I was almost inconsolable to read that just six product placement deals have been signed since the advertising rules were relaxed 7 months ago.

My previous blog had predicted a world something akin to Total Recall where brands would tap into everyone’s psyche with incredibly clever positioning of their products at perfectly timed moments resulting in a new business avalanche for the brand owners.

Even my colleague Dan managed to write something about product placement in his recent blog – thus implying he must have at least some level of excitement about it – and we never usually get excited about the same type of things (from his blog you’ll see he said he likes chick flicks and rom-coms or something).

I so hate being wrong about the next big thing in marketing.

Then I got to thinking three things:

1. It’s early days yet. Maybe all the brands are waiting for someone else to make the first move, rather than be the guinea pig themselves.

2. Maybe there aren’t enough agencies with a product placement offer (would make sense, seeing as it wasn’t allowed on TV until recently) so brands aren’t really being encouraged into it.

3. Maybe there are enough agencies that offer it, but they aren’t doing enough to win new business.

So, to anyone in any position to influence the points above I would say this to you:

On point 1 – “he who dares Rodders, he who dares”

On point 2 – “oh look – here’s a relatively untapped sector to expand your offer into. I see a gap in the market”

And as for anyone who falls into point 3….

Well, don’t worry – we can help you out with that one.

I was at a meeting yesterday with a really interesting agency (genuinely imaginative, innovative and pioneering; they’ll know who they are if they’re reading this) and one of the most common objections for outsourcing business development to an agency like Alchemis came up.

The objection is similar to the emotional response of passing over your child to someone else (something most parents experience when their child first goes to a childminder or to school). Most of our clients are small-medium sized agencies and are owned and run by a founding partner, therefore handing over responsibility for contacting prospects and articulating their proposition on their behalf can initially prove unsettling. How can I entrust my child to another person? How will they able to put across my offer to prospects when they haven’t grown up with it? See how easily the experiences can get blurred…

The rational response to this is that someone from the outside can add great value to your business/child. We all fondly remember a teacher who made a difference to our lives by pointing us in a direction we hadn’t previously considered or opening our eyes to an author we hadn’t previously read. Run with the analogy and you’ll rationally understand that an outsider (with 23 years experience in this market) can add enormous value to your business, helping to refine your proposition to work in this current marketplace for example.

However, it’s the emotional objection that is the most difficult to overcome, which is why we always insist on our prospective clients meeting our team of New Business Managers prior to appointing us – the only way they will ever truly feel comfortable with handing over their child is by spending time with the childminder.

Welcome to the Alchemis new business blog, which we hope you’ll find informative and stimulating.

As sales specialists for 23 years in the strategic, creative and digital marketing communications arena, a lot of our blog posts will focus on how to sell effectively in this marketplace. We will also be giving you an honest insight into the world of new business agencies as well as offering our point of view on topical matters.

Contributions will be from a cross section of people in different roles at Alchemis, including a couple of New Business Managers (our guys on the phone who set meetings on behalf of our clients), our Ops Director, our Client Services Director and our Sales Director.

We hope you find something of interest to comment on and that you let us know your opinion on our viewpoint.