Product placement can be used to effectively promote/market to your chosen audience but it can be difficult to do it in a natural way that does not seem obvious and forced. The most popular example of effective product placement is the movie E.T. and the use of Reese’s Pieces. The main character, Elliott, used the candy in order to make friends with the alien E.T. and this simple act is the best-known and most successful use of product placement because it actually worked. Because of the movie’s success, E.T. was one of the top grossing movies for about ten years; the sales of Reese’s Pieces went up by more than 60%.
You don’t have to be a nation-wide popular candy or brand in order to use product placement effectively, it may be a little more difficult to do so locally but it is possible. Your local business can use product placement in a useful and effective way by doing a bit of research ahead of time.
Secrets to using Product Placement Effectively for small local businesses:
Know Your Audience
The best and most important secret to having effective product placement is to know your audience. Placing high priced products in movies or TV ads that are meant for younger audiences like teenagers and college students is a good example of not knowing your audience. Those product placements are obviously not going to be effective because the core audience wouldn’t be able to afford those products in the first place. Know the product and know who is going to be the most interested in the product before you start looking for placement opportunities. Knowing your audience is the first and most important step.
Community Events
A small local business has the best opportunity to place some of their products or services in the midst of community events like fundraisers, parades, etc. You can set up your own booths, you can give away free products, or you might even sponsor some kind of prize or goodie bag. Community events are a great place to use product placement effectively, just make sure you know who your audience is going to be and that they will be interested in what you have to give or say.
Local TV/Radio/Theatre
Use local TV, radio, and even theatres in order to show that your business cares for the community. Sponsor a youth sport’s team or get some of your products/services into a local sport’s program, you could even provide the funds for a team to travel to an out of town game. You could also sponsor other types of school, community, and local theatre productions in order to expose your products to a wide range of viewers.
Printing
Product placement can be done effectively in more than one way, printing signs, flyers, posters, and programs are just a few more ways you can show your audience what you and your business is all about. In order to do this you will need printing services like those in San Diego, effective, down-to-earth, and reliable.