2012 is the Best Year Ever for Belstaff Product Placement
THE UK PRODUCT PLACEMENT AGENCY BEATING THE U.S. AT THEIR OWN GAME
5th March 2012, London, UK – During the 2012 film awards season, Seesaw Media, the London based product placement agency, has secured clients’ exposure in more award nominated and winning movies than any other agency.
With clients appearing in nine of this year’s Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated films, from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to War Horse and Midnight in Paris to The Iron Lady – the latter two picking up Oscars – Seesaw Media knows how to spot an award winner.
Product placement has been long established in the United States as a marketing tool (and is now building momentum in UK television), but no other agency has ever achieved such a level of exposure for clients on the big screen in one year as Seesaw Media.
With a varied portfolio of clients including some of the World’s most recognisable brands in the automotive, fashion, leisure and premium wines & sprits categories, Seesaw has consistently delivered high profile brand exposure in the most popular and talked about movies of the last decade.
“Premium brands want to be associated with premium feature films. We specifically target those features that not only appeal to our clients’ customers, but we feel will be well received by the critics” says Darryl Collis, Director of Seesaw Media.
This year, films that Seesaw Media worked on received a combined 71 nominations, 14 of which went on to win at this year’s awards. Including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which won this year’s Costume Designer’s Guild Award for Excellence in Contemporary Film, prominently featuring one of Seesaw’s fashion clients.
The agency has an exciting year ahead, with clients already set to appear in several upcoming blockbusters. However, due to contractual agreements, Darryl is not allowed to talk about them, but you can be sure that on next year’s red carpet, everyone else will be.
JLS: Driven by Volvo – in Their Latest Music Video “Do You Feel What I Feel?”
Volvo Car UK has teamed up with JLS, one of the UK’s biggest boybands, in their newest music video ‘Do You Feel What I Feel?’ Their latest single is the third to be released from their recent album, ‘Jukebox’, which is on sale now. JLS hit the charts after coming runners up on The X Factor and haven’t looked back since. With their debut album going four times platinum and their second album having sold over 600,000 copies, the group’s third album will be a sure fire hit.
Arranged through Seesaw Media, Volvo’s entertainment agency, the partnership with the group sees them behind the wheel of three Volvos – the C30, the S60 and the XC60, all stars from The Twilight Saga of films and with all three finished off in Volvo’s sports inspired R-Design trim.
Commenting on their collaboration with Volvo, JLS said, “We’re really excited to have Volvo partner with us on our latest video for ‘Do You Feel What I Feel?’. The cars were swagged out, especially the white XC60. Its siiick!”
“Having JLS driving Volvos in the latest video is a great way of exposing our products to audiences who wouldn’t ordinarily see them”, said Duncan Forrester, Head of Public Affairs, Events and Sponsorship at Volvo Car UK. “I’m really pleased that JLS have chosen Volvo as their first car partner and it follows in the footsteps of work we’ve previously done with Hard Rock Calling, Snowbombing, V Festival, T in the Park and Wireless, as well as supplying cars to acts such as Dizzee Rascal and Professor Green.”
Fans of Volvo’s Official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/insidevolvouk) will be amongst the first to see the new video when it goes live on Friday 25th November. Facebook fans will also be able to see behind the scenes footage of the making of the video, while Twitter followers (www.twitter.com/insidevolvouk) will soon be able to win exclusively signed copies of JLS’s latest album ‘Jukebox’.
With Volvo’s home being in Sweden, to add to the Scandinavian influence, four times Swedish Grammy Awards Nominee Marcus Lundin, was given the job of directing the video shoot.
UK Audiences Will Turn off to US Style Product Placement
Morgan Spurlock, the Oscar Nominated documentarian who alerted us to the evils of fast food in his expose “Super Size Me”, now wants us to be aware of the power of product placement in his new movie subtly entitled “Pom Wonderful Presents : The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” which opens in UK cinemas on October 14th.
Financed entirely by product placement, sponsorship and advertising, the film – or as Morgan calls it the world’s first ‘Docbuster’ – shows Morgan convincing companies such as Hyatt, Jet Blue, Ban deodorant and of course Pom Wonderful to part with cash to appear in his movie and then promote their exposure and association in their hotels, on their planes, in their stores, on their website and on their bottles. Morgan raised $1.5million dollars from the 22-partners, with $1million coming from Pom Wonderful alone for title sponsor.
The result is an entertaining, informative and somewhat scary look at the world of American product placement – and a place in the Guinness Book Of Records as the film with the most product placement.
Having seen the film, UK audiences may be wondering will our screens be full of the type of blatant US product placement that Morgan highlights in his documentary, with shows such as 90210 and Chuck featuring lingering shots of Dr Pepper and Subway for no narrative reason.
The answer, according to Darryl Collis, Director of Seesaw Media the UK agency that specialises in product placement is quite simply, “No!”
“That will never happen here,” Darryl reassures us. “Not only do laws on undue prominence prohibit that but most importantly the UK audience will not stand for it and will just switch over, which is something the broadcasters will avoid at all costs”.
Over the years Seesaw Media has supplied their client’s products to dress the sets of many high profile UK television shows and feature films for productions to help create reality. Darryl highlights the fact that “We live in a branded world and television and film need to reflect that. It’s only the bad placements that the audience notice and complain about. The natural organic ones just enhance their viewing.”
Mindful of UK television shows not going the way of the US, Seesaw Media have been tracking all the product placement deals that have aired on UK screens, since the law changed in February.
“There have only been a handful of deals brokered since the change in law” Darryl notes “from simple placement where a brand has been used just as set dressing like the Nestle coffee machine on ‘This Morning’ to placement and sponsorship with Treseme and Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model to the fully integrated ad funded programming, where a brand pays for and appears in the show as per Channel 4’s ‘New Look Styles The Nation’. Some of which work better i.e. are more organic, than others.”
It looks like product placement will become more and more part of our everyday viewing experience and as such Darryl recommends audiences go and see Morgan’s movie, as not only will it give them an insight into the industry but “most importantly it will entertain you and make you think, and that’s what going to the cinema is all about”
The Saturdays Latest Video Gets a Make-over from Barry M
The UK’s biggest girl band, The Saturdays, and Barry M, the UK’s number one fashion cosmetics company have joined forces for the latest Saturdays video, Notorious. Barry M was specially requested for the girls to use in the video to transform them from office workers to party princesses.
Set in a regular working office, the place is brought to life as the girls makeover their party attire – with the help of Barry M – and the office turns into a club.
Whilst in the lift there are a series of extreme close ups shown in slow motion as Frankie, Una, Mollie, Rochelle & Vanessa begin to transform, as glasses are taken off, hair is let down, clothes are changed and most importantly, make-up is applied. Close ups of Barry M Lip Gloss Wands and Mascara feature heavily in this scene.
The video focuses on the beauty of all the girls throughout, oozing a sexy glow, with incredible fashion and perfect make-up – with the help of Barry M –adding to the sultry allure of The Saturdays.
Darryl Collis, Director of Seesaw Media, the UK product placement agency responsible for the integration says, “Barry M and The Saturdays are a perfect fit as both artist and brand appeal to the same demographic, which is what makes the integration so strong.”
Barry M’s integration in The Saturdays new single “Notorious” can be seen at: http://www.barrym.com/fun/the-saturdays.asp.
Notorious will be available to download from 22nd May and on CD on 27th May.
