May 1, 2004 12:00 PM, Kathleen M. Joyce, Editor

There's been a lot of hoopla surrounding the response Madison Avenue is mounting to TiVo and other digital video technologies. If consumers won't watch commercials any longer, the thinking has gone, let's integrate the brands into the content. Of course, this isn't a new concept for television or film. Back in the 1950s, game show contestants won the sponsor's merchandise as prizes (“Yes, Mrs. Magee, you've won a lifetime supply of detergent!”). And Gordon's paid the studio to have Katherine Hepburn toss dozens of bottles of their gin overboard during a scene in The African Queen.

More recently, we've seen Coca Cola pay big bucks (rumored to be around $26 million) for high visibility on the set of American Idol, where the three judges drink nothing but the fizzy stuff; and Ford sprung similar cash for a starring role for one its cars in the thriller series 24. Automobile companies seem to be particularly avid fans of product integration these days. Remember the pivotal part the Cooper Mini played in last year's The Italian Job?

Now the integration concept is creeping into other media. I don't mind the fact that characters in the electronic game The Sims can dine out at McDonalds after shopping for name-brand denim jeans. And even this former English major can swallow the prospect of some writers accepting payment to incorporate certain brands into their novels, as Fay Weldon did in 2001. Bulgari had commissioned her to write a story that was to be given as a premium to its elite jewelry clientele. Weldon signed the deal, then took it further by publishing her book, The Bulgari Connection, for the general reading public.

But at some point, someone has to ask: What are Coke, Ford, McDonalds, Bulgari and the countless other brands buying into content getting in return for their substantial investments? Visibility yes, but aren't these tactics just glorified substitutes for the 30-second spot? Marketing has evolved beyond mere brand awareness, largely because of the push coming from those marketers working “below the line” on programs that generate measurable action by the consumer. Some would argue that that all the world's no longer a stage but a billboard. But the best entertainment-based marketing does more than play to a passive audience subliminally. It lets the consumer become part of the show itself. For top-notch examples of marketing stars, turn to p. 23, where we profile this year's EMMA winners. Bravo!

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