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The current study examines the effectiveness of brand integrations in music videos by taking into account the impact of both brand placement characteristics (i.e., brand prominence, valence of artist–brand relationship) and audience characteristics (i.e., artist connectedness).

A 2 (prominence: prominent vs. subtle) by 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) by 2 (connectedness: high vs. low) between-subjects experimental design is used. Each respondent first watched one music video via YouTube in which one branded product was placed either prominently or subtly. To manipulate the valence of the artist–brand relationship respondents were instructed to read a magazine article that revealed either a positive or negative attitude of the artist toward the placed brand. Two hundred twenty young adults participated in this study.

This study shows that prominent placements appear to be beneficial for the attitude toward the integrated brand when an individual is strongly connected to the artist in the music video, while subtle placements are beneficial both when an individual is weakly or strongly connected to the artist. Further, negative celebrity-brand relationships do not seem to affect brand attitudes in a negative way.

Embedding the brand in a music video gives marketers and advertisers the chance to reach consumers in a new, creative way. But this study shows that the advertiser should pay attention to the way in which the brand is integrated. Further, negative celebrity information does not seem to affect brand attitudes in a negative way. This makes the music video a very interesting medium for advertisers.

The current study contributes to previous research on brand placement by investigating the effectiveness of brand placements in music videos and the role of artist connectedness. In addition, the study is original as it includes valence in the model.