Old idea is served up again as fresh

Dole Asia paid to feature its products in hip hop star Aradhana's music video to get more teenagers to eat fruit.

The style of rising Kiwi hip hop star Aaradhna is so fresh a company selling fresh fruit is paying to be associated with her.

Dole Asia, which sells bananas and pineapples, paid $2000 to have its products featured in Aaradhna's Down Time video, in which the Dawn Raid singer catches the eye of a man while in a fruit shop selecting a pineapple.

"As she pulls the pineapple out, all the pineapples fall to the floor," says the video's producer Andrew Sorenson, of Offramp Productions.

The man comes over and helps the singer pick up the fruit.

"They both put their hand on a Dole pineapple at the same time - and they gaze into each other's eyes," says Sorenson. "We try not to think it's cheesy."

Offramp Productions makes about 10 music videos a year and aims to sign sponsors to the work for high-profile, marketable artistes.

Just as Dole Asia backs Aaradhna, Red Bull supports hip hop group Deceptikonz.

Product placement is common overseas but is only taking off here in locally made television and movies.

Marketers see it as an increasingly important channel as the media environment fragments and consumers are more in control of the advertising they pay attention to.

Sorenson says placements in music videos start at $2000, so it is a cheap way for companies to get air time and reach youngsters watching music TV.

Effectiveness is measured by the air time as "some videos explode then subside and many others are slow burners that get regular play over several years".

Getting advertisers to sign on is a challenge.

"Some people, it just gives them the willies or whatever because it's a new method. And then other people just snap it up straight away," says Sorenson.

Dole Asia's New Zealand manager, Stephen Barton, says the music video is the company's first product placement and helps reinforce the brand.

"We'd never done anything like that and we thought it would be a bit of fun," says Barton.

"[Aaradhna] has a lot of support with teenagers, an area we are keen to get into. We see our major competitor as the junk food industry - we want teenagers eating more fruit."

Barton says the "couple of quick seconds of our brand" in the video cost almost the same as a branded curtain on the side of a truck, which lasts five years.

"We said, 'here's a curtain for a truck, or this', and I said 'no, we need to do something different'."

He will consider doing a similar sponsorship again if the fit is right.

Media buyer Martin Gillman, chief executive of Total Media, expects the amount of product placement and sponsorship to increase as the advertising environment changes to put consumers more in control.

He warns the fit between a product and the programme or video is key.

Bad product placement is seen as a joke and can do more harm than good.

"Generally, viewers or consumers are wise enough to spot if there's something that's not right.

"If you are too overt with your product placement, it will turn the viewers away not only from the programme but from your product as well."

Product Placements director Rebecca Purdy says marketers have been slow to pick up.

She set up seven years ago with the sole purpose of setting up product placements but, after two years, widened the business scope to include public relations and product sampling.

"It's been done in the States for so long but Kiwis haven't got their heads around the fact that this [product placement] is actually a viable option," says Purdy.

"It's a lot of work for little return until the market wakes up."

She says some television production companies have set up product placement teams and deals for film Sione's Wedding show advertisers here are starting to warm to the idea.

"I think it's still about three years out from anything really happening with it."

Purdy says New Zealand is about 15 years behind the United States, where singers are getting paid for mentioning brand names in songs.