TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Digital method puts ad inside TV show

Digital method puts ad inside TV show

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Tue, 28 Feb 2006 00:04:05 -0500

By Reuters | February 27, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- A breakthrough in television advertising debuted
without fanfare last spring as a brand-name box of crackers appeared
on the CBS sitcom 'Yes, Dear' for about 20 seconds, seen but hardly
noticed by millions of viewers.

Unbeknownst to them, the image of Kellogg's Club Crackers had been
digitally painted onto the top of a coffee table after the scene was
filmed, launching the latest advance in a marketing practice known in
the industry as product placement but derided by critics as 'stealth
advertising.'

The 'Yes, Dear' episode in April 2005 marked the first commercial
use of a patent-pending innovation dubbed Digital Brand Integration,
or DBI, developed by New York-based Marathon Ventures, and grew out
of an unprecedented marketing deal with CBS.

Since then, CBS has used the technology to plug brands such as
StarKist Tuna and Chevrolet on several other shows, including the hit
police drama 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' and new sitcom 'How I
Met Your Mother.'

David Brenner, founder and president of Marathon, said his company
expects to unveil a new pact soon with the Fox network, a unit of News
Corp. Ltd.

Blending brand names and products into television shows, as opposed to
traditional ads that run during commercial breaks, has gained greater
currency in recent years as the industry faces the rising popularity
of TiVo and other devices that let viewers skip commercials.

But some industry experts suggest that product placement -- digital or
otherwise -- has limited value in delivering a message.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/02/27/digital_method_puts_ad_inside_tv_show/

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