IN FILM BRANDING IS A SERIOUS BUSINESS NOW

I was looking after media and advertising in a PSB. During that period, a smart , young marketing damsel came with a proposal of In Film Branding, for few Lac rupees she was offering integration of my brand into the flow of the movie. I did no gave much thought as the film was not from any prominent studio or big production house and also the director was not very prominent name. In fact, that lady offered me some thing irresistible for consideration. My stand was very firm, there was no guarantee that this film will hit at box office so associating my brand with a film like that was not wise, another thing, now a days film though passed by censor also create controversies which is not good. After a year, I was watching this movie, I saw a song sequence, shot in Horniman Circle area and glow sign of my brand came naturally without any effort. While on editing table they must have noticed and thought if they can extract some money from my brand that can be additional revenue without much effort ! But off late, In Film Branding is becoming a ver serious business now. It was only few days ago, I have also signed a film project for which I have to find some brands which may gel with the flow of film without being loud. In the latest Balki's Shamitabh, Lifebuoy, a soap brand integrated with film's content. The film opens with the premiere of an other movie where actor Dhanush plays a lead role as Lifebuoy, who fights against the ills of society. The film in film goes on to become a big hit and establishes Dhanush as star, and that is not all, the film also has the good old tagline 'Tandrusti kee raksha karta hai Lifebuoy'.Balki is an Ad Guru, insider of Hindustan Uniliver, maker of this soap brand tells that Balki himself approached company with the idea of integration. Seriously, the brand looks woven with story, so no irritation to the viewers. Now even big production houses also started approaching brands for such arrangements. Yash Raj Films got Discovery Channel on board for 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' starring Shah Rukh and Anuksha, here Anuksha plays a journalist with the channel producing a documentary on the character plyed by Shah Rukh Khan. Such tie ups, as I discussed brings additional moolah and reduce cost of production. Yash Raj has successfully tied up with Maruti for their small budget film 'Mere Dad Kee Maruti' wherein they recovered 35% of the cost of production. In their 'Dhoom 3' they have received something bigger from brand BMW, 17 BMW motor cyle each costing 25 lac each, 50 tyres each costing Rs 1lac each and 100 days engineering support from BMW's in house technical experts. Similarly Discovery Channel allowed 'Jab Tak Hai Jan' to shoot inside their London Office to give more authenticity to Shahrukh Khan's character. But what is important in In Film Branding, the integration of the brand should be subtle, it should not be loud or obstruction in the story as many ad people felt in Shamitabh about use of Burberry brand.

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