How brands are riding on the films to appeal to the masses!

Bobby ' one of the Raj Kapoor's Bollywood blockbusters, made in the early 1970's, we saw renowned Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor riding "Rajdoot motorcycle' brand, and well-known Bollywood actress Dimple Kapadia sitting behind him. Well, who can forget that as since then Rajdoot motorcycle became the youngsters favorite. However nobody thought that product placement in-movie could do such wonders. And the journey began, wherein both brand ambassadors and film makers started integrating the brands as easily and seamlessly as possible, in a movie.

Slowly and gradually both brand mangers and filmmakers understood that it's not the visibility duration of the brand in the movie that is important, what matter is the integration and how well it has been merged in context with the script.

If done well, product placements can work beautifully for the brand, and if done badly it could annoy the viewers. Even a 10 second long product placement where the camera is zoomed into the brand could be seen as a very annoying intrusion by viewers and might not be taken as very highly of the brand. The brand should be seamlessly integrated into the film, and in a very believable and acceptable way, rather than being in your face.

As far as the Indian film industry is concerned, it is using this tool for communicating as well as to earn revenue. From the brand managers' point of view using product placements as a tool in movies provides the product and the brand with a higher reach and penetration level. The success of product placement in a movie also depends on the relationship between a filmmaker, a specialized firm and a product sponsor. The filmmaker controls opportunities for product appearances in his movie while the sponsor seeks such value creating opportunities and the specialized firm makes significant changes in the script to fit the product and the brand in the film.

Every filmmaker is now looking forward to monetize their product, so if there is an opportunity to sell a slot to a brand they will do it. In the past when media brands have chosen Bollywood, it has worked very well for them as it creates brand awareness. To name a few - In 2005, in the movie Bunty aur Babli, "Maruti Suzuki Swift' car was placed in the movie, Rock On ' the brand "Magic' is actually performing at a concert for channel V, Vidya Balan played the character of a show host with "World space satellite radio' in Lage Raho Munna Bhai and brand "NDTV' is a part of the script in movies like Bunty and Babli and Rang De Basanti.

Clearly, the emphasis in movies these days is put on rightly matching up the brand visibility with the plot and storyline to make it look or sound relevant instead of just a money making ploy. In the movie Namastey London, "Western Union Money Transfer' was used by actor Upen Patel to transfer money instantly to actress Katrina Kaif who urgently required them thus highlighting the speed and safety of using the product for money transferring. Similarly, "Maybelline' - the cosmetic brand was shown in Om Shanti Om when the lead actress of the movie was being given a revamp and it occupied a screen space of 36 seconds.

As regards to Chak De India, "Aaj Tak' with its correspondents and logos fully covered the story of the protagonist being blamed as a traitor while "ESPN' was responsible for providing media coverage for the women's hockey World Cup. However, the brand "McDonald's' got the highest space in the movie where the protagonist took the women players for a treat. Movies like Bhool Bhoolaiyan and Guru used only one prominent brand. While in Bhool Bhoolaiyan the entire crowning ceremony of actor Shiney Ahuja was shot by actress Vidya Balan with "Sony Handy cam', whereas, in Guru, "Mercedes Benz' of 1960's was used as the protagonist vehicle.

The idea of advertisement and marketing of products has evidently evolved along with the new age media and technology development. And now here we are, waiting for the most promising movie for the year starring the biggest stars of the Indian Film Industry - Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan and the name is My Name is Khan. It is a joint venture between Dharma Production and Red Chillies Entertainment.

The movie that would witness the pair of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol on screen after years has managed quite a few strategic brand tie-ups. These include - Century Ply, DishTV, Bharti Airtel, Reebok International, Samsonite Corp, Makemytrip.com and Kyazoonga. Reebok and Samsonite have created co-branded commercials around the movie.

In an exclusive chat with Adgully, Maneesh Mathur, Joint MD, EMC Worldwide gave a detailed overview of the strategic advertising ploys related with product placements involved with My Name is Khan. He also outlined the importance of a brand placement in movies for advertisers.

He believes it to be a good investment option for a brand to reach out to the masses. Gone are the days when films were left with 200 prints. Now films are released with 2000 prints and it is not about just prints numbers, it is about the number of screens and the global presence. Any movie which is getting released in India nowadays is released in international markets too. For e.g. ' My Name is Khan is getting released in 50 plus international markets, which is the biggest ever for any Hindi film.

In investment point of view what brand does for in-film placement, the shelf life of the placement goes up; because one gets overall visibility, get the returns and when the satellite premiere happens on GECs, they have multiple airings. However, there is a lot of misconception on how much money the brand is investing in the in-film placement but the amount of investment by the brands is not that high.

He also mentioned that it depends a lot on how a brand in-film placement is done, so that the viewers don't get disturbed, it is not also on its face, and the viewers enjoy also. Doing a static placemat like - just putting a logo, displaying a brand in a backdrop, it doesn't work. Overall, on the investment point of view, he feels it's a very smart investment because the cost is not very high, and the reach is huge. In the in-film placement the brand integration is done in the programme, and the overall visibility is very high.

He also believes that product placements in movies are just not a practice that's aimed at brand recall. Rather, it is also about getting brand visibility and most importantly product endorsements through movie stars happen on the same platform giving the brand a high end value. However, he also thinks that in terms of in-film placement, if the movie doesn't do well off course it effects the brand, as the investment is made on the expectation of the film. But in terms of outside association, which is a good thing happening now, here it doesn't matter to the brand how the movie does at a box office as the brand gets the return investment after doing the promo.

Citing examples related with this, Mathur mentioned that "Century Ply' has done only the outside association with My Name is Khan. However, the movie has got the media for Century Ply on the entertainment rate (cheaper rate). Irrespective, how the movie does at the box office, in case the movie does well it only benefits the brand, and if it doesn't, it doesn't harm as the brand already gets back its return goods, if the outside association is done.

Highlighting the mileage that the brand Century Ply has got so far in terms of an association with My Name is Khan, Mathur said that it did brought wonderful results on board. He claimed that it was three times more returns than what was expected because a considerable amount of money was spend on media in promotions for both the movie and the brand. And because of this media multiplier and entertainment goods, the visibility and the overall advantage too was huge.

It was also important in terms of Century Ply, the brand to get this level of visibility because it was the first association with My Name is Khan to go on air. Moreover, briefing about EMC's other brands association he said that it's just been two months for the company and Century Ply is the first association so far.

Well, whatever may be the strategy and whatever may be the brand, it is now clear and evident that anything that would be incorporated in a movie without any relevance attached to it, it would not and may not be the selling point of the movie. Be it big brands or guest appearance by the biggest movie stars, it requires the product placement in movies to be in sync with the storyline because that's what the audience comes to watch. It certainly would not complain if the producers or the brands make their advantages out of it by making those inclusions sensible and entertaining.