NBC Universal, NextMedium in Product-Placement Deal

NEW YORK, June 10: NBC
Universal (NBCU) is teaming with NextMedium, a branded-entertainment ad
network, to help improve the process for identifying, marketing and fulfilling
product-placement opportunities across several of its properties, kicking off
with NBC’s Life and USA
Network’s Psych.

In the initial phase of
the partnership, NBCU will make Life and Psych available
to NextMedium's Embed technology platform, a full-service management system
that aims to help clients better connect to the production-level product
placement opportunities within those shows.

NBCU will use the Embed
technology to help define, manage and sell product-placement opportunities to
the more than 250 advertisers who are members of the NextMedium ad network. The
Embed platform also allows NBCU to provide advertisers with additional research
that measures the performance of their product placements against their
intended branding objectives.

Advertisers registered in
NextMedium's Embed platform are immediately able to begin viewing and placing
offers on NBCU's available product-placement inventory via the system.

"Partnering with
NextMedium allows us to create a marketplace for organic product placement
inventory, making it easier for our clients and creative partners to manage the
process from beginning to end," said Mike Pilot, the president of sales
and marketing for NBC Universal. "This is an additional capability we can
now offer our advertising partners as they evaluate what works best for their
overall marketing campaigns."

"NBCU is leading ad
format innovation and the development of new advertising models," added
David Bluhm, the CEO of NextMedium. "Product placement is the only
traditional media outpacing the growth of online, and we're thrilled to help
NBCU attract incremental revenue and expand its relationships with
advertisers."

—By Irene Lew