Rave Revues

"I just wanted to thank you for all the great work you and your company has done for Audiovox Communications Corp. We really appreciate all your efforts. Rave Revues has placed a few different cellular phones in several different programs. This exposure for Audiovox Communications Corp. has proven to be very beneficial to us. And we couldn’t have done it without your assistance. Again, thank you for your time and your help placing Audiovox phones in the entertainment world."

Katie Wasserman, Director of Marketing
AUDIOVOX COMMUNICATIONS CORP.

"Hope things are going well for you and business is good. I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your help putting our products on eight major prime time shows and three major films! The exposure has increased sales tremendously and what a great marketing tool it has created for our customers and prospects to use to promote Neighbors Coffee. Thanks again for all your hard work and I will be in touch soon."

Phil Huggard
NEIGHBORS COFFEE

"Just a quick note to thank you for your continued support of Adohr Farms product line. Your efforts in the placement of our products is both recognized and appreciated. I truly value our past successes and look forward to continued success in the year to come. Thanks again!"

Michael Greenwald
ADOHR FARMS DAIRY

"Honesty and trustworthiness are two items that get top ranking in my moral inventory. I’m so glad to hear you are of the same mind set. I knew I liked working with your for some good reason. It’s always a pleasure working with you."

Wendy Green
CUISINART

"I want to take this opportunity to thank you and your organization for the professional product placement services you've done for Panasonic Company. It's rare to find a service business that delivers all that it promises. The vehicles you've provided for our products have resulted in a level of consumer awareness we could have never achieved through conventional media advertising. We plan to devote more of our promotional and advertising efforts in this direction in the future. One of the things everyone likes to be is a hero. You are one as far as we are concerned and because of that, I am one, too. I'm sure that our successful business relationship will continue to make us both heroes in the future."

Carl B. Laufer
PANASONIC COMPANY

"You won't believe how many people have called me to mention seeing Café D’ Vita on TV over the past several months. I would like to express our sincere thanks for the fine work you have for us. I find your organization to be quite professional and creative in terms of solving many business problems. Keep up the good work and it has been a pleasure working with you the last few years."

Frank Abbadessa, Senior Vice President
CAFFE D’VITA

ENTREPRENEUR
JUNE 2000

M A R K E T I N G
BY GWEN MORAN

SHOW TIME
People flip channels during the break…but what if your product were on the show?

If you remember the brands in Jerry Seinfeld’s cereal collection or recall that E.T. had a thing for Reeses Pieces, you’ve seen the work of product placement firms. By reviewing scripts and meeting with set designers and prop masters, these well-connected reps have the ability to score your products front-and-center time in popular TV shows and movies. According to PJ Westcott, a partner in Rave Revues, a product placement firm in Sherman Oaks, California, the main difference between product placement and advertising is credibility.

"There’s an implied third-party endorsement when a product appears with a celebrity," Westcott explains. "When Jennifer Aniston picks up a bottle of apple juice on Friends, people don’t think it’s there because a prop person put it there. They think it’s there because Jennifer likes that kind of apple juice. And if you want to be like her, you’re going to want that kind of apple juice, too."
After Westcott gets her clients’ product on high-profile shows like Will and Grace or Friends, she advises them to make the most of that exposure via trade-show appearances, in-house marketing materials, media relations and licensing agreements. (Think 007 and BMW.)
Westcott’s firm works with both big-name brands and small businesses.

Gwen Moran is president of Moran Marketing Associates, a public relations and marketing communications agency in Ocean, New Jersey. She is currently completing a marketing workbook titled Promote Your Business. E-mail her at moranmarkering@erols.com.

Testimonials