Interpublic Group Will Battle Bill Gates to Become King of Hollywood Product Placement

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFans of the Netflix series “Inventing Anna,” which chronicles the rise of con artist Anna Sorokin, may have noticed an intriguing guest star: Cisco phones are used prominently in at least one episode.

If advertising giant Interpublic Group has its way, more advertisers are likely to get those sorts of cameos.Two companies under Interpublic’s umbrella — the Rogers & Cowan PMK entertainment-marketing operations and the large Mediabrands media-buying unit — are teaming up to launch a new analysis-and-database product that helps advertisers determine what movies, TV programs and streaming series will serve as a good fit for in-show product placement.

The new technology, known as UpstreamPOP, debuts as Madison Avenue grows increasingly concerned about how to get its products and messages in front of consumers as they gravitate to venues like Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu, which typically show fewer commercials than traditional TV — and, in some cases, none at all. “More people who are 18 to 34 saw the most recent ‘Spider Man’ in its opening weekend than watched the Super Bowl in that demo,” says Mark Owens, the chief executive of R&CPMK, in an interview.

Big advertisers eager to show off their wares have to work harder to get “inside the content,” he says. Digital influencers may be able to get a product and talk about it on TikTok in a day’s time, he says, but in-show placements that help deliver a promotional message can take weeks or months to craft.Interpublic’s new service will contain information on more than 2,000 brand integration opportunities across original content that is in development but isn’t supported with traditional ads, including film, television, music videos and more.