Coming soon (perhaps) to a TV screen near you… In the latest episode of No Frontiers, Kathryn Thomas cruises into an electric ’Juice Point’ to recharge her electric car. She finishes off her skinny latte and dumps the recyclable paper cup in the appropriate green bin before driving back to her solar-panelled hotel. Or, even better, she takes her cup with her to wash it in a sink filled with rain-harvested water.

Welcome to the wonderful world of behavioural placement, where actions speak louder than words. Product placement has been in vogue in various incarnations and degrees of crassness for aeons now but its kid brother is really still in its infancy. The phrase behavioural placement has been coined by US channel NBC Universal, which is the first of the major networks there to admit openly using it to attract marketing money from companies who want to be associated with right-on TV shows.

The idea is that a fast-food giant, for example, may just want to associate itself with a stick-thin actor who happens to like the odd burger or three. The message is “burgers are ok in moderation” in a world worried about the seemingly inexorable rise in obesity. And by the way, we have also added salads and other healthier options to our menu options.

And in case you haven’t realised green is the new black, doing your bit to help save the planet is considered the best corporate message with which to be associated. Even big bad oil companies whose main income derives from er, oil, want consumers to know they’re leading the recyclables charge when it comes to saving the world’s scarce resources.

Mind you, the oil companies have a lot of hard yards to catch up when it comes to overhauling their image. Those of you who remember the long-running TV series Dallas will recall the first thing JR Ewing did when he got home to the plush hacienda after a hard day at the office was break open the decanter. Back in the day the message was clear: liquid black gold meant a life of good booze, fast cars and even faster women. This is probably not the kind of message any big business would now be comfortable with – better the lovely Kathryn.

The difference with behavioural placement compared with product placement is its relative subtlety. The whole idea is that it should be practically subliminal – nobody likes being preached at, particularly when they are sitting down to enjoy their favourite shows.

“People don’t want to be hit over the head with it,” said NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker. “Putting it in programming is what makes it resonate with viewers.”

But is behavioural placement really that new or merely an extension of techniques that pre-date Mad Men? After all, before it was legislated out of existence, actors had been swanning around for decades with cigarettes hanging from the corner of their mouths. The viewer couldn’t see the brand in most cases but that hardly mattered – the tobacco barons can only have been all too delighted with role models who portrayed their products in such a positive light.

Will it catch on here? I don’t believe so.

The worry for marketing departments in Ireland will be that the actual message might be so subtle it will soar over the heads of the vast majority of the intended audience. Short of sporting Toyota livery on her car, an ESB logo at the Juice Point and letting viewers know her coffee is Fair Trade, her cup is made by Royal Doulton and her solar panels are courtesy of Kingspan, viewers may simply not notice the feel-good branding effort. This may make the advertisers feel better but would it increase sales?

When it comes to using behavioural placement in Ireland, I wouldn’t bet on any level of enthusiasm from marketing executives who now operate in a world where measurability is increasingly key. Also, marketing in Ireland is hardly known for its subtlety: given a choice between crude and likely effective or subtle and here’s hoping, the former would win out ever time.   

And, of course, there’s always the possibility that at least half the audience will look no further than Kathryn’s wholesome charm and disregard the rest – there would be a real danger the only outcome would be zero emissions from viewers’ pockets.

(originally appeared as Strong Language column, Irish Marketing Journal)

Margaret E. Ward is a journalist and managing director of Clear Ink, the clear English specialists. www.clearink.ie

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