There's nothing new about the strategic use of branded product on TV shows, but innovations in broadcast technology and pressures on producers to come up with fresh opportunities for advertisers have opened up a brand new digital frontier.  

Traditional product placement has relied on the shooting of a physical product in a particular scene, its brand recognisable, in (ideally) some sort of appropriate context. Reality shows have long been the masters of packing advertiser's products onto their screens, with budgets that rely heavily on the income their efforts generate. Drama on the other hand has generally tended to be more circumspect, with producers anxious about preserving program integrity.

So what are the implications of a brave new world where products can be digitally inserted into a scene in a manner and for a time period that better suits the advertising department than the show's creators?

With Channel 7 the first Australian network to test the waters of digital product placement - earmarking Packed to the Rafters and Home and Away as guinea pigs - what exactly can we expect? Andrew talks with men of the media, Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes and Mediaweek's James Manning about the state of the art in Australia.