 This week, egtabites brings you an innovative B2B case from Portugal. Portuguese public broadcaster RTP wanted to demonstrate to its biggest advertising clients how it could integrate new commercial formats within its shows, highlighting the possibilities of product placement as a way for brands to increase their recognition and differentiate themselves on the market.
The challenge
Grupo Aliança is a formal group of major enterprises and brands in Portugal, which includes the bank Millennium BCP, the retailer Jerónimo Martins/Pingo Doce, drinks, food and FMCG producers Sumol + Compal, Unicer and Unilever. Together, the brands in the group form the second largest investor on average in RTP, representing 11% of the broadcaster’s television advertising revenues.
As a public broadcaster, RTP is not particularly perceived as favouring new advertising concepts, and the challenge was therefore to include these innovative, differentiated formats in the sales operation’s commercial presentations. RTP wanted to demonstrate that creativity has no limits in advertising and entertainment.
The solution
 RTP held a business meeting with the marketing directors of all the companies represented in Grupo Aliança, together about fifty people. In addition to presenting the broadcaster’s latest news and highlights from its TV content, RTP also introduced a new B2B video created specifically for the meeting.
Filmed on the set of Bem-Vindos a Beirais (Welcome to Beiras), a prime-time soap opera on RTP1, the video features the show’s lead actor, Pêpê Rapazote, discussing the opportunities for product placement. Pêpê addresses the marketing directors present in the meeting; for example, sipping from a bottle of Pedras (Unicer) water at a table in the set’s cafe, standing next to an advertising display for Ola (Unilever) ice creams or by a range of Compal (Sumol + Compal) fruit juices and canned vegetables.
In another scene, Pêpê – a presenter on the Beirais FM station in the soap opera’s storyline – uses a radio programme sponsored by Millennium BCP to highlight the bank’s support for entrepreneurship in the fictional village of Beirais.
To close, the actor reminds those watching that while Beirais may only be a small village, it is also home to the 850,000 Portuguese people who tune in to watch every day.
The reception
 One of the media agency directors who attended the meeting - Alberto Rui Pereira, CEO of IPGMediabrands Portugal – shared his feedback with us:
“The RTP commercial team presentation surprised the audience by the quality of the presented cases, by its relevance to the brands present, the dynamism and how brands were integrated into content. It created interest in the topic and the will for further exploration in the future. It was a presentation that created impact and exceeded expectations.”
The result was very positive, after the meeting several of the brands present invested in product placement with RTP and continue in this cooperation to this day.
Why this matters for egta members
Product placement, along with other forms of integration such as verbal mentions of brands, is an excellent opportunity for effective, non-intrusive advertising. However, it can be a rather nebulous concept, difficult to visualise, measure or predict in terms of its impact.
This B2B case from RTP is an entertaining way to turn the concept into reality and for the broadcaster’s sales team to address its biggest advertiser partners directly. With its huge, engaged audience, prime-time TV offers brands a great variety of innovative ways to reach their consumers beyond traditional spot advertising: creativity, indeed, knows no limits! |
