All this must be regulated and supported on responsible behaviour

The brands and products will make their entry in the series and films for French TV. December 15, the CSA (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel) has indeed transposed in French law a European directive, now allowing the placement of product on television. If the chains accept, what was previously reserved to cinema, the pervasiveness of brands as Peugeot in the series of "Taxi" Luc Besson, or Sony in the James Bond, will be at the end of the month of January in fictions and the hexagon series. "So the French production can defend themselves in a context of international competition, we of course support, notes Benoît Héry, Chairman of the Committee the AACC (Association of communication consultancy agencies) image, but it is important to remain vigilant on the criteria for the application of the device." Across the Atlantic, as in most European countries, the television product placement is industrialized for years. In the most popular as series "24 hours chrono" or "Desperate Housewives", it is even a significant part of the funding.

"The enlargement of the scope of this practice strong interest advertisers in many ways, explains Fabienne Cammas, Director General of the Communications Group Plan creative." First there is a fall of the classical audience due to the explosion of new media and the increasing mobility. Then, this new opportunity for brands has several advantages: it allows to get out of the box of traditional advertising and it excites the creativity.

The placement of product in a series allows to very precisely target consumers and allows associations between a mark and a character chosen for its values or its character. Thus, brand watches Hamilton (Swatch Group), who has made a specialty of the placement of product in the cinema for fifty years, will present in 2010 in series "Braquo" (Canal ) and Paris 16e (M6). "The great advantage of television to cinema, says Mathias Breschan, President of Hamilton, is the repetition and recursion. There is also a most important identification of the product to the character. "Ideally, product placement should be something authentic, as in the film"Kennedy and me", where the watch worn by Jean-Pierre Bacri plays a role.".

A new manna

Fabienne Camas, "it is likely that about 60 million euro switch from 2010 in product placement." Typologies of rapprochement between the content and trademarks are many and some products even serve a narrative. "This is where the quality of product placement comes: clear, discrete or natural Heavy investments with the name of a product in the middle of a sentence are tempting. Will it be tomorrow of the writers to be forcing the hand by advertisers to place their computer or their mobile phone "One thing is sure, prevents a producer of fiction. If there is money coming, it is suspect that broadcasters will ask their share of the cake.

How television channels to sweep them this new manna In imposing their producers to go through the advertising Board of the chain By demanding from them that they shall return to the Publisher a share of the money received from advertisers directly "This will change evident our reports," says the producer. Via a reduction of the purchase price of the works, the strings will have, whatever happens, the possibility to impose their legislation on the creators, even insidiously. "If tomorrow, the product placement constraint dictates the content, it will be a real problem, warning of its side Benoît Héry.". All this must be regulated and supported on responsible behaviour. "The promotion of alcohol and tobacco by this bias remain banned, but some brands may find a loophole to their social or environmental liability. "For example, Peugeot in"Taxi", which seems to encourage the rapid conduct and risk, it is all that it cannot be in a commercial for the car," Note Benoît Héry.

Where stop advertising, where begins the content The debate is far from resolved. Already, the APF Board on a pictogram informing viewers "of the existence of product placement". But this will not exempt advertisers and advertising to evidence of finesse and consistency in their creative choices. It is at this price, and only at that price that consumers will have a positive reading of their brands.