LOS ANGELES, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IC Places,
Inc. (OTCQB: ICPA) is pleased announce it has retained Julie Thomas Knap as the Company's Senior
Product Placement and Strategic Partnerships Consultant.
In her role, Ms. Knap will negotiate and arrange for in-show
paid sponsorships and product placement of major brands in IC
Places shows across all distribution platforms. These platforms
include on-line, television and private networks.
"This is the next step in our revenue growth plan. Due to a
recent agreement, we now have a show distribution footprint in
place which will yield over 200 million viewers a month. We
currently monetize on-line shows through pre-roll and mid-roll
advertisements. In-show product placement and sponsorships will run
across all distribution platforms and will create a much larger
revenue stream. In the process it will also build greater
production value into all our shows," said Steven Samblis, president of IC Places.
About Julie Thomas
Knap
Julie has ten years of experience in securing and cultivating
strategic partnerships and alliances, building consumer promotional
programs and developing brand integration and placement for
entertainment properties. With seven years at Vivendi Games
(now Activision Blizzard) and 3 years as a consultant, Julie has
proven her strong ability to quickly achieve organizational
integration and incorporate new ideas, concepts, methods and
technologies.
As a consultant, Julie has worked with movie studios and film
production companies such as The Walt Disney Studios, Sony
Pictures, DreamWorks Animation and Wunderkind Pictures, as well as
video game publishers such as Activision Blizzard and THQ in the
areas of Partnership Promotions, Brand Integration and Product
Placement.
While at Vivendi Games, Julie directed all In-Game Advertising
Partnerships, Consumer Promotions, Alternative Marketing and
Consumer Event global activities for the company's entire portfolio
of products across four publishing labels, Blizzard Entertainment,
Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online
Games and Vivendi Games Mobile.
About IC Places:
IC Places is a Multi Media Entertainment Company.
The company produces "Made for TV" and "New Media" video
programs which are watched by millions of people every month on
several different platforms.
At the core of IC Places is a network of 350 city based
entertainment websites. This foundation allows IC Places the unique
advantage having a built in fan based for the TV and New Media
programs it produces.
Each IC Places City website offers a virtual keyhole view of
life in each community. Every unique aspect of a city's social,
business, and cultural life is available right at each city's IC
Places homepage. IC Places provides the entire community a place to
talk, do business and get connected. Businesses are given amazing
tools to tell their stories in the best way possible and visitors
get unfettered access to businesses, events and people in each
city. To see one of the IC Places City sites in action, please
visit http://www.icPlaces.com.com/orlando.
IC Places programs can be found through distribution
partnerships with Mevio.com, The IndoorDIRECT network of
restaurants and Brighthouse Networks Cable.
Product Placement and Strategic Partnership
Strategy
IC Places will work with companies under three primary product
placement strategies.
1. Implicit product placement strategy:
The brand, logo, the firm, or the product is presented passively
with only clear visibility within it's program without being
expressed formally. This product placement is more contextual or
part of the background with no clear demonstration of product
benefits, for example, wearing clothes with the sponsor's name or a
scene in front of the a specific movie chain theater. Another
example is a new TV show IC Places is producing called "The Home
Entertainment Review." The show will be filmed in a man cave
filled with cutting edge home entertainment technology, which will
be supplied by the manufacturers.
2. Integrated explicit product placement strategy:
In this strategy, the brand, logo, the firm, or the product
plays an active role in the scene and is expressed formally within
the program or plot. As a humorous example, during the "Instant
Movie Review" show a pizza delivery man shows up and delivers a
piping hot pizza from a major brand and the hosts begin to eat it
while delivering their review.
3. Non-integrated explicit product placement strategy:
In this strategy, the brand, logo, the firm, or the product is
formally expressed but not integrated into the content of the
program, for example, in the TV show "IC Places Hollywood" segments
of the show may be sponsored by a car company or electronics
company. This type of reference normally is included in the
sponsorship deal.
Understanding The Value of Product Placement to the
Advertiser
Product placement is a form of advertisement, where branded
goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads,
such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows,
or news programs. Nielsen Media Research has shown that product
placement in television shows can raise brand awareness by 20%.
According to a recent report by "Journal of Management and
Marketing Research," product placement is a fast growing
multi-billion dollar industry.
According to the research company PQ Media, global paid product
placements were valued at $3.07
Billion back in 2006. By 2010, the overall value of paid and
unpaid product placement increased annually to $13.96 Billion.
The U.S. is the largest and fastest growing paid product
placement market. In 2011 Branded content comprised 32% of overall
marketing, advertising, and communications budgets. This number is
expected to increase due to the fact that 41% of U.S. homes are
expected to have and use digital video recorders that can skip
through commercials. Hence, communicating core marketing messages
is difficult but vital.
Consider the following data :
- 90% of people with digital video recorders skip TV ads.
- To be seen, brands now have to get inside the content.
- Consumer consumption of entertainment increases when economic
times get tough.
- Research shows product placement in content boosts brand
awareness, raises brand affinity and encourages prospective
purchasers.
- 60% of viewers felt more positive about brands they recognized
in a placement.
- 45% said they would be more likely to make a purchase.
Product placement can be a cost-effective method for reaching
target customers. Because of this, product placement is likely to
eclipse traditional advertising messages.
IC Places Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These
forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and
expectations of management and are subject to a number of
uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the
company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results
of operations and financial condition. A more extensive listing of
risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects
and cause actual results to differ materially from those described
in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and
other documents filed by the company with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact Information:
Steven Samblis
IC Places, Inc.
407-442-0309 Ext. 2
info@icplaces.com
SOURCE IC Places, Inc.