Product Placement: Nescafe and New Look

Product placement; it’s been a long time coming, and Lord knows indies et all have been screaming out for the revenue a bleach bottle or can of Coke could bring in. And now it’s arrived, we’re just wondering where the chips will fall.

Placement arrived earlier this year in the form of New Look featuring in a TwoFour catwalk program broadcasting on Channel 4’s T4. It’s alleged that there were up to eight parties involved in the deal, with players tapping into a market worth £100 million. Over in ‘This Morning’s’ studios things were lower key with a Nescafe coffee maker lurking in the background. The three month deal cost Nescafe £100,000 and, overall, has been fairly understated. In fact, as far as viewing goes, you hardly notice the white Dulce Gusto; as far as media coverage goes – well that’s a whole other story. It’s been huge.

Whatever the case, Nescafe and New Look are just the beginning of product placement in the UK. The two brands have marked a floodgate of questions concerning structure and allocation of cash between the broadcaster, brand, agency and indie. It's should be an interesting time for advertising and TV, and goes without saying; product placement will turn media into a different beast. And that isn't altogether a bad thing. Seriously. It's a damn shame we weren't able to tap into this revenue stream sooner.