So TV commercials are less effective these days than they used to be, so say all the industry pundits and analyst reports. Hmmm, no kidding.

In the wake of this groundbreaking news, brands are diverting marketing/advertising dollars at a record pace to branded entertainment projects in hopes of connecting brand with content people want to watch. The question becomes how to go about it. Obviously brands can simply sponsor existing programming. PBS has sustained itself for years in part to this model. And then there is product placement, which is nothing new, but does having a brand X server in the background or holding a Pepsi can really work? Most examples I have seen are so ridiculously gratuitous as to render the result ineffective. Or least I think it is ineffective…I suppose it could be working subliminally, but let’s not digress into that can of worms.

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Tags: brand marketer, media professionals, New York Magazine, web publisher