Reality TV Marketing Strategy - Term Paper Example

Reality TV Marketing Strategy Introduction Marketing is an essential part of business operations. It enables organisations to inform consumers about the availability of a product in the market. In addition, producers introduce new products in the market through marketing. The marketing strategies utilised by businesses determine the success of the product in the industry. Moreover, a business’ marketing approach enhances effective competition in the market. Promotion is a strategy used by manufactures and producers to market their products. Promotion is one of the most effective parts of the market mix. The various types of promotion used by business organisations include advertisement, the use of coupons and giving discounts. Companies utilise various modes of advertising such as television advertisement, billboards, posters, promotion activities across the country and sponsoring various events. The traditional form of television marketing entails presenting a product during a television show or movie. The current trends in television advertisement involves highlighting the target products in reality TV shows. Reality TV shows involve real time characters and activities. Businesses and marketers utilises reality TV to promote their products effectively. The paper entails a critical research regarding the methods of advertising a product on a reality TV show. In addition, there is a critical evaluation of the costs involved in advertising the product via reality TV show. The paper also examines the advantages and disadvantages of reality TV shows as a marketing approach. The conclusion identifies the crucial points regarding the promotion of a product on reality TV shows. Literature Review There are various techniques used by manufacturers and marketers to promote their product on reality TV such direct inclusions and integration of the product in the media. Direct inclusion entails promoting a product by ensuring that the reality show characters refer to the products on various occasions. For example, in the case of ‘SURVIVOR’ reality show, an expression by a character wishing to have a coke represents a direct inclusion strategy. The other form of reality TV marketing entails the integration of real products into TV shows (Escoffery, 2006). The show highlights its characters using the products to satisfy their needs. For example, the Coca-Cola Company promotes their products by sponsoring various Reality TV shows such as the ‘America Next top Model’ and ‘The Survivors’. The judges of the reality television shows drink from caps with a clearly visible Coca-Cola level. Product placement is one of the most common forms of reality TV advertisement in the twenty first century (Gosnay, 2010). Research indicates that more organisations embrace reality TV shows as an effective advertisement medium. The reality TV shows media captures a larger customer base than traditional TV programs. The shows on reality TV capture real time events and characters act naturally hence relating effectively with their audience (Brown, 2006). In addition, traditional TV faces challenges in terms of advertising because of the development of software and devices that enable the audience to by-pass advertisements. This increases the number of virtue views and discredits television as a main advertisement forum (Greiner, n.d.). Marketers therefore prefer reality TV shows since they provide an efficient medium of promoting their products. The audience cannot adjust the content in the show hence the advertisements reaches the target market effectively (Hiam, 2004). According to research, the use of reality TV as a marketing platform traces back to an episode on the reality TV show, ‘survivor’. The episode shows characters drinking Mountain Dew beverage. It also illustrates a Doritos. The success of these products due to the publicity provided by the reality TV shows gave marketers a new platform for advertising their products. Traditionally, product placement is useful in promoting products such as Coca-Cola and junior mints. For example, in an episode in SEINFELD reality show, the producers incorporate junior mint into the show. The characters fight over a junior mints box and end up dropping it on a patient in the operation room (Jeannet, Hennessey & Jeannet, 2004). The 2004-2005 television seasons indicates an increase in product placement in reality shows as compared to tradition television. Research shows that more than a hundred thousand product placements featured in reality TV shows on various broadcast networks including the ABC, NBC, WB, FOX, UPN, and CBS (Koch, Kosberg & Meurur Norman, 2004). According to research, product placements within reality TV shows increases tremendously annually. The earnings from product placements on various reality shows increased from four billion US dollars in 2005 to twelve billion US dollars in 2013. This increase is attributed to the implications that reality TV advertising strategy has on the sales and profits of products (Auty & Lewis, 2004). The other form of reality TV as a marketing technique is referrals. The characters in the TV shows refer their colleagues to purchase certain products to solve a personal problem. For example, the ‘SHARK’ reality TV show is intense and the participants are encouraged to use Coke to freshen up. In other cases, characters acting as doctors refer individuals with medical issues to use a particular type of medicine to eradicate their problem (Lankford, 2008). This form of reality TV marketing is keen to introduce a limited number of producers. Customers need to see the characters use the product in order to identify it effectiveness (Auty & Lewis, 2004). Organisations currently prefer product placement as a means to promote their products effectively. The major setback of marketing through reality TV is that, the relationship between the character using the product and the consumers determines the impact of the advertisement on the consumer. A character with a bad public image or damaged public relations limits the success of this promotion technique. On the other hand, a character with good relations with the audience facilitates reality TV shows as a product promotion approach (Balkin, 2004). Traditionally, reality TV was common among prank fans. The use of certain products during such pranks enhanced the incorporation of advertisements into reality TV shows. These shows are common among individuals of certain ages, hence corporations are keen on selecting an effective reality TV show to market their products (Balkin, 2004). In addition, the target consumer determines the show that the