The ultimate product placement: getting it into the hands of an impulsive television viewer.
Peter Kafka, 03.14.05
Here’s a solution for TV programmers worried about the erosion of their 30-second-ad business: Try getting into the retail business. After all, sitcoms, dramas and reality shows are increasingly using product placement within their programs to help buck declining ad revenues. Why not try product sales as well?
That’s the pitch that Delivery Agent, a small San Francisco company, has been making in the last year, with some success. To date, the company (which claims “over $1 million” in sales) has struck deals with ABC, NBC and a handful of other media outfits to peddle goods featured in shows and movies. The company arranges to have production assistants send it a list of the clothing and goods used on a show. Delivery Agent then posts the products on Web sites it operates on behalf of the networks or film companies. One problem: There’s nothing on the TV screen that directs an interested viewer to the site.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because NBC, among other networks, toyed with the same idea during the bubble years. It abandoned it after deciding that running a retail operation wasn’t its strong suit. But the network is happy to let an outsider take a crack.
So far, says Stephen Andrade, vice president of interactive development at NBC Entertainment, the scheme has worked best with the makeover show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which prominently features specific brands and products. After a recent episode highlighted the use of Tracie Martyn LotuSculpt Eye Pads, Delivery Agent sold 200, at $45 a set. It shares the profit with the network.
NBC also has deals to promote goods used on the sitcom Will & Grace and two one-hour dramas. Andrade isn’t expecting big sales here for now, though. Television actors, and the designers who clothe them and create their sets, tend to have expensive tastes. How many viewers will pony up $1,395 for the Le Corbusier cowhide chaise longue featured in Will & Grace?
