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UK product placement consultation launched Tuesday 10th November 2009 The government has launched a consultation looking at how product placement could work on UK television, with a view to restricting the promotion of alcohol, junk food and gambling. The culture secretary, Ben Bradshaw, said the move, which confirms a U-turn on the government's previous position, was recognition that the beleaguered broadcast industry should "not suffer through being overly strictly regulated". Ofcom has estimated that within five years of it launching, product placement could make UK broadcasters as a whole £25m to £35m a year. The consultation is calling for responses on whether to ban or restrict placement of products from the alcohol and gambling industries as well as food high in fat, salt and sugar. In addition it is looking at whether there should be a "specific prohibition" of product placement in religious programmes, current affairs and consumer shows. The overarching European Audiovisual Media Services directive already bans product placement in children's TV . However, the UK is looking at whether the ban should extend to programmes that have a high proportion of younger viewers. This would tie in with Ofcom's "Index 120" rule that blocks junk food being advertised in shows of "particular appeal" to under-16s. The government said that it was reconsidering its former position, adopted by former culture secretary Andy Burnham, of a total ban. "There is no doubt that commercial broadcasters are suffering in this challenging economic climate," said Bradshaw. "Programme-makers have argued that our current stance on product placement will put them at a competitive disadvantage against international rivals, particularly from the US". Bradshaw said if product placement was allowed it would be with "adequate safeguards to address concerns that relaxing the rules will threaten the trust of viewers and the integrity of programming". The consultation will close on 8 January. |
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HarperCollins and Brandirector announce licensing deal Thursday 17th September 2009 HarperCollins UK has appointed the online brand and entertainment website Brandirector.com to offer over 100 book titles for merchandising and promotional opportunities to the Film, TV, Online, Merchandising and FMCG industries. Titles being offered include a vast array of genres, across fiction and non-fiction, including: children’s, fantasy, crime, thriller, action/adventure, historical fiction, war, women’s fiction, inspirational memoirs, international experiences/travel, lifestyle and cookery. Key children's properties include Oliver Jeffers, Jez Alborough, Mandy Stanley and Emma Chichester Clark. It also includes titles from the portfolios of Angry Robot (such as Slights by Kaaron Warren) and The Friday Project (such as The Exotic Meat Cookbook), plus I Heart NY by Lindsey Kelk and The Reaper by Steven Dunne. Steve Read, Brandirector’s MD said “ Brandirector.com is all about breaking the mould and creating a new way for content owners, rights holders and brands to meet and discover opportunities in each others properties, that they possibly wouldn’t have otherwise known about. For a leading global publisher and content provider like HarperCollins to be the first to embrace this for licensing and rights is a really exciting moment.” Melanie Beer, Head of Licensing & Content Development at HarperCollins said “I’m really excited to be working with Brandirector.com to get our strong portfolio of titles in front of the industries decision makers. The breadth of our publishing programme ensures there really is something for everyone.” |
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Ban on TV product placement 'to be lifted' Monday 14th September 2009 The move could lead to celebrity chefs promoting supermarket products in their cooking programmes and soft drinks manufacturers placing their beverages in television talent shows. It would throw a lifeline to struggling ITV and other independent broadcasters who would be able to boost their advertising revenues. The decision – certain to be highly controversial – represents a major U-turn by the government, which up to now has insisted that the ban should remain. It could be officially announced as early as this week. A senior Whitehall source said: "The climate has changed and we are now ready to allow product placement in certain circumstances." The change in the rules will only apply to commercial broadcasters, with the BBC still banned from promoting products, even in programmes made by independent production companies. The ban will also remain in force for all children's programmes across all networks. The main factor behind the rethink by ministers has been the financial strictures faced by ITV and other commercial broadcasters during the recession, which have seen their advertising revenues badly hit. To read the full Telegraph news story click here |
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RTL's Gerhard Zeiler on UK TV Product Placement Tuesday 1st September 2009 Gerhard Zeiler, the chief executive of Channel Five and owner of RTL, has joined calls for a relaxation of UK product placement rules to help advertiser-funded commercial broadcasters. Delivering the Worldview Address at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival late yesterday, Gerhard Zeiler said he did not believe there would be a quick recovery in ad revenue following the recession – and it may never return to old levels. He said free-to-air commercial broadcasters needed strategies to diversify and reduce their reliance on advertising income, including developing their pay-TV and online video revenues. Gerhard Zeiler, whose company, Luxembourg-based RTL, owns nearly 80 TV and radio stations in 11 countries across Europe, also urged the UK government to get into line with the rest of the continent and relax product placement restrictions. |
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New Research Shows Marketers are Investing in Branded Entertainment Thursday 16th July 2009 New research shows the importance of branded entertainment in the strategic planning for leading marketers, with more than two-thirds of respondents (68%) investing in some type of branded entertainment as a means to reach consumers. TBA Global released a new whitepaper with the Event Marketing Institute (EMI) that gives insights into the challenges marketers face as they seek to attract and engage consumers with their brand across a growing number of platforms. “There has been a lot of confusion in the marketplace regarding Branded Entertainment and its role in a brand’s marketing mix,” said Brian Murphy, EVP, TBA Global. “This report clarifies the growing strategic role that Branded Entertainment plays by correctly defining it as the strategic and programmatic use of relevant content or entertainment as a focal point to attract, engage and influence targeted audiences. This is important to marketers because we have entered the Marketing 3.0 era where attraction rather than persuasion is how you win and retain customers.” The study, conducted by EMI, also found that more than two-thirds of marketing executives (67%) are investing in live events as part of their branded entertainment strategies. Forty-four percent of the marketers surveyed said they are investing in Web content, while 29 percent said they are allocating resources to social networks. Custom Web programming, entertainment sponsorships and sponsorship activation spending all tied at 27 percent of investments. “This report found that the overall importance of branded entertainment as an integrated marketing strategy appears to be increasing with leading marketers,” said Mike Westcott, Managing Director of EMI. A summary and full report is available from TBA Global. |
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