Cards Take Center Stage

  In a classic example of product placement, a character in a TV show clutches a can of Coca-Cola with the logo purposely turned to the camera. Either consciously or subliminally, the viewer is exposed to the idea that admirable people drink Coke.
  But marketers say they no longer can depend on isolated, passive product displays to grab meaningful attention in today's cluttered media scene. That is why organizations with something to sell, including those in the card business, have adopted what they call "brand integration," a proactive approach to selling products on the silver screen, the idiot box and elsewhere in the media.
  In brand integration the merchandise does not just appear onscreen, it helps move along the plot, says Tony Wells, Visa vice president of event and sponsorship marketing. At the same time, he adds, the context of the story illustrates product attributes, such as the card's widespread acceptance.
  The card's star turn does not languish in a vacuum, says Michael Lao, vice president of global brand development at MasterCard International. In brand integration, the card's role on screen becomes part of a larger campaign that spills over into print, radio and the Internet, becoming a factor in sweepstakes, giveaways and other promotions.
  Indeed, brand integration has become one of the weapons in the marketing arsenal, says an American Express Co. spokesperson. For the most part, AmEx follows the tenet that the technique works best when applied to a specific type of card instead of across all of a brand's products, the spokesperson says.
  Critics may carp about the new marketing techniques, but they cannot deny the trend. Executives at card brands say they began considering the strategic use of brand integration about two years ago. Since then, with help from product-placement and media-buying agencies, they have scored some coups in the media.
  For instance, the plots of several recent major movies have turned on a credit or debit card. Early in the comedy "Bewitched" and while the movie is still establishing the tension of balancing the natural and supernatural worlds, Samantha (Nicole Kidman) arrives at the checkout counter of a Bed Bath & Beyond, only to discover she is out of cash. Sam does some hocus-pocus, and voila, a tarot card is turned into a Visa Signature Card.
  "Why that makes sense from a brand perspective is it shows acceptance and the convenience qualities of our product," says Wells. "But it also shows the product being magical and able to deliver unique benefits."
  The plot in the film "National Treasure" also turns on a Visa card. The treasure-hunting protagonist played by Nicolas Cage goes to the National Archives building to steal the Declaration of Independence because he wants the treasure map on the back. To remove the document from the building, he decides to put it into a tube used to protect a reproduction sold at the gift shop. He does not have the cash to cover the transaction, but the clerk notes that the United States government accepts Visa.
  "The brand message to the consumer watching the film, besides the fact that they're being entertained, is your Visa card comes in handy when you're in a pinch," says Wells. "And, by the way, it's accepted anywhere you would ever want to use a card."
  Acceptance and freedom have been the apparent themes of MasterCard brand integration. On an episode of The WB television network's "One Tree Hill," a character asks if a restaurant accepts the MasterCard debit card and finds that it does. Later in the same show, two characters use the MasterCard debit card to buy gasoline and food for a road trip.
  Lao stops short of saying that brand integration alone can express a theme because of the brevity of the exposure and the acuity of the audience, but he describes MasterCard's involvement in the script as significant. "We worked closely with the agency, with the WB and with the producers of the show to write MasterCard into the script," he says.
  Themes or no themes, marketers have stayed busy with the new wave of brand integration in comedies and dramas. They have not stopped there, however, and have turned their attention to the new genre of television programming: reality shows.
  American Express has been involved with at least two reality shows-"The Restaurant," which chronicled the tribulations of New York chef Rocco DiSpirito on NBC, and "Blowout," a Bravo cable network series of adventures centered on a Hollywood hair salon.
  Both shows have demonstrated the use of an AmEx offering called Open: The Small Business Network. "Characters on the shows (who ran their own small businesses) would discuss talking to the Open Network if they needed additional funding and would open a line of credit," the AmEx spokesperson says.
  Visa also has formed relationships with reality shows, going so far as to have its card designated the official currency for tasks performed on "The Apprentice," the Donald Trump reality show on NBC.
  Meanwhile, all of the card brands continue to engage in old-fashioned product placement, the practice of sending cards, decals and signs to film and television production companies. The entertainment industry often asks for permission to use card names in their productions. Agencies sort out the opportunities for the card brands.
