Yes, lots of Coca-Cola going on in movies and series, as well as drinks, fashion brands and anything you’d ever think of. I am sure you all remember the Bridget Jones cheering on a huge screen. Or the Apple computers in Zoolander. But does product placement still work for popular movies and TV series?

I have to say I’ve started to overlook a lot of it. From clothes, to what they’re drinking or some of the gadgets they’re using. Then again, it also depends on how much the brand is shown off! If someone types behind a laptop for over 3 minutes, I might notice the brand. Or if you keep showing the computer game box each time you show the kid’s room, I might see it’s Heroes V Especially if I was a fan of Heroes III and IV

But other than that, do you buy something just because it’s shown on a TV screen but not during advertisement breaks? Is it a more effective advertising method? I mean, really, would you switch to the Head & Shoulders shampoo just because it was used to kill aliens in a rather silly movie?

I for one think it happens as it happens to all advertising: we learn to ignore it and it’s just wasted money. Are there any successful campaigns? Do you know of any and have you ever bought something just because you saw it in a movie?

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I have always been intrigued by the relationship Romanians have had with their car brand, Dacia. It is the only brand that still exists and that did not disappear after the Revolution that put an end to communism. But the way we’ve seen the brand, the way we’ve related to it or chosen to ignore it, makes for a very interesting story.

Dacias were not the best of cars during the communist period.  But they were one of the few types of cars you could actually get. Long lists and long waits came before any car purchase. And when I say long wait, I mean years. But then again, that gave you time to raise the money for it. The design was outdated, there weren’t that many options to choose from, and some relatives told me some now funny stories about how they prayed for their car to arrive with most of the parts on it.

After the Revolution, we finally had choices. And we went for them. Foreign cars, used at first, brought from nearby countries, Germany being the leading supplier. I grew up with high-school friends that made a business out of driving to Germany in one car and returning in three. They would work on them for a while, then resell them for some extra cash.

Old school Dacia, Sandero and Duster

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2009 has been a year full of changes, adjustments to new circumstances, learning new tricks, returning to the basics and learning something new almost every day. It’s been a wonderful and hard year at the same time, and frankly I have no idea when it has actually reached its finish line. It seems that only yesterday I was taking Robert Hurzek’s challenge to share what I had learned from 2008…

Now that we’re in mid-December, I am once again responding to Robert’s challenge to go through this years’ posts and pick what I believe to be the highlights of each month of this challenging yet always surprising year.
January – Investing in relationships always has excellent ROI

This very post has been a tribute to all the wonderful relationships I have built through my blog. The friends I’ve made, the new things I’ve learned, the support I’ve always counted on, it’s all worth sharing and cherishing.

February – 5 Ways to Make Sure You Never Get to the Second Meeting

In a year with a down-turning economy, everyone kept chasing new business. And some chose worse methods than others, making sure their efforts were in vain. Here was one of the worst examples of a business meeting from 2009. Read, learn and never act like this! Continue reading

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I have never been against people attempting to make money online. On their blog, on their Twitter account, it really does not bother me. If I like their content and their way of thinking, I trust them to make interesting recommendations and to post ads that won’t make me run away.

The trouble begins when people are so wrapped up with making some money that they forget all about their brand in the process. All bloggers, business or not, work hard to promote their blog, to position it and build a brand for it. And then when they have enough traffic they want to have some income in exchange for their hard work. But why kill your blog’s brand for a few bucks when you could get said money without loosing trust and readers?

If you want to advertise, advertise something related to your blog or that might interest your readers. If you talk about web hosting, you can advertise designers, web copywriting services and other such services. But if you start promoting a teeth whitening formula, you’d lose. Why is it a bad decision? It makes you look easy to buy and a bit desperate. People who read about web hosting don’t care about teeth whitening in their web hosting dedicated time. They might want to read about it on the beauty/health/make your self pretty blog they read every day.

The purpose behind monetizing your blog or twitter stream is to actually make money! You need to find the products and services that would make your readers click. They have to think you had a great idea recommending something like that to them. They would have to trust you with that recommendation. Your expertise is part of what convinces them to give that ad/review or any other form of advertorial a second thought. That’s what brings you more money at the end of the day.

Yes, branding is tough. But the advertisements you choose actually help shape your brand. They position you in your niche to some extent. Choose to say your brand helps people and makes expert recommendations. Not that your brand couldn’t care less and would promote anything for the right price.

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Blogsessive.com has just published a guest post written by yours truly on how to make your blog and twitter account work better at promoting each other. And the solution is simple: notice what they have in common, notice the differences, and if it’s a team you want, then create one!

I’d love to hear your thoughts and your own tips on how to create a dream team out of your blog and Twitter feed, so head over to Blogsessive to read the article and share your insight

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