BEN-BrandedEntertainmentNetwork-HERO

Is that consumer product in that television show actually getting noticed by the intended audience?

That’s one of the questions answered by a new product from Corbis Entertainment, a division of the Seattle-based Corbis visual media company, owned by Bill Gates. Corbis announced today that it’s launching the Branded Entertainment Network, a new system that allows advertisers to bid on and track product placement campaigns across a wide variety of media, including web video, television and movies.

It’s an attempt to make product placement work more like other types of advertising, with an easy-to-use dashboard and access to plenty of metrics. Ad agencies will be able to provide detailed information to their clients about how product placements are performing in real time.

In addition, Corbis has partnered with Nielsen and the Motion Picture Group to provide in-depth reporting about the audiences advertisers are reaching with their product placement campaigns.

BEN will launch with more than 600 placement opportunities from providers who make video content for networks that include Netflix, Amazon, Bravo and Sony Pictures. Corbis has forged a strategic alliance with the Producer’s Guild of America to give advertisers the first crack at available advertising opportunities.

Product placement has the potential to be big business for Corbis, considering the size of the market. According to research by PQ Media, advertisers spent $8.3 billion on product placement in 2012, and that number is expected to grow further year-over-year.

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