Seeing how you’re already clicking…

Planit Agency
September 21, 2011

It wasn’t all that long ago that media “experts” predicted that traditional broadcast advertising would be killed off by Tivo, DVR, iTunes, Hulu, etc., etc. After all, these new forms of content delivery very suddenly allowed viewers to bend TV to their schedules. 

Product placement was said to be the new form of advertising within shows and movies.

I don’t see any sign of how true this is. Product placement is nothing new to the entertainment business, and commercials seem to have made themselves at home within online content.

I do, however, think this idea is pretty fascinating. Where are the next places we’ll be putting client messaging? For example, will credit card companies start encouraging/incentivizing Farmville users with exclusive in-game rewards when they use their cards for fictitious Farmville purchases? 

At the risk of stating the obvious, my thought is that the efficacy of this new format walks the fine line between NOT being disruptive to the user’s experience while not being totally invisible—blending into the environment like a spoof or parody.

In regard to click-through rates for “traditional” banner advertising mentioned in this article—perhaps it’s time to up the ante on the creative product instead of bailing on it all together.

Your thoughts?