In a Feb. 3 episode of "Bones," Brennan demonstrates her Toyota's adaptive cruise control to Booth. A few days later, on "Glee," Santana shows Puck a jewelry box, and tells him it contains a ring from Jared jewelers. A Nielsen study will later find these are two of the 10 most-remembered product placements on TV dramas and sitcoms in the month of February, joining a list that includes Ugg boots, Apple computers and Vicodin.
Years ago, John Barnard says, a senior Anheuser-Busch executive told him the brand was puzzled that, even though they were not yet in East Asian markets, Budweiser had a high level of brand awareness in the region.
Barnard says that "eventually they tracked it down to the Bud product placements in Hollywood movies… even though Budweiser was not available in those markets, viewers were absorbing the imagery and brand values, and were ready to embrace the brand when it was launched in their market."
A new study by NMG Product Placement, the UK agency Barnard chairs, indicates that product-placed brands may be receiving significant added value in foreign markets where programming is being exported.
