John Deere: Tractor gains traction in 'Avengers'
DES MOINES — A Deere & Co. tractor shares some screen time in Avengers: Age of Ultron with Tony Stark, alias Iron Man, who must help save the world after he created peace-keeping artificial intelligence androids that try to take over Earth.
Andrew Bryant, a marketing professor at Drake University, said a product placed in blockbusters can give companies a boost.
"Studies show it can increase returns on the stock market," Bryant said. "Some show it increases general brand awareness, brand recall and increases in general attitude."
Companies want to be part of a cinematic home run, Bryrant said. Avengers, for example, had the second-best opening of all time, with $191 million shelled out at the box office. And corporations can pay big bucks. For example, corporations paid $25 million toward the development of The Minority Report.
Bryant said it's harder to get brands in front of consumers with DVRs, Netflix and other products making it easier for ads to get bypassed.
"Technological innovations are decreasing the traditional advertising benefits, where you have a commercial outside the normal show. So you have to place it inside" a program, he said.
Still, Deere's product placement might not mean boosted sales. "Putting a tractor in a movie won't make someone decide, 'Oh, I want a tractor,'" Bryant said. "But when they're thinking about buying a tractor, they already have a reference for John Deere."
