Editorial: A Modern saga for online times

halt.

Parallels could be made between Modern's death and that of soap legend
Vera Duckworth from Coronation Street, who also met her maker that week.
The irony of Kate Modern being a vehicle for Unilever (among other
brands) is not lost in the new reinvention of soap opera.

Brand engagement through product placement in online spaces will
dominate the next few years. In the same way that big brands got
involved with music festivals a decade ago, those brands are looking to
go online, but in a similarly creative way.

While Kate Modern did attract some criticism for 'blatant' product
placement, on the whole, the experiment worked.

Harnessing online video and making it commercially viable is going to
become the Holy Grail for brands.

Toyota's move online with its Aygo model placement in Kate Modern shows
how serious the medium is being taken, and brands are being welcomed
with open arms if they are clever about how they embrace the haunts of
young people online.

What doesn't work, however, is a heavy-handed approach.

The indignant reaction to the lawsuit brought against Facebook by Hasbro
and Mattel over the Scrabulous application could leave the toy giants
with egg on their faces. While they're technically right that a
trademark has been infringed, Scrabulous has rejuvenated a tired brand.
More than 600,000 people are reported to play the game every day and the
Indian software developers who created the application make more than
$13,000 a day in advertising.

Will Hasbro and Mattel retain the cool factor if they decide to muscle
in on the action?

It's doubtful. Already bloggers are retaliating, condemning the two
companies for what they see as a Luddite approach to digital. Scrabble
is an incredibly popular game, regardless of its lack of online
presence. Whether Scrabulous will impact on the sales of Scrabble has
yet to be seen, but as a brand-building exercise, the application will
be worth millions. It could be that Mattel and Hasbro are merely
exercising their legal status to avoid anyone infringing the trademark
in the future, but more likely, cash registers have started ringing and
they see a way to revenue.