Programme–ad congruence: integrating advertising and entertainment
Susan D. Myers
University of Central Arkansas
Marla B. Royne and George Deitz
University of Memphis
Introduction
Many powerful brands have recognised that advertising is changing. Former Coca-Cola president and COO, Steven Heyer, commented that his company is headed towards ‘ideas that bring entertainment value to our brands, and ideas that integrate our brands into entertainment’ (Aitchison 2004). This newway of thinking about the brand message seems to lend itself to entertainment-dependent practices such as product placement and branded entertainment, but with $72 billion spent on television commercials in 2011 (Nielsen...