The subtle power of email "product placement"

--> it works for beer, cars, computers and you

Product placement is big business.

Heineken reportedly paid $45m to get Bond to swap out his Vodka Martinis in Skyfall for a cold beer. That’s a lot of dosh.

But given their sales in Western Europe alone jumped by nearly 4% that year, it seems to have been worth it.

And “product placement” can work incredibly well for you too in your emails.

The way product placement works is that it avoids a direct promotion. Instead it shows the product in action and the audience draws its own conclusions.

But of course, the scene is set up so those conclusions are going to be positive.

When well-known Vodka Martini and Champagne lover Bond prefers a Heineken, we get the idea that it must be a decent beer.

When super cool spy Bond chooses to whizz round the Italian Riviera in an Aston Martin, we get the idea it’s a super cool car that handles incredibly well.

When Ethan Hunt uses an Apple Powebook to hack into mega computers in Mission Impossible, we get the idea that it’s a better computer than a PC, because otherwise why would he have chosen it?

And when we think we’ve come to a conclusion ourself, we hold that belief much more strongly than something we think we’ve been told.

You can tap into that same effect in emails.

If I tell you that people who work with me get great results you’re unlikely to believe me. Everyone says that.

Even if I use a client testimonial or share a case study, it’s still very obviously a promotion and you’re going to be skeptical.

But if instead I share a technique on how to improve your performance and use an example of how a client of mine implemented that technique and got great results it works much more like product placement.

Now the overt message is me sharing the technique rather than me saying I’m great. So you focus on that and the secondary message that a client of mine got great results sneaks into your brain without being rejected by your promotion-detecting shields.

It’s product placement.

Instead of me telling you my clients get great results, I gave you a useful tip. But I illustrated it with a story that led you to draw the conclusion that my clients get great results. A conclusion you’re much more likely to believe than if I tried to tell you it myself.

Apologies if that sounds a bit manipulative. I suppose it kind of is.

But really it’s about understanding the best way to get across a promotional message.

Heineken know how to do it. Aston Martin and Apple know how to do it.

You can do it too.

And the benefit is that when you do it, the primary focus of your emails becomes adding value rather than promoting.

So it’s a win for your readers too.

- Ian