A fascinating presentation on reverse product placement (duff Beer)

1. Brand Precession
(Reverse product
placement) : branding in
fictional and virtual
environment
Dr. Laurent Muzellec
Dr. Theo Lynn

2. Is it what is in our head?
Is it computer-synthesized?

3. Brand Content &
Emotional Branding
• Content produced by a brand" that is not directly linked
to the brand product or service. Therefore it can't be
just a promotional message produced by a brand. But
it can involve a lot of "types of content".
Brand Co
n tent Proj
ect: http:
//www.no
wness.co
m

4. From Real to Fiction

5. Interactive Product
Placement

6. Reverse Product
Placement
al
rtu
Vi
to
al
Re

7. Brand Precession and
Reverse Product Placement

8. So WHAT
ARE THOSE
BRANDS?

9. Fictional brands are there if you look for
them in films… where are the brands?

10. …on television…

11. …and in books

12. ...
Computer-synthesized brands are in computer games…

13. …and virtual worlds

14. …but are they truly brands?

15. what is a brand?
“a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a
combination of them, intended to identify the goods or
services of one seller or group of sellers and to
differentiate them from those of competitors”
“nothing more than the sum of all the mental
Brown, 1992 connections people have around it”
“asset of the firm” which derives revenue for its owner
Schlossberg, 1990 ”

16. brands vs brand potential
brand potential is not brand reality

17. Are all virtual brands protobrands? Aimee Weber
1. A Name, logo and symbol
2. Mental images (=associated
with cool virtual design)
3. First Avatar legally
protected (registered
trademark as of 2008)
4. Generates revenue for
owner - Alyssa LaRoche
See: www.aimeeweber.com

18. Q: How can you capitalise on
consumer’s emotional attachment?
A. Create a HyperReal Brand
Brand Precession: determining protobrand potential:
• Can the brand aura be fomented entirely in the virtual prior to tangibilization or
productization in the real physical world?
• Can the brand sufficiently capture the imagination and emotional attachment of
real consumers in the real physical world?

19. Protobrands: a commercial opportunity to
The Rebranding of 7-eleven exploit or…
Reverse Product Placement (Hosea, 2006)

20. …threat to mitigate
• Registered Trademark by
Rodrigo Contreras in Mexico
in 2008
• Haacht produce and and
successfully markets a real
beer with a real taste

21. Brands in real and
virtual worlds

22. Brand Precession: Proposed Levels of
Abstraction

26. Triple Play Brand: a virtuous
circle of brand
reinforcement

27. towards a praxis of brand
precession