organisations use to promote their products. The earnings derived from this form of advertising benefits the producers of the television show. In some cases, the advertisement agency also benefits from the earnings (Andersen, 1995). Methodology The research methodology pursues qualitative approach, which entails the evaluation of the existing literature on the topic. A comparative analysis of the various literatures and researches facilitates the determination of the effectiveness of the Reality TV shows marketing approach. Discussion and Analysis Reality TV revolves around the presentation of actual life activities and conducting discussions on television. These shows capture a real time interaction of the characters. It is generally a live TV show. The improvements and adjustments made on the shows depend on the feedback received from the audience. Reality TV presently occupies most of the traditional TV time. In addition, the number of reality TV audiences increases annually regardless of the country and media regulations (Moran, 2009). Organisations currently use the reality TV shows to highlight their products because of the large number of viewers that subscribe to the shows. In addition, the audience relates effectively with the characters on the TV shows, which is essential for effective marketing. Initially, marketers utilised tradition TV programming to promote their products. This approach is, however, no longer effective owing to development of software and electronic devices that enable the audience to skip or fast track advertisements on a program. The increase in the number of virtual viewers limits effective marketing (Brown, 2014). There are various techniques of advertising a product on reality TV shows, which include placement, referrals and direct advertisement. Placement is the most effective mode of advertisement. It entails incorporating the product into a character’s actual act. For example, characters in a given episode drink Sprite to quench their thirst. This placement advertisement promotes the Sprite Soda, which is a Coca-Cola product. Product placement also involves the utilisation of certain products such as specific car brand in the shows, clothing from a particular designer or a specific brand of Cosmetics (Ouellette, n.d.). The use of such products in shows espouses marketing since the audience relates the product with the characters. For Example, a fan of Kim Kardashian buys a cosmetic brand that the character uses. In addition, placement is an effective marketing approach due to the fact that te nature of the show is real. Reality shows mainly pick up real time interactions between characters and the environment. The characters react to specific situations in a natural manner (Product Placement News, 2014). Viewers, therefore, relate the performance of the product with real life situations. The characters in a given reality TV show refer specific products to their colleagues during various episodes. The referral approach is effective in promoting products and is useful when there is placement of the product in the show. The other technique used to market products in reality shows involves short advertisement of products at the end of each episode in the show. This approach is also common but is not effective due to time limitations. Advantages and Disadvantages Reality TV shows advertisement approach is advantageous to the producer. The viewer has no authority of the content hence cannot bypass the advertisement. This ensures that the intended message passes to the user effectively. In addition, the user experiences a real time examination of the product. Reality TV shows focus mainly on real time events and activities. The audience is therefore able to identify the performance of the product in real time. For example, the viewer can identify a speed-oriented car by examining the models used by the characters. The other advantage is that, the viewers imitate the characters lifestyles including the products they use (Wang, 2010). This enhances the effectiveness of the marketing technique since viewers buy it in order to imitate the character. The disadvantage of reality TV shows marketing is that, the viewers tend to develop advertisement blindness. The viewers do not identify the product easily on the show due to advertisement blindness. Placement of the product inappropriately interferes with the content and theme of the show. The viewers lose interest in the show because of the huge number of product placement and advertisement (Cowley & Barron, 2008). Implications The research enables marketers to determine the limitations of the reality TV shows marketing approach in order to adjust effectively. It also provides the producers of the shows with an insight on how to incorporate the advertisements in the shows without affecting the content of the show. It gives marketers a critical analysis of the current and future trends in the reality TV shows marketing. Future The development of Post-placement technology enables producers and marketers to promote different products on different markets (Brown, 2014). For example, a show is useful in advertising a product common in the United States and at the same time advertises a product produced in Japan. The research topic is wide and hence provides future scholars and researchers with a wide research scope (Balasubramanian, Karrh & Patwardhan, 2006). Conclusion Reality TV shows marketing approach entails promotion of products through various reality TV shows. It is currently gaining interests among marketers because of the increase in number of audience. The marketers are able to incorporate their products in the shows hence limiting the viewer from skipping advertisement instances. The future of reality TV shows marketing approach depends on advancement in media technology. References Andersen, R. (1995). Consumer culture and TV programming (1st ed.). Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. Auty, S., & Lewis, C. (2004). Exploring childrens choice: The reminder effect of product placement. Psychology & Marketing, 21(9), 697--713. Balasubramanian, S., Karrh, J., & Patwardhan, H. (2006). Audience response to product placements: An integrative framework and future research agenda. Journal Of Advertising, 35(3), 115--141. Balkin, K. (2004). Reality TV (1st ed.). San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press. Brown, E. (2006). Product placement on the rise in video games. msnbc.com. Retrieved 1 September 2014, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13960083/ Brown, R. (2014). Create your own TV series for the Internet (1st ed.). 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