Better together? Harnessing the power of brand placement through program sponsorship messages

In two field studies, this article investigates the potential benefits of combining brand placement with program sponsorship messages vis-a-vis brand placement or program sponsorship messages only in terms of brand recall and brand attitude. Study 1 presents a quasi-natural experiment in which respondents (n = 334) are randomly exposed to a full-length episode of a television program corresponding to one of four conditions (control group, brand placement only, program sponsorship messages only, brand placement plus program sponsorship messages). Study 2 replicates the findings by measuring responses of viewers (n = 7629) to 19 real-life campaigns for 15 brands that ran across 8 branded entertainment shows on Belgian commercial television. The results of both studies indicate a positive effect of combining brand placement with program sponsorship messages on brand recall, but not brand attitude.