Nationwide extends product placement deal
Nationwide has extended its product placement deal with ITV after research suggested it has led to a spike in brand awareness.
The building society signed a deal for an undisclosed sum in October to feature a branded ATM machine within “Dev’s shop” in Coronation Street (pictured).
Research conducted by ITV in partnership with Nielsen said that seven out of ten viewers correctly recalled the Nationwide brand featured in the programme.
Those surveyed also said the placement was a “good brand fit”, with around 90% of viewers finding the placement seamless, natural or unforced.
Viewers who recalled the placement are showing “significant rises in brand opinion against specific Nationwide brand attributes”, the research says.
The deal will now be extended for a further 12 months.
Andy McQueen, marketing director for Nationwide, says: ” It is really exciting for Nationwide Building Society to be in the vanguard of the product placement industry in the UK with ITV’s best loved programme.”
Media regulator Ofcom granted brands the opportunity to feature paid-for placements in broadcasts from 28 February 2011 but less than 20 such placements have appeared on UK TV since, according to experts from broadcasters and media agencies.
ITV’s commercial content director Gary Knight told Marketing Week earlier this month that UK product placement is still in its “pre-toddler” years and it is vital that more broadcasters and brands produce case studies to spur the market.
Experts from broadcasters and media agencies predict 2013 is more likely to be the year product placement becomes mainstream, by which time the industry would have provided more metrics to prove the format delivers a return on investment.
Click here to read more on why product placement is “set to take off” in 2013
