exist. Advertisers must be aware of risks that come with live broadcasts. These broadcasts usually have bigger audience and can sometimes include unpredicted incidents that can result in negative effects on the brand.

SONG LYRICS AND MUSIC VIDEOS

Product placement often occurs in song lyrics and music videos. Most frequent brands that are placed in videos are clothing and luxury products. Including brands in song lyrics and videos relates them more with the everyday life and consumption. With various music genres we can reach specific groups within certain segments, especially young people.

BENEFITS OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Each technique as well as positioning of brand has certain strengths. What are advantages depends on the angle from which we evaluate this technique.

INVISIBILITY AND UNOBTRUSIVENESS

The viewer or listener is often not aware that during an exposure to a particular media he is also exposed to product placement, which is actually advertising. That is why he may not contradict this kind of advertising, as opposed to perhaps the traditional one. The attention of the audience is closer to the action itself, therefore, placed brands and products are considered as a part of that action and not as an object of advertising. Normally the viewer or listener becomes attentive to a brand when he is somehow associated with it; otherwise there is a small possibility that the brand would receive any special attention from the audience. In several studies, on the topic of product placement acceptance among people, the results showed that in principle a public has a positive opinion on products placement, especially among the permanent viewers, listeners and readers, but the products or brands must be positioned without the concept of aggression and within the concept of production.

POTENTIALLY POWERFUL INDICATOR OF A POSITIVE IMAGE

If the