Companies like Nokia have been active in product placement for years. A mobile phone has been easy to slip into the plot of an action film, film producer gets their money and Nokia gets cool brand value associated with action heros. Consumers haven't been complaining, either they accept the fact that advertisment has got sneakier, or worse, they didn't realise they were being directed.

In addition to product placement, we are now talking about brand placement. Companies are not only trying to sell products, but also to influence their brand. This came to mind when I was reading about Nokia's Wild Ocean sponsorship. What comes to environmentally friendly action, Nokia is THE leading IT company. A list of international recognition awards will prove this. I have 100% trust in the people in Nokia's environmental team on turning their plans into actions that will have a real impact, like reducing harmful chemicals from our products, increasing efficiency in material use, etc. See a whole list of things in nokia.com/we.
(and how could I argue, Nokia USA seem to be advertising my Eco Sensor concept, wow!)

Which is why I was surprised to learn that sponsoring this film didn't actually make any concrete changes, but rather spread information. Before and after each show, there is a Nokia info splash on environmental tips. Compared to achievements like organising recycling of old mobile phones, creating less harmful ways to produce phones and networks, reducing the compnay's CO2 footprint etc., sponsoring a movie does have an air of brand placement. Let's hope I'm wrong and something will emerge from this.

A couple of news from Sweden also resemble brand placement. The engagement of Princess Victoria and her fiance Daniel Westling was first aired in Youtube. Yes, Youtube. Could this be a sign that the Swedish Palace is seeing their brand value deteriorating, and in the absence of ability to advertise, a youthful fresh brand uplift is used instead?

The second, more obvious branding excercise has been the ongoing show around legal hearing in the case of Pirate Bay. Pirate Bay is a Swedish peer-to-peer network, distributing copyrighted material for free. The four boys running the show were charged in January, and the court ruling is set to happen on April 17th. These boys have turned into IT world superstars, enjoying every bit of the publicity they get. Their court hearing turned into a street party in front of the Stockholm court house, inside the house these guys just kept cracking jokes, dispite the threat of 2 years in prison and 180,000 dollars in fines and millions in damages. The Wired blog has followed this spectacle over the spring, ensuring maximum aura and stardom to the boys.

Let's see what happens to their brand value on April 17th.