Product placement has become prolific on television and movies and has come to play an important role in product-based brand marketing. Local Chinese brands also utilize this tool to promote their products despite the huge cost involved. It is no longer surprising to see Chinese brands appearing in big Hollywood productions as they try to transform their brand images. Recently, in the hit movie Transformers 3, several Chinese brands were spotted.

The appearance of Chinese dairy company Yili (伊利) took many people by surprise, with a character in the movie stating “May I finish my Shuhua milk?” The original intention of the company was to let Bumblebee drink the milk, but it was turned down by the director.

Aside from Yili, Chinese computer leader Lenovo sponsored all the computer products in the film, with a main character’s laptop transforming into a robot at the end. The core idea of Lenovo’s brand is very similar to Transformers; it emphasizes the combination of technology and intelligence. These perceptions could help to promote Thinkpad in the future.

Also in the technology industry is TCL, a Chinese company specializing in HDTV. Their desired brand image centers on “Creative Technological Innovations”. The TCL TV in the film is a transformer, but the director required that it become a part of the “bad guys” group, the evil Megatron. Even with the negative connotations, this could still prove to be an effective product placement for TCL.

For the fast growing clothing brand Meters/bonwe (美特斯邦威), their MTEE T-shirt was worn by the lead actor Shia Labeouf for two minutes. Meters/bonwe had certain requirements regarding the display of the T-shirt: it had to be very clean and not torn, and shown in a peaceful scene rather than a violent one. The cost of Meters/bonwe’s placement is said to be about 1 million US dollars. Meters/bonwe expects to sell 10 million T-shirts this year at the unit price of 89 RMB.

The price tag of product-placement in a Hollywood blockbuster is high, but does the reward justify the cost? Chinese brands are stepping out of their safe zones and are venturing onto the international stage, while simultaneously generating a lot of local buzz at home in the Chinese market. 
The effectiveness of product placement for brand building depends on a variety of factors, but two key considerations are worth noting here. Firstly, the associations surrounding the brand in the film need to be consistent with the brand’s core idea and brand attributes, as we saw with Lenovo in Transformers. Secondly, the brand should carefully consider their target audience and whether they will be reached directly or indirectly through the product placement. For example, the relevance of Yili milk’s placement in the Transformer’s movie is debatable. Although many consumers will watch the movie in China, and the funny phrase spoken in the movie generated a lot of buzz online, it is hard to say whether the marketing budget could have been allocated more effectively.

In short, product placement decisions are intimately tied up with brand strategy, and should be made based on long term brand objectives rather than thought of as a short term promotional activity.

(Interesting Fact- The entire movie Transformers could be considered a product placement- the cartoon series was originally created to boost toy maker Hasbro’s sales.)

See our previous post on product placement in China