Adgully Exclusive | In-film advertising is spot on for advertisers: Tejaswini Aparanji, COO, p9

Do you recall that film ' Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherji starrer ' Tara Rum Pum? I do. I must confess that I am not a sucker for romantic comedies, not the ones like this movie, at least. But I still can recollect this movie owing to one big thing ' General Motors. The movie had heavy lashings of this brand thrown in and GM was quite visible throughout the three-hour duration on the screen.

The movie didn't do very well at the end of it all, but GM still made quite a heavy impression. And it was all possible because of one marketing strategy that goes by the term in-film advertising.

In a bid to understand more about the concept and its pros and cons, Adgully chatted up with Tejaswini Aparanji, Chief Operation Officer, p9 integrated (A division of Percept Ltd) and she told us that product placement, as a medium, is diminishing simply because it is a high risk-high return model. "The truth today is nobody can govern the fate of a movie at the box office however big it is and it is also very dispute ridden in almost 70% of the cases; because from what the brand wants to what brand is told and what finally happens there is a lot discrepancy there," she explained.

"While a "Chak De' could be a great example of a brand recall but how many "Chak De's do we have and it is once in five years. So even as an agency if you have to recommend a medium we do say that while product placement is a high-risk and high-return model it stays for a lifetime. The co-branded association has less risk involved," she added.

As a marketing concept, in-film advertising is spot on for advertisers to publicise their products and create more visibility for their brands; but at the same time, as Tejaswini explained, it is a high-risk, high-return model which may work, or may not, at times. "If a movie works then the brand is for a life time because it has captive audience in the theatre so imagine the seven-10 weeks run. Then of course it goes into the satellite so it means, chances are it will get equally promoted on satellite and finally home videos so it is a life time," she elaborated.

This can further be strengthened by taking the activity into the OOH and in-cinema modules or take a snippet out of the movie where the brand is and make a co-branded commercial around it ' the options, once the returns are ensured, are limitless.

Tejaswini believes Chak De is a great example in the recent history that has done wonders for the brand associated with the film. The movie not only had star quotient of Shahrukh Khan, but the plot was crisp and the movie worked well at the box office. This proved lucrative for Ultratech ' the brand associated with Chak De.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is a film-brand association like Tara Rum Pum and GM. Though the movie did not enjoy a good time at theatres, the brand Chevrolet (GM's operative brand in India) gained heavily in terms of popularity. India is a huge market for automobiles and the idea of a racing outfit in the movie was novel as it had a desirable value attached to it. Interestingly, motorsport in India is just picking up and Chevrolet identified the time just right to capitalize on it.

Then there are examples wherein the movie didn't go down well with the masses and the brand suffered drastically as well. Classic case, as Tejaswini pointed out, was the film Virudh.

Speaking about the problems with in-film advertising, Tejaswini said, "Most of the producers, besides having a good product in some places, also look at the finances. So they get very happy if money is good and the placement is doable. The director usually has a problem about interfering in the film but a lot of times depending on how big the producer is that gets bought in at least at the initial stage. The problem happens when the movie is released and in the editing it gets chopped off. A lot of problems with brands are about commitments as to what is committed and what is delivered is usually under scrutiny."

"Brands usually wants to associate with big banners and big stars because let's face it, it's the only way to de-risk, but again there lies a problem when the money gets out of control, for example if it is a Shahrukh movie or a huge production house, will dictate the finances and might not be ready to go below an "x' amount. A lot of deals fall through because not enough money, non-credible star cast. Brands are also aware that being associated with the big producers or actors is not de-risking now because big movies have also got canned at the box office. Finally it is a catch 22 situation," she adds.

Most agencies in this space currently offer product placement services, co-branded services and, once in a while, media buying services. P9 Integrated caters to two different kinds of clienteles as an entertainment agency. "One, very simply put, is marketing and the other one is marketing via entertainment. So entertainment marketing would cater to studios, independent producers, music labels, home video and off course anybody who is in the entertainment space. In marketing via entertainment as it clearly says it, is brands who want use entertainment as a medium to break the clutter," Tejaswini says.

P9 has a concept of institutional sales wherein, for example, the agency indulges in huge amounts of buy backs with music labels of the world to get DVDs supplied by a particular brand for its distribution network. This is a measure that keeps the agency and the client at bay from sudden or unexpected bottlenecks like the recession etc.

Sharing the activities currently happening at P9, Tejaswini said, "We're working extensively with Unilevers, we have Imagine GEC exclusively with us, we do a lot of buying of films and music labels as a television channel. Our hands are full with the work that we are doing. There is something very interesting that we are doing about a garments brand, but we cannot talk much about it right now. We are working on a sports initiative from the entertainment point of view. In the branded context we are rolling out to massive content." She however declined to comment about films.

P9 Integrated has grown, in the branded context, to about 200 percent while in the film space the growth has touched almost 75 percent. P9 doesn't really promote itself through advertisements. They gain most of their popularity through media professionals, journalists and editorial activities speaking about the agency. The fact that P9's executives are called in by MICA and other esteemed B-Schools also helps to build a reputation and spread information through word-of-mouth module.

"Believe in the power of manifestation. If you believe in something to happen it will truly happen," is what Tejaswini believes in, she tells us, as she signs off for the day.