American Marketing
Marketing is an important part of product sales. American marketing companies and individuals with marketing know-how have developed many unique and innovative ways to spread product knowledge. American marketing strategies are always adapting to the changing advertising and consumer environment. One of the most recent trends in American marketing has centered around product placement and product sponsorship. While commercials still remain a popular American marketing tool for advertisement, some believe recent technological advances are slowly killing off the commercial. Devices like TiVo and digital recorders allow consumers to avoid commercials altogether. Many people prerecord their television shows and skip the commercials. TiVo makes it easy for consumers to get what they want, but hard for the American marketing establishment to get its messages to consumers. In order to combat this growing trend, American marketing professionals have started offering product sponsorships to advertisers. A company can sponsor a show, and be mentioned as a sponsor. Such mentions are entirely new. Public stations have used them for years, as have other shows. What is new is the way sponsorships are mixed with product placement now. The new trend in American marketing is for advertisers to make arrangements for their products to be featured in shows. This marketing trend is especially visible in reality shows like "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "The Apprentice." Both shows make gratuitous use of products during their shows, and specific references for various companies. "The Apprentice" features contestants actually going to different companies and working on marketing projects for them. Another popular American marketing move is the use of product placement