Mastering product placement and endorsement Deals: 3 rules avoid spectacular failure

In his latest Headliner column, pro audio executive Mike Dias highlights the emotional risks of product placements and endorsements, outlining three key rules to help avoid relationship breakdowns and protect long-term success.

We’ve spoken a lot about product placement and securing endorsement deals over the last few months. Taken as a whole, this collection of articles could serve as a MasterClass on the subject matter. We’ve looked at the wins from all angles — from the manufacturer’s perspective and from an artist’s point of view. And we’ve discussed how that networking-mindset is at the heart of every successful interaction.

But we haven’t talked about my favourite aspect of this topic at all. We haven’t even begun to explore all the different ways that relationships devolve and blow up. And that’s my favourite part of it all! Knowing all the different ways that these deals can go south should help you avoid some of the more common mistakes. 

And understanding what real failure looks like should help you better calibrate what winning feels like. Because once you understand that, staying in your lane is pretty easy.

Like anything else in life, there are an unlimited variety of spectacularly awful ways to fail at this. But more often than not, it usually boils down to not reading the room, not caring, and not checking your ego. I just witnessed a longstanding deal completely and unnecessarily implode and meltdown! 

One meeting was all it took for it to become unrecoverable; years of hard work ruined in less than 30 minutes just because some new guy wanted to flex. Which is really a shame. But not for the reasons that you think.

Since all relationships are based on emotions, when they break down, they become emotional — highly emotional. Which means that all the goodwill that was built up quickly morphs into animosity and acrimony. Whatever positive effects that the initial deal was supposed to have had, it all flips completely. 

And rather than talking about the relationship in positive terms, negative sentiments are openly shared and expressed which is exactly the opposite intent of the original plan. Rather than having a stellar ambassador and cheerleader out there boosting your brand, you end up with someone who genuinely no longer likes you or wants to be associated with you. 

There really is no such thing as neutral when it comes to breaking up. And that’s the most important thing to understand when it comes to talking about the success or failure of any placement or endorsement.

What this really means is that for any deal, there is a small probability of tremendous success mixed with a high certainty of catastrophic danger that really should be avoided at all costs. And if you’re not approaching your relationships with this level of understanding, then you have no way of shifting the odds in your favour and you are almost certainly guaranteeing the undesirable outcome. 

For as I have mentioned in previous articles, most manufacturers go into placements and endorsements and reviews with completely unrealistic expectations. Which ultimately leads to nuking the relationship and creating the situations that push artists and engineers right into the arms of their competitors.

Of course, all of this can and should be easily sidestepped by adhering to a few basic rules. Let's call these the 3 Rules of Avoiding Spectacular Failure. 

Just think about these guidelines every time before you act and you will find that nine times out of 10, doing nothing is actually the most prudent choice if you wish to move forward. And of course we’re talking about the context of product placement and endorsements but these three pillars could be taken as the foundation for success in any venture.

RULE ONE: GOOD ENOUGH WINS THE DAY

There is no such thing as a magic bullet and no placement alone will ever bring about all the changes that you are hoping for. Besides… Why would you hang all those impossible hopes and aspirations on a single event or outcome? Why would you put all your eggs in just that one basket? 

Your placement strategy should simply be a small part of your much larger goal of being everywhere all at once. And each individual placement should simply be an aspect of that larger vision to help you achieve your goals. And when you hold that to be true — especially in the larger context of everything mentioned above — then you realise that the actual goal is not success. The only goal that actually matters is to avoid failure and the damaging implications that go along with each loss.

Which means that a good dose of healthy neutrality is a great way to win the war. You win a lot more fights by not fighting than you do by always wanting to get your way and show your dominance. It is much more advantageous to call it a draw than to lose every time. 

Think about that one and really let that sink in next time you want to ask your partners about their “deliverables.” Just having your partners on your side is good enough — much better than the alternative of having them turn against you.

RULE TWO: YOU ARE PLAYING DEFENSE NOT OFFENSE

There used to be that great saying that you needed to touch a new lead at least six times before they even began to recognise your brand. But those numbers are so old and so tired now that I’m not even going to clown myself by guessing how to earn attention these days. It’s next to impossible! 

So if you’re lucky enough to have anyone that genuinely cares or who wants to be authentically part of your story and associate with your brand, then you must be doing something right. And no matter how big you think you are, you still need all the help that you can get from all the people who care enough to want to help. So make a space for everyone. 

Figure out a way to find a YES that lets everyone be part of your success. Because if someone cares enough to reach out and you don’t care enough to be welcoming, they will find somewhere else to park their loyalty and you will end up the target of their scorn.

Take this further down the road and let’s say that you start off great and then give up because it doesn’t pan out or it’s not worth your time or you haven’t figured out how to monetise/ commoditise the relationship. Okay! That’s life. That’s how most deals end up. 

Be realistic about that and just let it be. You are still way ahead of the game. But if you decide that you need to shake things up just to feel better about yourself or to prove that you are doing things, then go for it. But do it knowingly and be prepared for the consequences.

RULE THREE: LOSE GRACEFULLY

If it’s not already abundantly clear, when it comes to placements and endorsements and press and partnerships and even sales, there is no WINNING. There is no dominating over someone else. 

There is no using someone’s name or likeness to make yourself look bigger or better than you are. There is only willful collaboration and help. And people only help when they want to — not when they feel forced or coerced into doing something for you.

Winning is getting the honour of standing next to someone for a period of time. And if you get anything more out of it, you should consider that a bonus. It’s much healthier to go into every agreement knowing that you’re never going to get everything that you want. In fact, you’ll probably get very little. But that’s all it takes. You just need a little. That’s forward motion. It turns out losing gracefully is often the most wonderful way for everyone to win.

Now for anyone reading this who comes to the conclusion that it is better to not play at all than to risk spectacular failure, I hear you. That makes sense and that is a wise move. Except that you don’t really have that luxury because your competitors are playing so you just standing still doesn’t work either.

Once you really think about it, you too will come to the conclusion that there is only one winning outcome in every scenario. And that’s to lose gracefully. And here’s where the beauty of this whole philosophy really shines. 

When both the manufacturer and the talent enter into the deal with this level of understanding — both having this realistic expectation of what is possible and how things should play out — then both parties are free to negotiate a fair deal upfront that allows everyone to do great things together. That’s what winning really looks like!

Mike Dias writes and speaks about Why Nobody Likes Networking and What Entertainers Can Teach Executives. He is one of the few global leaders in Trade Show Networking and he helps companies maximize their trade show spend by ensuring that their teams are prepared, ready, and able to create and close opportunities. This column will be an ongoing monthly feature because Mike loves talking shop and is honoured to give back to the community. If this article was helpful and useful in any way, please reach out anytime at Mike Dias Speaks and let Mike know about what you want to hear more about next time.