Thanks to ad-eliminating “Tivo” and other fast forwarding DVR’s, expensive television ads are hurting and returns on investment are falling.

To counter attack the loss, advertisers and the people that sell to them are creating new and different ways of placing your product directly in the main event. This is referred to as “product placement.”

This weekend while both working and watching the football playoff games I had turned my attention to the post-game show. “What to my eyes did appear” but Jared …the spokesperson for Subway, giving live advice to all of the sports announcers about which one of the subway sandwiches sitting on the table would be the best for them to feast on. Yes, Jared was wearing his Colts game jersey and that did offer a little tie-in between the Subway sandwich and the game, but what it was all about was pure advertising and everyone got it because you could not click away fast enough.

This is the future of advertising and learning how to ask for it, apply it, and take advantage of it will offer some big rewards for sellers of ads and sellers of products. Each of us needs to be on the lookout for new ways to create product placement opportunities. Television shows are one opportunity for product placement but movies, sports events, concerts and perhaps even newscasts will all offer new opportunities to present your message. The new ads will be more effective for a while and your audience will be more receptive to your message because the ad won’t look like the traditional and disliked advertising.

Game On!