  Money usually does not change hands when producers and directors ask for permission to use a trademark. The card brands say they are happy to go along with such requests, once they have researched the project and are satisfied the exposure will not place the product in a negative light.
  Wide Exposure
  Elaborate deals, such as those for "Bewitched" or "One Tree Hill," benefit both parties and usually do not require either side to pay the other. Wells and Lao say the studios or producers cooperate because their films or shows get wide exposure on the card brands' Web sites, TV spots, print ads, radio messages and mailings.
  Wells notes that the studios want 90% of the public to be aware of their films by the opening weekend. That is especially important with revenue from ticket sales down this year, he says, noting that Visa promotions touch millions of consumers.
  When the card brands are not offering high-powered cross-media promotions, placement in television shows often comes as part of the media buy, card executives say.
  Other types of brand integration go beyond a lead character's use of the product. Instead of integrating a product into a work of art or piece of entertainment, the product is associated with an event or an entity.
  Visa, for example, has appended its name to the Visa Triple Crown, the horse racing classic that combines the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. The card brand has pledged to award $5 million to the owners of a Triple Crown winner and misses few opportunities to emblazon its logo on any surface connected with the three races. The extra purse and the exposure make Visa part of the event, Wells says.
  MasterCard is working to identify itself with a long-term ally and partner, ESPN. In a series of 15-second ads, the card brand shows that it shares the cable network's tongue-in-cheek appreciation of the passions that stir within sports fans, Lao says.
  Brand integration also has come to mean integrating the product into other communications with customers. In the movies, Visa worked with Columbia Pictures to stage prerelease screenings of the movie for Signature cardholders. That perk, says Wells, is typical of the "experiences" that Visa bestows upon its Signature-branded cards, a product line aimed at households with incomes over $125,000 per year.
  In the middle-class market, holders of Visa debit cards who had redeemed Visa Extras points for certificates to see "Bewitched" were rewarded with a DVD containing episodes from the television series that inspired the movie. In 40 markets, Visa cooperated with DVD marketer Sony Pictures to offer radio listeners free tickets to "Bewitched" and $50 gift cards with artwork derived from the film.
  Promotion Ties
  With "National Treasure," Visa got to work early with Walt Disney Studios and made the film the centerpiece of the card brand's fourth-quarter promotion last year. An online site offered cardholders a search for treats similar to the treasure hunt in the film, while a sweepstakes gave one winner the chance to discover the treasure and thus be reimbursed for all of the purchases on his or her Visa card that year.
  Visa's fourth-quarter marketing also included a Spanish-language version and a program aimed at students.
  On television, Visa's identification with "The Apprentice" does not end with making the show itself. Donald Trump also appears in Visa TV ads for the security features of the debit card. The ads reinforce the connection of the card and the show in the minds of the program's fans as well as touch consumers who do not watch the series, Wells says.
  (In March 2004, Bank One Corp. issued a Trump Rewards Visa card linked to the tycoon's casino properties. The card remains popular, says a spokesperson for Chase Card Services, the issuing division of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which bought Bank One last year.)
  MasterCard likewise tied its integration in the "One Tree Hill" episode into other media. WB mentioned MasterCard in promotional messages while MasterCard promoted the series in print ads, Lao says. Fans who used MasterCard to buy the first season of "One Tree Hill" on DVD were rewarded with an exclusive poster tied to the show.
  With an eye to the future, MasterCard and Visa are looking for ways to measure the effectiveness of brand integration and to determine how much to use it. Third-party experts, from Nielsen Media Research to Fandango Research Services, are following the scene, too.
  Visa is pondering opportunities for brand integration in video games and music videos but does not expect to increase its use of brand integration in films and TV, according to Wells. American Express, not content merely to insert cards into someone else's stories, has pointed to another possible vision of the future by commissioning "Webasodes" showing comedian Jerry Seinfeld, its longtime pitchman, using the card.
  When cards appear in the media, their "roles" sometimes seem fanciful, but they often reflect the way people use cards in everyday situations. Either way, the card brands and the studios both stand to benefit.
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