We’re happy to be back with another installation of the YouGov PQS Valuation Spotlight series. In this edition, we’ve chosen three product placements from some of the latest and greatest streaming titles to look at. Each has varying levels of exposure, making for an interesting look at the values that different kinds of product placements can drive.
Our product placements for this month are Carhartt in the Netflix hit show Painkiller, Mercedes Benz in Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+, and Samsung in Ms. Marvel (Disney+).
Keep reading for insights on each placement’s valuation, performance, and a peek into the audiences reached.
For inquiries regarding the valuation of your product placements and streaming audiences, please reach out to me at dominic.prince@yougov.com. I’m happy to demo the product and we can organize complimentary two-week trials of YouGov Signal, granting access to both YouGov Stream (streaming ratings) and the YouGov PQS calculator. This version of PQS allows you to create and explore product placements within a title and assess their potential value.
Painkiller (S01E04)
Painkiller (S01E04), Carhartt Men’s Jacket – $417,626
Carhartt snagged a major product placement in Painkiller, with one of their Men’s Jackets being sported in several episodes by a main cast member. We looked at episode 4 and valued the exposure for Carhartt at $417,626 in the United States alone.
Why the hefty valuation? Well, with almost a minute of screen time and ten separate exposures, it had plenty of time in the spotlight. Painkiller has also averaged 20.8m viewers per episode in the US since its release on August 10th, meaning it had significant reach. The placement scored best for positive association (character usage) and prominence (as it was worn by a character, it was placed where viewers were likely to be looking). Its average Placement Quality Score was a 3.89 (reminder: Placement Quality Scoring runs from 0.00-5.00).
This was a stellar product placement for the folks over at Carhartt, and one that demonstrates the kinds of values that can be generated for apparel brands lucky enough to have their clothing worn by characters in shows.
Side note: The large value for Carhartt in Painkiller accruing through high quality exposure in a few crucial scenes is reminiscent to me of the Lacoste polo shirt in Stranger Things that drove $2.3m of Net Placement Value. After we released this data, Lacoste went on to launch a series of polo shirts in collaboration with Stranger Things. Coincidence? Maybe, but either way it shows how character usage-based product placements can spin up future opportunities for brand licensing deals.
Special Ops: Lioness (S01E08)
Special Ops: Lioness (S01E08), Mercedes Benz GLC – $57,835
Mercedes Benz featured in episode 8 of Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+, which PQS has valued at $57,835 in the US to date. This value was driven by an average viewership of 5.5 million per episode for the first season of the show, which YouGov Stream estimates 24% of Paramount+ subscribers have tuned in to at some point since its release on July 23rd.
This placement had an average PQS score of 3.72 driven by high levels of positive association. This high positive association score mainly stemmed from the character’s usage of the car, and the fact that a group of special ops people travelling in a vehicle implies that it’s a premium product. Several Mercedes Benz cars featured in Special Ops: Lioness, and the valuation of the GLC in episode 8 implies that the brand saw some good ROI in exchange.
Ms. Marvel (S01E06)
Ms. Marvel (S01E06), Samsung Galaxy Phone – $8,711
Samsung scored a smaller placement in the first season of the Disney+ show Ms. Marvel, where the main character Kamala Khan uses the phone to watch videos on TikTok at the end of episode 6.
The placement quality score for this placement was 4.75, the highest of any of the three placements we’ve looked at. Why, then, is the value much lower than the other two? Well, in part because episodes of Ms. Marvel have been viewed by a more modest 2.8m on average since it’s release on June 8th. This means it had roughly half the reach of Special Ops: Lioness, and an eighth of the reach of Painkiller, capping it’s potential value at a much lower figure than an equivalent exposure in the other two titles.
It’s also because the placement only saw a total of six seconds of exposure, meaning it occupied a smaller fraction of the media than the other placements we’ve looked at. Still, the high Placement Quality Score shows that Samsung did almost all that it could with the screentime it had, and $8,711 is still a meaningful return on investment for the brand when you consider the cost of sending a phone.
Okay, that’s all for this edition. Thanks for reading and please do reach out to us if you have any questions, queries, or want to hear more about how YouGov can help solve your research needs.
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YouGov is an international online research data and analytics technology group with over 24 million registered panelists worldwide. Its latest product, YouGov PQS, focuses specifically on helping the product placement industry to understand and value its presence in streaming shows.
YouGov PQS unlocks new possibilities for the product placement industry. It combines a proprietary scoring model with streaming audiences to value product placements, as well as providing insights into the beliefs, habits, and opinions of the audience.
Productplacement.com will be regularly publishing YouGov PQS data, giving insights into the performance of some of the most notable recent product placements to hit streaming platforms. ProductPlacement.com is not affiliated with YouGov. Information is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement.
