Product placement within music videos can contribute to a lift of 8% points in purchase intent and improved perception — higher than full-scale marketing campaigns, not to mention far cheaper and faster. So from a money-making perspective, product placement in videos makes perfect sense for both the brand and the artist.

The media landscape is rapidly changing, creative may need to work harder to grab and keep attention, its main role has largely remained the same: To capture attention and encode memories that can later influence brand choice.

Ever watched an episode of reality television, you may have noticed a disclaimer at the beginning: ‘this program contains product placement’. Similarly, scrolling through your Instagram, you’ll almost certainly see posts with a covertly placed ‘#ad’ hashtag.
The reason this has to be mentioned is because brands featured in various media forms are likely to experience a soar in demand for their products. Whether we realize it or not, this is an incredibly clever and often carefully orchestrated marketing tactic.

Ordinary individuals are often influenced by those they admire, such as celebrities/influencers. When they see them modelling a particular pair of sunglasses or wearing a certain designer’s shoes, they’re driven to want these products for themselves. Thus, one way that brands can showcase their wares is by having them featured in music videos or movies, or even on the Instagram feeds of popular figures. Not only are these products broadcasted to a large audience, but they are also immediately deemed as desirable items to buy.

While the promotion of products on celebrity Instagram feeds may be a relatively new phenomenon, featuring brands in forms of media other than their own promotional materials is not. In fact, we can see this happening all the way back to the earliest days of cinema, when silver-screen starlets would model the hottest trends of the day and send sales soaring.

Here’s why ordinary businesses should pay attention.

Since brand awareness is vital for the survival of every successful company, business owners and marketers must look for ways to enhance their profile, both online and offline.
Sound and music play a huge role in the visual medium and create a stronger impression than including celebrities. There are the obvious film cues, like Jaws, that alert us to danger. These are iconic and triggering pieces of music but they might not be relevant to a brand unless you’re Elon Musk’s Edgelord-centric Boring Company. Yet, they certainly illustrate a point about how quickly we can recognize a sound (0.05 seconds) and feel connected to it thanks to the 13 emotions that music evokes in us.

Within the creation of original film and television music, you’re creating a theme for the celluloid world the characters live in. This leitmotif can be repeated and adjusted to different moods and energy levels and instantly informs the audience on what their takeaway should be. All with the same melody, all within that same world. When you think about it, developing a music score appeals to different emotions throughout the video while still adhering to an overarching theme. And that’s what we do with brands too. We think of them as stories and use all the music tools we need to tell those stories in the best way possible.

So, if you think of your brand as the film/show and the product/service as the main characters, well, let’s get to making that music. Sure, it’s a cheesy ending but this is the land of Bollywood, right?

Rather than piggybacking on existing success, take the risk, trust your gut, and take the time to create something truly iconic. There’s always the Oscars…