Nike in Back to the Future 2

When working on print ads in Copywriting 101 the instructor always urged us (the students) to get the readers to believe that the ad is just another article in the magazine. That way, she would assure us, the reader will see and read the ad without skipping a beat.

In television, movies and music videos there is a way to do the same exact thing. It’s called product placement.

Benefits and drawbacks to product placement

We have all seen product placement in one form or another; whether we were aware of it or not.

During a normal commercial many people change the channel or tune out the message. But with product placement you are exposed to thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people who are paying close attention. It’s great for getting your name out to a massive audience quickly and uninterrupted.

Another benefit? Well, if people are already watching the show there is a certain amount of trust they give to the characters and personas they watch. This adds a certain amount of clout to your product similar to the way an endorsement might with certain demographics.

The downside to product placement is the lack of a call to action if the movie, show or video is not scripted to show off the benefits of your product. Also depending on the placement it can get pricey.

So please; if you choose to pay for product placement, make sure you have control over how your product is presented. You don’t want to turn off your perfect customer by botched product placement. An example you say? Here are two, both from Days of Our Lives. Be warned, you will cringe.

Days of Our Lives product placement horror #1:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Days of Our Lives product placement horror #2:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Placing your product

When talking about pricing you should always keep in mind the cost of placing an ad in different mediums and the recurring costs. With product placement it’s a one time deal. And it usually gets played longer or more often than a commercial.

Most of the time the process of product placement starts with you calling the producer of a show movie or music video; but now that Assurance Advertising has teamed up with AZ Film Studios, in Hollywood, California, you can get your products out in front of giant audiences easily by using our noteworthy and talented artists’ music videos and films. If your product needs to be placed in a movie that we aren’t involved in don’t worry, we can still handle the legwork of contacting producers for you.

So if you want to get your product out in front of hundreds of thousands in a way you know people will see it, contact us for a quote and list of up coming

A look at AZ Film studios

The air at AZ film studios was thumping when I arrived on June 18th to get my interview. When I first pulled up I wasn’t sure what to think. It looked like one of a million warehouse buildings that can be found everywhere in downtown LA. But once I got inside there was no ignoring the energy coming from the staff and the artists alike.

The facility has rooms for the catering, dressing, reception, production and comfort of their artists and clients. The decor has a certain playfully professional ambience, which really adds to the charm. And when you see the giant green screen and high-tech equipment in the main room you know you’re in for some fun.

They were shooting the new video for Spirit and Big Tank featuring Butch Cassidy. The song sounds like a hit to me and even before the video hits editing I can already tell that the video will match it perfectly.

The owners, Ali and Zeus, are two dynamic and refreshingly fun loving guys. When the artists arrive they make it a point to personally meet them and make them feel right at home. No doubt, the artists then feel relaxed and ready to perform.

Ali Zamani handles the directing of all of the videos. He has his Masters in screen writing but watching him work and seeing his passion you can see why he spends most of his time directing.

When the artists listened to his direction it would improve their performance in a way that added life and elegance to the video. This, in my mind, is the sign of a truly great director; the ability to inspire emotion from your artist.

Zeus handles many of the technical aspects of production since his background and bachelor’s degree are in multimedia and design and his master’s degree is in computer sciences. He takes the videos and adds production value unmatched by any other studio of this size. He also generally handles most of the business development allowing Ali to focus on his directing. If you set up a meeting, generally the phone call will go to Zeus and the 1st meet and greet will be with him as well. He sets up the entire job and Ali handles the actual footage.

The end result with a team up like this is one incredible music video. The best part is… that’s not all they do.

They produce product and service commercials for TV and viral video ads, they develop scripts and screen plays, and they’re even in the process of producing a feature film.

AZ productions, and more specifically, AZ studios is a one stop shop for all aspects of video production and multimedia promotions. They even offer facility and equipment rentals to other directors, producers, production companies and even ad agencies.

Stay tuned happy readers and join me next time for the interview with Ali and Zeus where we’ll find out what really makes them tick, and how they are finding success in such hard economic times.

To take in a preview of what their studios are capable of check out their 2011 promo reel:

Click here to view the embedded video.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwti3Nc5xV4

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