BACKGROUND
I recently finished watching the new Spider-Man movie, and I kept noticing Tom Holland's beer brand, Bero, in a movie that has now made over $2 billion worldwide. In the opening minutes, Peter Parker walks into a deli and packs of Bero are sitting on the shelf behind him, which led me to wonder how well product placements in movies actually perform and whether they're worth what brands pay for them.
Product placement is a lot bigger than most people think, with global spending estimated at around $30 billion a year by PQ Media. Some placements are completely free, where a brand just hands the production its products to cut costs, and others run into the tens of millions. The brands that get the most out of it have one thing in common, which is that the few seconds on screen are only the start of the campaign.
MOVE 1
Brands pay up to a million dollars for 4 sec
Placements are usually sold in chunks of three to four seconds of clear screen time, and the price depends on how many logos, verbal mentions or uses of the product land in those seconds. The bigger deals go way past that, because a brand can pay for a starring role in the story instead of a spot on a shelf.
Evidence: Forbes reports placements cost $250,000 to $1 million for three to four seconds. Heineken reportedly paid around $45 million for Skyfall, where Bond drinks one Heineken in the entire movie.
MOVE 2
Bero launched limited edition Spider-Man cans
Bero didn't stop at the deli shelf. They made a limited run of their Kingston Golden Pils with Sony, with an upside down Spider-Man hanging off the top of the can, sold on their website and in movie theaters like Alamo Drafthouse and Studio Movie Grill during the release. When the movie came out on digital in October, they brought the cans back, this time sold at Topgolf.
Evidence: The first run sold out in two weeks and drove a 121% jump in traffic to Bero's website, according to Bero.
MOVE 3
Coca-Cola brought back New Coke for Stranger Things
When Stranger Things season 3 was set in 1985, Netflix put New Coke into several episodes, and Coca-Cola brought back the original 1985 formula as a limited run, with upside down themed vending machines giving out free cans in select cities. Netflix staff even visited Coca-Cola's archives in Atlanta to get the old packaging right.
Why it works: The show did the storytelling for free, and the limited drop turned nostalgia into a product people could actually hold.
MOVE 4
A movie keeps getting watched long after it's released
Brands pay these exorbitant amounts because a movie is a perpetual investment. Every time someone rewatches it or finds it on a streaming service, the brand shows up again, which a 30-second ad never does. The F1 movie showed how far this can go, with real sponsors covering the fictional team's car and Brad Pitt's race suit.
Why it works: The fee is paid once, but the exposure keeps compounding every year the movie stays watchable. Especially when you're selling a timeless product.
MOVE 5
It only works when it fits the story
Research on product placement shows the more obvious a brand is in a scene, the more people remember it, but when the placement feels forced and has nothing to do with the story, people end up liking the brand less. That's why the F1 logos worked, because sponsors on a race car are part of the real sport, and why a beer on a deli shelf in New York doesn't feel like an ad.
Random though. But maybe this can work in your favor: if you stand out like a sore thumb, people are bound to remember you, but I have to make sure you do it in a positive manner.
Why it works: People remember what they notice, but they only like what doesn't feel like it was shoved at them.
STEAL THIS:
Budget for the drop, not just the shot. The placement gets you seen, but a limited edition product or campaign around it is what gets people to buy, so plan both together.
Make it trackable. Tie the placement to a landing page, a code or a limited product, because the scene itself has no clean way to measure return.
Only go where your product naturally belongs. A product that fits the scene gets remembered and liked, and a forced one gets remembered and resented.
Think in years, not weekends. Pick content people will rewatch on streaming, because that's where the exposure keeps paying off.
One-line takeaway: “Most of you don’t have to worry about movie placements, but if you ever do… then remember to make it seamless. Imagine James Bond with a Honda Odyssey!”
Until next week,
BTB - AMAY
