Product Placement

Product Placement

Many of us go through our days unaware of this symbiotic relationship we hold with the people and places around us. Using mountain biking as the visual-vehicle we want to look at the world around us a show how some cultures choose to live. Our bikes are transporters taking us from intense moments only we can see and exposing us to cultures we would have never seen. Many films made to date in this realm have missed the mark, trying only to focus on the action; they've missed these relationships that make life great. We'll bring viewers into a world that has to be slowed down to be appreciated through super high-speed cameras and time-lapse scenes that will make people aware of these cycles. Through unique locations, the worlds best mountain bike riders and a custom created composition, we'll bring people into our life cycles.

Life Cycles is a 16mm mountain bike film that my partner, Derek Frankowski, and I are producing. As with most action sport films, we are looking for mountain bike companies to advertise in the film as a means to fund the movie. Already producing one mountain bike film and talking with other bike film producers, I encountered a problem that seems to face the bike film industry. It is very hard to get bike companies to put some of their advertising dollars towards advertising in bike films. It seems like the current trend for mountain bike companies is to put their advertising budgets towards advertising in bike magazines. As Freeriding has become the most popular style of riding in recent years, it has been bike films that have brought this new style of riding to the masses. Every year more and more bike films are being produced that feature these athletes jumping off cliffs, riding down steep mountain faces, and clearing big jumps. It has even got to the point that Bike magazine, the number one bike magazine, has an annual bike film awards. These awards honor different producers and riders for their accomplishments from the past year. Bike films have become a viable medium for bike companies to advertise in.

Now I am not saying that bike companies should put their whole advertising budget into bike films but what I am saying is that bike companies should a lot a certain percentage of their budget for advertising in bike films. A good mixture between magazine and film advertisement can give a company a strong presence in the market. The power of product placement in film is demonstrated very well in Steve Spielberg's movie E.T. During production of E.T., Amblin Productions approached Mars, Inc. about a possible tie-in between M&Ms and the film. For whatever reason, Mars said "No" to the proposition. Many purported reasons for that negative response have been provided by a variety of sources: Mars decided it didn't want its bite-size candy associated with an extraterrestrial living with an earth family, or it thought the film's premise just a bit too otherworldly, or an unnamed M&M executive decided nobody would want to see a movie about an alien adopted by a lonely kid, or maybe they had already spent their advertising budget. Whatever the reason for it, when Mars said "No", the filmmakers went to Hershey and asked if they want to do a promotion with Reese's Pieces. Hershey's thought this was a good opportunity and jumped on it. "Hershey did not pay to have Reese's Pieces used in E.T., but it did agree to do a tie-in between the movie and the candy after the film was released. A deal was inked wherein Hershey Foods agreed to promote E.T. with $1 million of advertising; in return, Hershey could use E.T. in its own ads" (Segrave, 2004, p. 160). Within two weeks of the movie's premiere, Reese's Pieces sales went through the roof. With in 3 months of the movies premiere Kerry Segrave (2004) reports "Reese's Pieces profits grew by 85%. Reese's Pieces, up until then an underdog confection only faintly known by the U.S. candy consuming public were suddenly being consumed in great handfuls. And all thanks to a shy little alien lured from the bushes and into America's hearts by a trail of peanut-butter in a candy coated shell confections" (p. 161).

Now some may say that this is an example from a Hollywood movie but that it doesn't relate to mountain bike films. In an Interview with Brian Fruit the owner of Lizard Skins racing products, he reported that "he had a 30% increase in sales when he started to advertise in Thor Wixom's Down movies" (B. Fruit, personal communication, August 4, 2005). For years Brian had done an aggressive ad campaign in magazines with minimal growth, so he decided to put 1/3 of his advertising budget towards movies. "With in days of the movies release we were getting phone calls from new clients and new bikes shops asking for our product. Some mentioned that they didn't even know about our products until they saw it in the movie" (B. Fruit, personal communication, August 4, 2005). Not only has advertising in mountain bike films helped sales with Lizard Skins but also, it has improved their image and rider perception of the company. Many professional riders have started approaching Lizard Skins as a company they would like to ride for. "Before I used to think that Lizard Skins was a cheesy company but the more I saw them in movies the more I became interested in their products and decided I wanted to ride their grips" (Matt Hunter, personal communication, August 7, 2005). As with any industry, endorsements from professional athletes help sell products. Lizard Skins is getting these endorsements and they can be directly related to Lizard Skins involvement with mountain bike movies.

If the clichй a picture is worth a thousand words is true, just imagine what a moving picture set to music and dialogue can say. Movies, whether they are from Hollywood or mountain biking build a special connection with their audience. There is something about the state that people go into when they watch a movie that allows them to take in a lot of information and retain that information. What we watch definitely has an effect on us. Many things we have in movies will forever be burned in our minds. If a certain product is included in a movie, it will be remembered. Kerry Segrave (2004) states "seeing a product, even for a second, in a realistic dramatic setting in which the viewer is already emotionally involved leaves an invaluable impression" (p. 166). People who watch mountain bike movies are definitely emotionally connected, maybe even more so than watching a Hollywood movie. People who watch mountain bike movies are mountain bikers and being a mountain biker is something that goes to the very core. People who mountain bike live to mountain bike