Suck

for3 September 1996. Updated every TUESDAY.



	The Taster's Choice commercials meet
	BEE's American Psycho... on the web!

	Marketing products through an
	"investigation" of how products are
	marketed... high art or crass
	commercialism? You decide!

	Each year, more and more products come to
	market - with fewer and fewer venues
	available to bring a product's message to
	consumers. The name of the game is
	saturation - and from 3Com Park to Pepsi
	*pagers to the Guess Journal, our*
	overabundant consumerist society has
	produced an overabundance of media
	massages. The big concept for the next
	century is to provide brand managers with
	a new outlet for their media buys. What
	better way than a literary "study" of
	consumer identity through brand
	identification? The sort of manipulative
	reach-around that hits the spot with both
	ad buyers and that elusive Gen X demo,
	Placing is more than a website - it's a
	gerund, concept, and trend!



	Placing advertises itself as a "revolving
	series of epiphanies" - short, pithy
	scenes based around a featured product
	that build in the cynicism, in order to
	emasculate it. A plug-and-play concept,
	the first edition of Placing will be
	organized around the alphabet, allowing
	for twenty-six revenue-generating
	sponsorships, each prominently featuring
	a color photo of the product being placed -
	the "money shot." Products are subbed
	in and out as their sponsorship buys
	expire, keeping the money train on time.
	Future editions could use other
	"arbitrary" ordering schemes to take
	advantage of other markets, such as a
	fifty-state edition to pull in regional
	accounts. Placing could later be
	positioned as a "PointCast Killer" by
	using a Java-based HyperCard engine and
	voice-over narration to deliver the same
	content in quasi-screensaver mode, with
	mouse clicks sending coupons to a user's
	laser printer. A Placing coffee-table
	book could also be produced, in order to
	participate in the lucrative book market.
	In addition to the product sponsorships
	and the $34.95 cover price, Placing: The
	Book could be written by twenty-six
	"guest" authors - rising and established
	stars who have other titles in the
	publisher's catalog. Short author bios
	would include a shot of the writer's most
	recent dust jacket.

	Because the text accompanying the
	product shots are intentionally kept
	short enough to hold the reader's
	attention, a single out-of-work
	freelancer with minimal HTML skills can
	produce the site in a matter of days.
	Other multimedia components can be
	preannounced, then postponed until the
	2.0 release. A media placement firm can
	be retained on a percentage basis in
	order to create beneficial relationships
	with companies interested in sharing in
	the massive upside potential of the
	placing concept. PR costs are
	nonexistent, as Placing partners will be
	required to promote Placing through
	cross-promotions and within their
	preexisting media channels.

text Winner photo Wendy Skratt comic Terry Colon