While there is only one American Idol for each season, there are several winners behind the curtains—the show’s sponsors.
The renowned show has maintained strong ties with three big name brands: Coca-Cola, Ford, and AT&T. Those brands have capitalized on promotions by being integrated into the show.
“We work very hard to deliver what the sponsors want,” said Keith Hindle, executive VP of licensing/Americas for the show's producer Fremantle Media. “We look at the overall feeling of the show in terms of tone and approach, then more specifically at what are the actual parts within the show that can have an organic integration of a brand.”
Coca-Cola joined the American Idol show in 2002 with a reported $10 million deal. The soda maker renegotiated its contracts with the show after every year. However, the product placements were clearly worth the money. In 2008, the Nielsen product placement service listed American Idol as the top show for product placement with 2,000 Coca-Cola appearances for the season. The famous soda logo can be seen in many parts of the show, most notably in the judge’s table.
“We’ve primarily done Coke, but when we launched Coke Lime, for instance, we switched over,” explained Susan Stribling, Coca-Cola spokeswoman. “We’ve done contests where consumers have been able to create their own judges’ cup designs and the winner was featured on the show.”
Ford has used its partnership with American Idol in many platforms, including TV, print, online, and even in dealer showrooms. This season, the contestants were shuttled via a Ford vehicle that was equipped with state-of-the-art features.
As long as the show continues to appeal to its unique audience demographic, brands will race to be associated with it.
Source: Billboard.biz