Product Seeding remains a gamble but, if executed properly, one well worth taking.
Relatively speaking, it is a very low-cost marketing program. And the return on
investment - though difficult to forecast compared to barter relationships discussed
below - can be big. But what how old is chrisean rock if your goal is limited to getting press mentions? Can a
publicist hedge his or her bets in this category?

One of the great things about Product Seeding is how creative you can get. For
Trident White chewing gum, the company commissioned a Harris poll asking the
public to vote on the best "celebrity smiles." My company, which specializes in
celebrity product placement, delivered gift baskets of the product to the Top 6
winners, allowing Trident to plug the celebrities in their press materials.

On another occasion, Electrolux - maker of a new high-end, super-quiet vacuum
cleaner - wanted to align their product with celebrities. We identified 6 celebrity
moms who had recently given birth and - touting the fact that these vacuums would
not wake a sleeping baby - made gifts of the product to each. Here again, the
company was able to use celebrities to draw press coverage for its product. And
they were able to reference these celebrities because they were stating facts (a gift
was made to...).