Product Placement in Online Auctions vs. Media A New Channel for Marketers/Advertisers; A fresh look at ROI Metrics

Product Placement in Online Auctions vs. Media

A New Channel for Marketers/Advertisers; A fresh look at ROI Metrics

Consumers, especially in the US, have noticed product placement on popular television shows and hit movies; one may have recognized their favorite cereal box on “Seinfeld” or coffee mug on “Friends”.   As consumers are still continually blasted with an overwhelming amount of advertising, marketers have been forced to find other outlets to get their brand messages across and product placement is taking the lead.

Every year, marketers/advertisers set their annual budget which includes how they are going to allocate their funds to meet their branding needs.  Familiar vehicles such as placements in magazines and television spots are declining as online publications rise and DVR machines fast forward through those highly paid for 20 sec spots. These marketers have experimented with creative in-store displays, online advertising, streaming video, digital signage, a slue of social networks and of course, blogs, blogs, blogs.  Gone are the days of black and white print newspaper and magazine “inside cover” placement.

So what is so great about product placement? Let me address; on the consumer side, there is no “in your face” marketing/selling.  There is no screaming “buy this” and “buy that” (rest in peace Billy Maze).  There is less interruption of favorite programming and fewer advertisements in the middle of an article.  For marketers, there is an innovative vehicle to allow new targeted channels to exist.  There are creative ways to bring brands to market that don’t annoy consumers, and there is a way to actually have an ROI experience with marketing dollars.  Wait just one minute and I will repeat that. There is a way to actually have an ROI experience.  Hard metrics is something that has never been offered by traditional methods of advertising and marketers are jumping at the chance to be first in line to be part of this experience in the $16 billion charity auction market.

BiddingForGood, the leading online fundraising auction platform connecting charity auctions, consumers, and commercial item donors, already boast some “A list” luxury brands including LVI/Thomas Cook, DKNY Jeans, Reebok Outlets, Kimpton Hotels and The Taj Hotel. Items from these brands are placed within a program that is enriched with measureable ROI. “Because online charity auctions reach affluent consumers through their trusted causes just as they are making discretionary purchasing decisions, they are a highly measureable and experiential marketing channel”, says cMarket CEO Jon Carson. The “experiential marketing” program allows hundreds of thousands of affluent consumers to experience a brand with an average person spending over 30 seconds on a specially built microsite.

Successful online charity auction marketing programs involve a commercial entity providing sample items to be placed into live online auctions, enabling the marketer to reach category specific, affluent donors just at the time their spending decisions are being made. The client receives detailed reporting along with a losing bidder outreach program.

So, what is the difference between online charity auction product placement and product placement within the media?  When product placement exists in the media, such as in a blockbuster movie, the audience is there to engage their attention in the latest flick, in which marketers hope to gain some attention and brand recognition along the journey of the film.  How effective is this really?  I’m not quite sure and truly doubt I will ever know enough about it to write a white paper on the topic.  But what I do know is that when a product is placed in a marketing program within an online auction, the product is placed in an arena where it is being put in front of consumers just as they are making their buying decisions.  They are visiting the online auction platform to see what is available and to purchase items, not to watch a show.