Plot Twists

Looking for unique publicity, the marketing brain trust behind Mrs. Fields Cookies, Inc. learned that NBC Entertainment’s most popular daytime drama, Days of Our Lives, was working on a plot line about baking for series matriarch Alice Horton.

Faster than Betty Crocker can pre-heat an oven, Mrs. Fields had struck a deal to work its real-life recipe contest into the show’s script.

While reality series have taken the concept of product placement to the extreme lately, the timeless soap opera has returned to its corporate-sponsored roots to pioneer “plot integration.” Perhaps that’s because an estimated 20 percent of soap watchers — well ahead of the TiVo revolution — record the programs during the day, then fast-forward through the commercials while viewing at night.

Plot integration is the “future of advertising,” says Felicia Minei-Behr, senior vp-programming for ABC Daytime, New York City, which recently signed a multi-million dollar deal that puts Revlon into a 12-week plot on All My Children.

“Product placement will go bonkers in the future,” agrees Jay May, president of Burbank-based agency Feature This, which specializes in the tactic. “TiVo, the Internet, and digital cable will bleep out commercials [to the point] that, if you want to advertise on TV, you’ll have to do this. And some shows are saying, ‘You better be prepared to cross-promote as well.’”

A Winning Recipe

The agreement between Days and Salt Lake City-based Mrs. Fields gave the brand eight scripted mentions this spring as the soap’s characters entered the brand’s contest. The partnership received major play off-air, too, with Mrs. Fields renaming the campaign (first run in 2001) Winning is Sweet…So are the Days of Our Lives and awarding the grand-prize winner a walk-on role in the series in addition to $1,000 and her own SKU. Entries were collected at mrsfields.com and partner soapcity.com; selected the winner from four finalists.

The icing on the cake was cause partner Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, White Plains, NY, which will receive five percent of all proceeds from the winning recipe’s sales. (The product lands on shelves in October for a five-month run.) The cause also gained scripted mentions: a Days’ character was diagnosed with the disease this summer, prompting other characters to participate in the Society’s annual Light the Night fundraising event.

Mrs. Fields is supporting with P-O-P displays in its 450 stores. Initial materials touting the contest will be followed this fall by displays highlighting the winner. The partners are already planning a Valentine’s Day effort for next winter.

Brown & Dutch Public Relations, Malibu, CA, negotiated the deal for Mrs. Fields. Allison & Partners, Santa Monica, CA, handled execution.

The partnership marks the first large-scale entertainment tie-in for Mrs. Fields, which previously had only supplied in-pack coupons to home video releases. “We were looking for ways to give the recipe contest some promotional arms and legs,” says brand manager Jodie Erickson. Likewise, Days producer Corday Productions was looking to get the series “out there and integrated,” says Greg Meng, vp of the Burbank, CA-based company.

Au Natural

The Revlon hook for All My Children began with the show’s writers, who hatched an idea to have a rival corporation try to poach an employee from star Susan Lucci’s fictional cosmetics company. The writers brought the concept to ABC’s ad sales department, which took it to Revlon.

The ultimate deal placed a faux Revlon executive into 25 summer episodes; the New York City-based company in return offered its entire daytime budget to ABC, according to Bahr. (Deutsch, New York City, handled for Revlon.)

“Having a real product on air that the audience can relate to, with a logo that they recognize instantaneously, was great,” says Minei-Behr, adding that Revlon had no input into the actual script.

Minei-Behr says the key was that the placement was “organic” to the show’s ongoing theme, because there is a danger that audiences may view poorly developed marketing messages as an intrusion.

“If placement is executed correctly, it’s beneficial to both brand and network,” adds Patti Regan, president of The Regan Group, Los Angeles. “But if any aspect is compromised — if you do placement for placement’s sake — it’s less effective.”

New York City-based CBS, for one, isn’t ready to start inserting advertisers into scripts, even though the network got the current wave rolling with the deals it struck for Survivor. “[Reality shows] were specifically created for integrated product placement that meshes,” says CBS executive vp-marketing George Schweitzer. “They’re not as dramatic or scripted, so [the concept] lends itself well.”

“We do not force-fit placement. You won’t find Tony Soprano in a Yugo, no matter how much they’d pay,” says Aaron Lenzini, vp at entertainment agency Norm Marshall & Associates, Sun Valley, CA, which handles placement for a variety of companies including General Motors Corp.

Last season, Norm Marshall got GMC’s Yukon Excel strong exposure in Fox drama 24. The placement was a fit because “the car is used by government agencies,” Lenzini notes.

Detroit-based GMC went even deeper last year with UPN Network’s The Hughleys sit-com, getting the Yukon Denali placement in a “road trip” episode and supporting with a watch-and-win sweepstakes (also backed by State Farm Insurance). The network conceived and executed the promotion, says Clark Sanford, GMC brand promotional manager.

The placement reportedly was part of a broad $30 million ad deal crafted in 2000 by Hollywood talent agency Endeavor on behalf of a number of clients, including Cingular Wireless and Sony PlayStation. A key to the media buy was the integration of products and services into plots.

Meanwhile, Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln Mercury division is currently hosting a Friday-night concert series on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno through a deal brokered in third quarter 2001 by Irvine-based Media Edge:cia. The pact gave the brand sponsorship rights in exchange for a $9 million network ad buy. Dubbed the Lincoln Garage Concert Series, the special programming features a concert stage flanked by at least two Lincoln models.

“We are launching or relaunching six of our vehicles, so we weren’t interested in doing business as usual, but to make a splash in the marketplace,” says Ann Kalass, marketing and communications manager for Irvine-based Lincoln Mercury. “There isn’t a lot of fresh programming during the summer months, so late night worked out perfectly.”

The 12-week effort began June 7 and is supported by an online sweeps at nbc.com/lincoln offering a 2003 Navigator as top prize. NBC created its own 15-second spots to tout the program across the network.

The Plot Thickens

With all this plot integration, who needs commercials anyway? Not producer Michael Davies. Best known for ABC’s wildfire hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Davies currently is pitching a live variety/news series that would be spot-free but incorporate advertiser product into the program. Called Live From Tomorrow, the series would target young people with segments on fashion, technology, movies, and sex. One product would be plugged into each segment in a manner similar to the way Davies got AT&T to sponsor the “Lifeline” on Millionaire. Internet tie-ins would provide greater opportunities for advertising partners.

Davies’ production company, Venice, CA-based Diplomatic, is looking to score a trial six-episode run next summer. (ABC has first-look rights.)

Not that the 30-second spot is at death’s door just yet. In fact, even the radical Live From Tomorrow concept would have to make room for the local ad time that most network affiliates demand. “We are not replacing traditional advertising,” says GMC’s Sanford. “With all the messages consumers see on a daily basis, this allows one more avenue to access their brains.”

Still, the advent of TiVo and other recording systems has marketers looking to at least supplement traditional advertising with scripted placement, digitally inserted products, or off-air promotional tie-ins.

Does anyone have the phone number for Susan Lucci’s agent?