Watch the movie Driven. See how many brands you can count and try to recall those brands a couple days later, or heck, ten minutes later. I doubt you’ll remember much. According to Martin Lindstrom, author of Buy.ology, there are a total of 103 brands squeezed into the 117-minute film. The viewer is being exposed to a brand every 60 seconds. Information overload!

Have marketers forgotten that the purpose of programming is entertainment? Millions have been wasted in poor product placement and the trend continues to rise. Leslie Moonves, Chairman of the CBS Corporation, predicts that in the near future about 75 percent of primetime network shows will have products and plotlines that are paid for by advertisers. The result is that the viewer, as Lindstrom calls it, will become “snow blinded”. Brand oversaturation will affect the overall recall rate of products that viewers are exposed to in a movie or television program. We must become smarter as marketers and stop wasting our client’s money.

There is a way to avoid this trap. Lindstrom’s study of the brain revealed some interesting insights that can help marketers drastically improve the way they feature products. Consider this when deciding on investing in product placement.

First does your product fit with the storyline? Lindstrom discovered the brands that were not an integral part in the story had a low recall rate. Unless your product has a reason for being there, don’t waste your time or money. If you’re a cosmetic company, don’t feature yourself in the next Die Hard it doesn’t make sense. To get the most out of your money, your product has to play an integral part in the story.

Second, be mindful of other brands. If other brands are more important to the story than yours, it will affect viewer recall. Lindstrom found that products that played an integral part in a show or movie had a “double-barrel” effect; not only do they increase recall rate, but they also decrease viewer ability to recall other brands. Bad news for any product that is featured arbitrarily in the background.

I just purchased season six of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Watching through the episodes it wasn’t hard to notice one of its big sponsors, Coors Light. Throughout the season, you can see their logo strategically placed throughout the bar and in the hands of the gang while they toss back a few. This is effective product placement. While Coors is not an integral part of the story, it still fits in. Exposing the brand in every episode keeps the product in the subconscious of the viewer and carries over the gang’s characteristics to the brand. It communicates to the viewer that you will always have a good time with Coors. The product naturally fits in with the story and through reinforcement it stays fresh in the viewers mind.

As marketers we need to lessen our grip on creativity. We are desperate for our products to be seen, but you shouldn’t have to force it. Done right, a product should naturally fit into the story and have a good reason for being there. If the current trend continues, then expect a losing situation for everyone.  Entertainment will no longer be fun for the viewer and advertisers will see no gain because of brand oversaturation.

Until next time, this is the “Token Intern” signing out.