Product placement has always been a huge part of movies so it’s no surprise that there have been several marketing campaigns linked to the upcoming ‘Sex and the city’ sequel. The latest announcement is that Carrie and her friends will abandon their much loved Macs for HP PCs and notebook computers. Meanwhile Sarah Jessica Parker will feature in HP advertisements.
The move has lead to criticism of HP’s strategy, when the Mac has such strong affiliation with the show and is seen to be the brand for ‘creative’ and ‘arty’ types.
Reaction has tended to fall in two camps: HP’s strategy will fail either because 1) product placement has become passé and easy to overlook 2) because the inclusion of HP’s products is an obvious marketing ploy.
Whether or not people will see Carrie using an HP Laptop and immediately want one, remains to be seen. But SATC is bound to be a huge blockbuster giving HP much wider audience exposure. SATC has always been associated with high fashion and has a reputation for trendsetting, which can only be a positive association for the brand.
The announcement that it will be appearing in the SATC film has alone generated a lot of attention for the brand with much discussion online, particularly on Twitter. Is it really a clever move on behalf of HP or a case of misplaced marketing spend? Let me know what you think.
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