A Match Made in Product Placement Heaven

May 31, 2006 - NewYorkTimes

IN the first episode of "Lovespring International," a new comedy on the Lifetime channel about a dysfunctional dating service in Southern California, the owner of the agency storms into an office, furious at two employees.

"Do you know how many people have signed up for Perfectmatch.com in the last five minutes?" she barks. "1,623."

In real life, Perfectmatch.com is a subscription-based online dating service with more than three million members. On "Lovespring International," Perfectmatch.com will appear throughout the season as a faceless nemesis that is mentioned flatteringly as it steals clients from Lovespring.

Call it sponsorship, branded entertainment or product integration, but Perfectmatch's deal with Lifetime is increasingly common in advertising — weaving the name of a product into a television show or film, not as an obvious ad, but as a distinct part of the story. (In another episode, a disgruntled client screams, "I would have had better luck on Perfectmatch.com.")

It is a first for Lifetime, a cable network that has flirted with product integration but has never incorporated it so heavily in a show. Lifetime's deal with Perfectmatch extends not just for one episode, which is often the case, but for the entire 13-episode run of "Lovespring International."

Marketers have come a long way from the days when a simple product placement was considered unusual. Now, entire storylines — or in Lifetime's case, entire shows — are conceived with an advertiser in mind.
"It's much more than having a beer on the counter," said Duane Dahl, the chief executive and co-founder of Perfectmatch. "We really look for seamless integration opportunities."

Throughout the episodes filmed so far, Perfectmatch is generally presented as the impeccable rival of Lovespring, but it takes an insult or two — at one point, Perfectmatch is called "a hack" by a Lovespring employee.

Mr. Alvarez of Lifetime said that was one difficulty with integration. "We all have to be willing to make fun of this a little bit," he said.