Project Runway: The Look of Successful Brand Integration
March 21, 2010 by Nate Winter
There’s a lot of brand integration in the world of entertainment. Product placement-- one form of brand integration-- has played a role in movies and TV in particular for decades. And that role has typically been small in order to keep sponsorships from interfering with entertainment value. Today, however, brand integration is enjoying a resurgence thanks to the challenges advertisers face with DVRs and time-shifted viewing.
In increasing numbers, viewers are recording TV shows and watching them later while fast forwarding through the commercials-- a big convenience for viewers, and a big headache for advertisers and networks. Other viewers watch their shows online, where commercial messages aren’t the same as during a show's TV broadcast. So advertisers and content creators are getting more creative about how to make brands more visible. And in more and more shows, brand integration fits the bill.
Brand Runway
Project Runway involves so many brands that it’s not just a runway for innovative fashion, but for brands as well. And despite its volume of commercial sponsors, Project Runway still manages to integrate these brands extremely well. Here’s a quick rundown of them.
Bluefly.com accessories wall-- a wall of shoes and handbags the designers use to complete the looks on their models
Brother-- brand of sewing machines and other sewing products
Garnier hair studio-- where the models get their hair styled
hp-- provides tablet PCs the designers use to sketch out their designs
Intel-- provides processors for the hp tablet PCs
L’Oreal Paris make up studio-- where the models get their make up styled
Marie Claire Magazine-- Project Runway judge Nina Garcia is the fashion director of Marie Claire, and is introduced as such in every episode. At the end of each season, the magazine also publishes a photo shoot showcasing clothes designed by the winner of Project Runway.
Michael Kors-- Michael Kors the individual is a Project Runway judge representing his eponymous fashion label
Mood Designer Fabrics-- store where the designers buy their fabric and other supplies
Parsons School of Design-- fashion design school in New York City where the designers make their new fashion creations
Celebrity guest judges-- the likes of Christina Aguilera, Lindsay Lohan, Eva Longoria Parker and fashion designer Tory Burch have made recent appearances
What Good Integration Looks Like
Brother may or may not provide the sewing products used in Project Runway. Its logo is never shown on any sewing products in the show, so it looks like maybe not. However, Brother still plays a high-visibility role in each episode with its logo on the large analog clock in the designers’ work room. Time is very important to the challenges, so when the camera shows a close up on the clock, it’s to point out that time is running out and the designers must hurry to finish their garments. That close up also shows the Brother logo, but it’s so well integrated into the narrative of the episode that the shot feels perfectly natural.
Mood Designer Fabrics and Parsons School of Design are also well integrated. In each episode, the designers find out what their challenge is and then make a trip to Mood to buy fabric and other supplies. Following that, designers return to the work room at Parsons to begin creating their garments.
To show these changes of location, the director uses establishing shots of the Mood and Parsons buildings. An establishing shot is a common filming technique that cues the viewer as to where the next scene takes place. It shows a wide, exterior shot of the location before cutting to the interior where the action takes place. In the cases of Mood and Parsons, the building exteriors display their respective logos. These shots show the Mood and Parsons logos, while also telling the viewer where the next scene in show takes place. That’s good integration.
Why Project Runway Succeeds
One reason this show’s brand integration is so successful is that it’s a reality show. Reality programs show the world as it is (in theory, anyway) and everyday life is filled with brand messages, so why shouldn’t we see a few brands in our reality TV? Non-reality programming has a much more difficult time integrating brands gracefully.
Project Runway is also a show about beauty and fashion-- huge commercial industries. The ultimate goal of each challenge is to design looks that people would want to buy, so commercial interest is baked into the concept of the show. In fact, I think brand integration actually adds credibility and improves audience engagement in Project Runway.
Project Runway is a rare breed, in that it’s a highly popular show that’s also chock full of sponsors and branded content. In my opinion it’s the model for how to use brands successfully and credibly in entertainment content.
