Whenever I come across ad stats on astronomical scales it takes me a couple of seconds of disbelief before my brain kicks in. Of course, it’s always going to be possible in China.

Madhouse is China’s leading mobile ad network operator. In the first 6 months of 2008, their servers delivered over 2 billion targetted mobile ad impressions. That’s five times the total for all of 2007.

Like most mobile ad outfits, the company targets audiences according to attributes such as user location, phone brand and model along with frequency management.

Fabula is a Russian agency that negotiates product placements for top selling authors in traditional printed novels. You can read about their services in Russian or machine translated into English. Up to now, they seem to have focused on local brands; I don’t see any well known international names in their client list. They will even arrange a whole novel focused around the product itself. They had provided a list of authors but it’s been removed from their site because of a

“recent increase of incorrect behaviour by some journalists”

A contentious issue, it seems. Personally, I don’t see the problem of the odd brand appearing in a piece of pulp fiction given the amount of product placement we see in Hollywood. It’s interesting we’re seeing this development in Russia; it’s a very literate nation where the population in general is far more likely to read a novel than their counterparts in, say, the USA.

Fabula gives a case history of a frozen food whose marketing task was to develop awareness and loyalty. The brand was suffering from the effect of unbranded competitors and had tried various BTL means without success. The product placement campaign had a print run of 1 million during August 2003. The brand was in the book’s name and its logo was on the cover. At the end 2003 the brand showed an increase in share of 10% to 15% and an overall increase sales volume.

The Wall Street Journal describes a test by P&G that delivers media messages to consumers when products are taken off the shelf in-store.

The tags are in a German Metro Extra store and use lcd screens at eye level. For example, when a consumer picks out a shampoo for a particular type of hair, the screen recommends the most appropriate conditioner or other hair product. The installations come via G2 Interactive, the WPP digital marketing subsidiary.