Abram Sauer Online

I say 12. What about you?

Mon. January 11, 2010
Location: Grand Forks YMCA

Number of high-end usable fitness room machines: 32 (2 broken)
Fitness Room Max population during Noontime: 24

Change from first measure: -7

Your move, Mr. Cameron.

Oh, yes, I was at THAT game.

It is over and over again stated that one of the keys to successful product placement is getting your placed product into a film as a “character.” Think “Wilson” from Castaway. Well, from the below screenshot of a throwaway story about weekend box office numbers, it seems the Camero has successfully moved into this coveted product placement area.

Except. Did anyone buy a Wilson ball because of its successful characterization in Castaway? A placement, by the way, that was 99-percent assuredly not paid for (like the fact, which many on both sides of the product placement debate may find absolutely shocking, that FedEx also paid zero dollars for its role in film, outside providing FedEx-branded resources and supplies).  Probably not. Or no more anyway that they did use FedEx over, say, DHL because of the former’s role in the film.

From a practitioner level, the Camero’s Transformers placement has a number of things going for it. First and foremost of which is that it (the placement) is of a significantly redesigned model that hasn’t been in-market for long while at the same time not being a completely new brand, a handicap which would often leads many to confusion or forgetfulness.  Secondly, Camero’s timing could not have been more perfect; teasingly introducing the new Camero model in the first film a few years ago, the brand now pounds down hard in the least film at the exact time (no accident) that the model is available for order.

Additionally, Camero has done a much better job than have many internal combustion brands at capitalizing on its particular recent starring role (see my ongoing problems with Jeep and Harley). For example, Google “camero transformers” and you will see the brand’s made a ad buy directing searchers to a relatively cool GM site. (Meanwhile, do the same for “jeep terminator” and this very sad site you’re reading now is the fourth top result, before any official Jeep site whatsoever. Pitiful.)

Ok. So Camero is doing a good job, comparatively, of drawing attention to its latest film role (which, existing exposure considered, isn’t some insurmountably feat). But will Bumblebee be able to move beyond “cool” to moving GM autos in the marketplace? By some report, the Camero’s transformational role is a already a bone-fide hit. Reports of above-average pre-orders have the Camero looking like the next James Bomd’s Goldeneye BMW Z3. Hey there product lacement grad students and researchers, make room in your dissertations/trade-books for a while new (long-awaitied and fresh) case study chapter. (You might even be able to finally stop using the tired Red Stripe example!)

USA Today even claims that “GM sold 5,463 Cameros in May, the first month of the sporty car’s revival, compared with the 8,812 Mustangs sold by Ford. Chrysler sold 2,695 of the rival  Dodge Challenger it brought a year ago” adding “Camaro may catch Ford’s Mustang in monthly sales when it has enough available.” A lofty claim against one of auto’s product placement leaders going back to Bullit. Nonetheless, this is a major success considering GM has not formally paid for the placement.

Would the Camero model relaunch be successful without the Transformers attention? Probably. But certainly not as much. And that simple fact makes all the guff the brand might get for its bloated roel in the film series worth it. Is it going to single-handedly save GM? No. But it’s good for sales and for better for morale. USA Today: “Dealer Mike Martin of Dudley Martin Chevrolet in Manassas, Va., says the Camaro has “hit the sweet spot.” The 14 people on his waiting list up to 10 months ago have their cars and he has another seven ordered for new customers.”

Finally is the notable fact that the Camero’s two Transformers roles, in both its new and old junker model forms, has effectively erased from memory the fact that the original Bumblebee was a Volkswagen Beetle. One wonders if VW reps fought for, or even knew about, the opportunity.

What happens when a brand gets its product placed but then that product never makes it to market?

Below,  a shot of Dell’s smartpone from Transporter 3. Too bad it’s looking like the exposure was wasted. 

The practice, or “art,” of branding can range in tangibility from the solidly observable (Apple) to the vaguely impalpable, where the mere existence of a “brand” borders on abstractness. The brand that is the “recovery” of the United States sits precariously in the latter, and discussing it is frustratingly nebulous. The real difference for the current governing administration between putting together “a recovery” and “The Recovery” is all about branding…. Brandchannel

Info on Abram Sauer can be found at www.abramsauer.com.