Product placement spending suffered its biggest decline ever in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, reports PQ Media, but rebounded last year and is set for growth as opportunities proliferate across media and channels. Indeed PQ Media’s Global Product Placement Forecast 2022-2026 calls for even faster growth this year than last, with this year’s projected global total of $26.2 billion being more than double 2016’s amount.
Last year, product placement spending rose by 12.3% on a global basis, according to the study, while in the US spending grew by 13.2%. This year, with more than one-third of marketer respondents to one survey saying they would increase their product placement spending, spending is set to expand by 14.3% globally and by 15.1% in the US.
Within the US, which accounts for a majority (56%) of product placement spending, digital media sported the fastest growth in spend last year (+18%), followed by recorded music (+15.8%) and TV (+15.7%).
Although these platforms are growing rapidly, TV overall continues to dominate product placement spending, at 70% share of the total globally ($16.06 billion in 2021), with filmed entertainment the second-largest category worldwide.
PQ Media points to an increasing number of product placement within streaming service content offerings as driving the double-digit growth in the TV category.
Recent survey results have shown that a majority of streaming video service users ages 18-34 (62%) and 35-49 (66%) say they’ve noticed specific products or brands being used by characters within content on a streaming service. More recent research from YouGov, as reported here by AdWeek, indicates that the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things generated $27.4 million in combined placement value for brands, with Coca-Cola benefiting the most ($3.4 million of value) via placement of cans, bottles and fountain cups. Another piece of research from BEN, reported here by Marketing Brew, found that product placement in TV shows works best in tandem with ads. This may be worth thinking about as ad-supported streaming services gain steam.
In other highlights from the report:
- Product placement in films generated $2.77 billion in spend last year, but had the slowest growth of all categories, at 5.9%. This is after a decline of 14% in 2020.
- Product placement in music rose quickly in 2021 as the second-fastest globally (+13.9%), but was the smallest channel with $302 million in total spend.
- Product placement in digital media was the fastest-growing globally last year (+16.3%) as it was in the US, accounting for a total of $1.97 billion in spend.
- 2020 was only the second time in 47 years that PQ Media has tracked product placements that spending declined.
The full PQ Media report can be purchased here.
