Product Placement

With television still being very popular, commercial entertainment has transferred the concept of soap operas onto the Web. The first of this new species of "Cybersoaps" was "The Spot", a story about the ups and downs of an American commune. The Spot not only within short time attracted a large audience, but also pioneered in the field of online product placement. Besides Sony banners, the companies logo is also placed on nearly every electronic product appearing in the story. Appearing as a site for light entertainment, The Spots main goal is to make the name Sony and its product range well known within the target audience.

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The Advertising Industry

The advertising industry is dominated by three huge advertising networks, which offer their services throughout the world. Gross income of the three leading agencies is twice as much, as the one of places four to ten.

Table: World's Top 10 Advertising Organizations 1999

(figures in millions of U.S. dollars)

Rank 1999

 Advertising Organization

 Headquarters

 World-Wide Gross Income 1999
1

 Omnicom

New York, USA

 $ 5,743.4
2

 Interpublic Group of Cos.

 New York, USA

 $ 5,079.3
3

 WPP Group

 London, UK

 $ 4,819.3
4

 Havas Advertising

 Levallois-Perret, France

 $ 2,385.1
5

 Dentsu

 Tokyo, Japan

 $ 2,106.8
6

 B Com3 Group

 Chicago, USA

 $ 1,933.8
7

 Young & Rubicam Inc.

 New York, USA

 $ 1,870.1
8

 Grey Advertising

 New York, USA

 $ 1,577.9
9

 True North

 Chicago, USA

 $ 1,489.2
10

 Publicis SA

 Paris, France

 $ 1,434.6


Table: Top 10 Global Marketers 1998

(figures in millions of U.S. dollars)

Rank 1998

 Advertiser

 Headquarters

 World-Wide Media Spending 1998
1

 Procter & Gamble Co.

 Cincinnati (US)

 $ 4,747.6
2

 Unilever

 Rotterdam (NL)/London (UK)

 $ 3,428.5
3

 General Motors Corp.

 Detroit (US)

 $ 3,193.5
4

 Ford Motor Co.

 Darborn (US)

 $ 2,229.5
5

 Philip Morris Cos.

 New York

 $ 1,980.3
6

 Daimler Chrysler

 Stuttgart (GER)/Auburn Hills (US

 $ 1,922.2
7

 Nestle

 Vevey (SUI)

 $ 1,833.0
8

 Toyota Motor Corp.

 Toyota City (JP)

 $ 1,692.4
9

 Sony Corp.

 Tokyo (JP)

 $ 1,337.7
10

 Coca-Cola Co.

 Atlanta (US)

 $ 1,327.3


On the other hand the three biggest advertisers only spend about US$ 2 millions less than places four to ten together. Whereas money spent on advertising in traditional media comes from very diverse categories, companies offering computer hard- and software, peripherals or Internet services mainly pay for on-line advertisements.

Table: Top 10 Internet Advertisers 1998

(figures in millions of U.S. dollars)

Rank 1998

 Advertiser

 Internet Spending 1998

 1998 - 1997 % Change
1

 Microsoft Corp.

 $ 34.9

 9.4
2

 IBM Corp.

 $ 28.5

 58.6
3

 Compaq Computer Corp.

 $ 16.2

 169.8
4

 General Motors Corp.

 $ 12.7

 84.8
5

 Excite

 $ 12.4

 1.5
6

 Infoseek Corp.

 $ 9.3

 22.3
7

 AT&T Corp.

 $ 9.3

 43.5
8

 Ford Motor Co.

 $ 8.6

 46.7
9

 Hewlett-Packard Co.

 $ 8.1

 102.9
10

 Barnes & Noble

 $ 7.6

 280.2


Source: Advertising Age

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Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), headquartered in New York City, is one of the world's largest professional organizations for public relations practitioners. The Society's almost 20,000 members represent business and industry, counselling firms, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and non-profit organizations. Since it was chartered in 1948, PRSA has continued to provide a forum for addressing issues affecting the profession, and tried to promote professional standards. It offers opportunities for improvement of skills and advancement of knowledge, as well as for exchange of information and experiences with other public relations professionals.

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Porter Novelli

Porter Novelli is the third largest PR firm with 1998 net fees of US$ 183,050,000. The companies focus lies on building brands, enhancing reputation and crisis management. Porter Novelli is specialised in: Food and nutrition, health care, consumer goods, technology, public affairs and social marketing.

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