Dynamic Product Placement

Yahoo News has an article today about two internet start ups that are attempting to pair brands with content.

From the article:

"Two Web-based start-ups are trying to change the dynamics of product placement deal-making, up until now largely contained to the office suites of Hollywood and New York branded entertainment companies, producers and media agencies.

One venture, NextMedium's Embed, has created an e-commerce exchange for placements that includes an eBay-style auction process. It also offers clients the ability to gauge performance post-play through metrics jointly developed with Nielsen Media Research. The other new service, Media Matchmaker, brokers introductions between producers and marketers via the Internet.

Media Matchmaker, which launched its site in March, said its process can save clients hundreds of hours of wasted time searching for qualified business prospects. In addition to prescreening prospects, the company's technology helps clients keep up with the exploding number of product integration offerings, said CEO Betsy Green.

That critical mass isn't there yet, said Guy McCarter, U.S. director, entertainment marketing for Omnicom's OMD. But he hopes it will be in the coming six months. "We're intrigued by the robustness of the [Embed] offer," he said, "both from the potential to identify integration opportunities for our clients and to research and evaluate on a post- analysis basis."