Online product placement takes a step forward on AOL, which is playing three new broadband video programs that incorporate GMC vehicles into the action. The shows, which started running Jan. 16 on AOL’s Living Channel, were created by AOL through a partnership with GMC under the direction of GMC’s agency, Digitas/Boston.
“You might see Tyler going shopping and putting the veggies in the Yukon,” an AOL spokeswoman said of a product placement sequence, which occurs on “Cooking with Tyler Florence,” a show that stars the celebrity chef and the GMC Yukon.
Three GMC vehicles are integrated into the campaign–the Yukon, the Acadia and the Sierra, and each is used exclusively on one of the shows, “Cooking,” “Home Entertainment with Michele and Gia” and “Home Improvement with Eric Strommer.”
The shows run three to five minutes, they are free to view and 78 have been created for the GMC program that will run for a year, according to the AOL spokeswoman.
The advertising also includes pre-rolls in front of the shows and sidebar videos, which are tips relating to show topics that are labeled GMC Trade Secrets. One hundred twenty Trade Secrets, 40 for each show, were created. They run about a minute each. The tips include their own “pre-rolls,” short intro clips in which the talent interacts with the vehicle. “It communicates the brand message and it’s a tie in between the brand and the show’s relevant content,” said Sean Kegelman, VP/director of marketing at Digitas.
Kegelman said the sidebar videos will be used on their own. “We’ll play them on video syndication sites like Google and YouTube and podcasts with messages that will draw them back to AOL.”
Digitas created the pre-rolls and sidebar videos from existing footage from TV commercials and new footage shot with the talent from the shows, Kegelman said. AOL produced the shows.
“We believe the Trade Secrets campaign will enable us to connect to our consumers on a more emotional level than traditional advertising,” said Mary Kubitskey, GMC advertising manager. “They’ll actually have the ability to interact with our brands. Also, GMC owns the rights to these assets, so throughout the year these vignettes can be repurposed for different uses.”
โAnoraโ Wins Best Film, Director and Actor At The Independent Spirit Awards
Sean Baker's "Anora" won best film, best director and best actor for Mikey Madison at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday in what could be a preview of next Sunday's Oscars: The film about a Brooklyn sex worker and her whirlwind affair with a Russian oligarch's son has emerged in recent weeks as an awards season front-runner. The Spirit Awards, held in a beachside tent in Santa Monica, California, is the shaggier, more irreverent sister to the Academy Awards, celebrating the best in independent film and television. Host Aidy Bryant called it "Hollywood's third or fourth biggest night." In accepting the directing prize, Baker spoke passionately about the difficulty of making independent films in an industry that is no longer able to fund riskier films. He said indies are in danger of becoming calling card films โ movies made only as a means to get hired for bigger projects. "The system has to change because this is simply unsustainable," Baker said to enthusiastic applause. "We shouldn't be barely getting by." "Anora's" best film competition included Jane Schoenbrun's psychological horror "I Saw the TV Glow," RaMell Ross' adaptation of Colson Whitehead's "Nickel Boys," Greg Kwedar's incarceration drama "Sing Sing" and Coralie Fargeat's body horror "The Substance." This year had several other possible Oscar winners celebrating. Kieran Culkin, considered an Oscar favorite, won the supporting performance award for "A Real Pain." His director, co-star and writer Jesse Eisenberg won best screenplay for the film about two cousins embarking on a Holocaust tour in Poland. Culkin was not there to accept โ he also missed his BAFTA win last weekend to tend to a family member โ but other Oscar nominees like Madison, Demi Moore, Sebastian Stan and... Read More