box office hit equals big brand exposure

Ghost Rider staring Nicholas Cage tops the box office this week. Big success for movies means lots of exposure for those brands that have paid for product placement. This website, brandchannel.com, talks about all of those products that were placed within this movie.

This movie is about a motorcycle stuntman (Nicholas Cage) that sells his soul to save his girlfriend (Eva Mendes). The stuntman, Johnny Blaze, rides a Harley Davidson, a Buell for stunting, and a fictional bike known as the Hellcycle. The Harley Davidson is knows as a motorcycle for serious motorcycle riders. Its style is easily recognizable and got plenty of promotion with this movie. Sony also has quite a bit of product placement throughout the movie. All the televisions were Sony, including the jumbotron at the Sobe dome, according to the article.

These product placements definitely target consumers. The companies want consumers to be the first brand they think of when they are looking to purchase a product, like a motorcycle or television. I think that either consciously or subconsciously, consumers will probably think of Harley Davidson for motorcycles or Sony for televisions. Harley is already ahead of the game in top of mind awareness with consumers. I know when I think motorcycles that Harley Davidson is the first brand to come to my mind. On the other hand, I think Sony televisions may be lacking in the area of top of mind awareness, so it was definitely a good investment to place products within this movie. Top of the box office means that the movie is getting a ton of viewers, which means a ton of potential consumers for Harley Davidson and Sony.