The other night, I finally got my wife to sit down and watch an episode of Battlestar Galactica. Since we have such crazy schedules, BSG is recorded using my Comcast DVR. I like great commercials, but I love great stories even better. As I fast-forward through all of the Sci-fi channel's revenue stream, it dawned on me that I never saw one product placement in the show. Considering it takes place in the future, in a galaxy far...far...away (wrong show, I know), it would be practically impossible to put any logo driven products into this scripted show. No Starbuck sipping on a Pepsi, Baltar sporting D & G eyeglasses, or an Ikea eyepatch for Colonel Tigh.
It also dawned on me that I was also a person that never clicked on post-roll, or pre-roll ads in web video. Frankly, the advertisements usually never have anything to do with the video you just watched, and I'm gone before they have a chance to transition into view. Then I started thinking about all the free advertising a lot of you do for these companies. Josh Leo's H&R Block video, might has well been sponsored and paid for by Mar's, Inc. I did some searching for companies working on automated product placement tools, and found Nextmedium.com. They pair the studios and advertisers of scripted TV shows through their software. They also give back analytics to the advertiser on the shows viewership, impression views, etc... Would this be something producers of popular video blogs would like, instead of hoping to get someone to click on an post or pre-roll ad?
