Product Placement Report of Panel 2 Jonathan Davis UK Film Council The Responsibilities of Content Providers And Users, Prague March 2009

What is Product Placement? And Now, Ladies and Gentlemen... Product Placement is an audiovisual commercial communication (Av Com Com): –Designed to promote the goods, services or image of a natural or legal entity pursuing an economic activity; –Accompanying or being included in a programme; –In return for payment or for similar consideration or for self-promotional purposes.

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From where does the interest in product placement come? Economic crisis - spot advertising revenues declining Technological change - a way to stop viewers skipping advertisements “The Death of a Business Model” - replacing lost investment in content production or helping the producer to save money

What is Product Placement worth? No figures for European market According to ACT, in 2008, $7 billion globally, two thirds in the US According to ACT, product placement revenues in the US will grow 18% in 2009 while spot advertising revenues fall In the US, hundreds of thousands of product placements on television Programmes on Discovery entirely funded by product placement

Is the Czech Republic the European capital of product placement? Around 20 Czech films produced each year total production cost around €30 million Box office around €15 million Funding from broadcasters investment via national fund Product placement revenue around 20% of production budgets.

Regulating Product Placement Before AVMS Directive –Separation of advertising and editorial –Ban on subliminal and surreptitious advertising With AVMS –Member states encouraged (by EC, by commercial broadcasters) to transpose exactly what is in the Directive

Transposition : three options Option 1: No specific national measures (product placement implicitly allowed) Option 2: Limited prohibition Option 3: Product placement explicitly allowed possibly under stricter rules Member states must ensure that any restrictions on product placement are proportional.

Problems for regulators How do regulators know when product placement is taking place?How do regulators know when product placement is taking place? How should product placement be identified? Should it also be identified by a list of advertisers/products? How long should the screen display the signal or/and the list of advertisers/products? Definition of undue prominence? Definition of significant value?

Areas to be addressed Product placement in videogames, music videos etc. Product placement in programmes created for social network sites (soap operas on Beebo) People placement Moral rights

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Conclusions Product placement is a good reason for media literacy The best defence against bad effects of product placement is a media literate society Evidence - for example, of the economic benefits, the effectiveness or the impact on editorial/artsistic integrity of product placement - needs to be built up.