FILM BRANDING A CASE STUDY OF 3 IDIOTS

Transcription

1 FILM BRANDING A CASE STUDY OF 3 IDIOTS --Dr. MANJUSMITA DASH* --Mr. C.V.KRISHNA** Abstract Film branding in the earlier days was only to a very low extent, whereas now it has grown to a larger extent where the entire publicity spend of the films are taken care by the branding activities and brand integrations with corporate companies who want a better placement for their product and better visibility, along with the star cast using those products makes their products more popular and with very low cost. It is a dual edged knife with dual advantage for both the film producers and the corporate brands also. Film branding can mainly be classified into In-film branding and Out-of-film-branding. The Infilm branding focuses on showcasing the corporate products in the movie and the second one the out-of-film-branding takes care of brand associations outside the film. The present article focuses on the film branding issues in Indian films and it presents the case of the latest bollywood blockbuster movie 3 Idiots and the film branding practices followed in the film and outside the film. The article also showcases the brands associated with the film and their branding issues. *Lecturer Dept of Business Admin-Utkal University Orissa manjudash@ymail.com **Associate Professor-Raghu Engg College-Vizag- venkatakrishnachodimella@gmail.com

2 Introduction The 7000 Crore Indian Bollywood Indusry is the hotspot for Indian corporates since many years, but the latest bollywood flick 3 Idiots has totally changed the way branding takes place in bollywood by setting new trends and records with increased intensity of corporate branding in films. In Hollywood the film branding is on a very large scale and high intensity. But in bollywood it is still in a nascent stage and now after 3 Idiots its scale and intensity are growing high. The entire Indian customer base can be best targeted with a powerful media like Indian movies. More than 15 brands are associated with 3 Idiots movie in the form of both In-Film-Branding and Out-of-Film-Branding practices. As the movie is the biggest ever hit in India and outside India also the target audience are numerous in number and the brands endorsed inside the film and outside the film are creating great impact on consumers on their buying decisions. Film-branding is not the only mode for promoting brands, there are many other media to promote, but it is very cost-effective and creates value for the corporate and that is why many companies are breaking the clutter and moving towards new audience with film branding. Filmbranding covers many elements of product visibility, television advertising, outdoor advertising, radio, and, press advertising. Finally through merchandising film based products at corporate retail outlets also the brands are increasing their visibility through films.

3 In-Film-Branding In-film-branding is the art of promoting corporate brands and products in films where the star cast and other roles in the film at some point or the other use these products so that the target audience will get impacted by this type of brand promotions. In-film-branding is mainly introduced in films to raise some percentage of publicity funds for film making and after 3 Idiots it has emerged as a main source of revenue covering around 15% of publicity budgets. It works as surrogate advertising for the brands placed in the film which is a two way advantage both for the film and for the corporate brands or productss. GoFish Entertainment Pvt Ltd is the branding partner for the 3 Idiots movie. There are almost 15 brands associated with the movie and these brands contributed from Rs25 lakhs to Rs75 lakhs depending on the placement of the product in the movie. The entire package deal was between Rs2 crore to Rs3 crore which included a cash component and co-branding activity. The movie producers spent about Rs 4-5 crore on television advertising and print media advertising, but the total marketing outlay was around Rs 10 crore that to Reliance Life Insurance contributed around Rs 6 crore in its campaign known as All Is Well campaign, even Pantaloons also sold apparel designed by Aamir Khan. Brands Associated with 3 Idiots (In Alphabetical Order) 1) Air India Air India was the first brand endorsed in the movie as it was placed in the first scene of the movie. The entire first sequence of the film was taken in the AIR India Aircraft where Madhavan travels in this flight. The placement and the visibility of Air India were very good and brand

4 recall was also good for the brand and even as the scene in the movie was very interesting the brand integration was very successful and meaningful. 2) Airtel In the film s more important and very tension creating scene in a hospital as Sharman Joshi falls ill Aamir Khan uses Airtel Internet data-card and connects the web cam chat and in the background Airtel signature tune gets played in the film. 3) Fortis Hospitals Fortis hospital was having a very good placement in the film because all the important sensitive scenes and emotional were taken in the hospital and it got very good placement and visibility in the film. It was even showcased in the film that Fortis hospital is a very happy place to be in and is equipped well in the scenes that were shot in the hospital. This branding exercise helped the Fortis brand very much as it never used the mainline advertisements. 4) Mahindra Flyte The two-wheeler company Mahindra Power Scooters brand, Mahindra-Flyte, has made its debut in bollywood with its product placement in 3 Idiots film, it was a very successful promotion of the new product before launch where it could target the audience especially the youth who were the major audience for the film as the film s plot was in and around young students. The placement of the Mahindra Flyte in the film was in very important scenes and the visibility is also very high as the two-wheeler was very central in the film s story, and even the 3 Idiots of the film ride the scooter in the important scenes of the film making greater impact on the target audience

5 Picture 1 Picture 2 5) Pepsi's Aquafina Aamir was associated with the brand Coca Cola as a brand ambassador, but Pepsi's mineral water brand, Aquafina, was placed in the film instead. Because Aquafina also wants to target the young people and this film being a film involving story of young students would be an apt film for promoting its products. So, Pepsi s strategy worked out well in the movie. Picture 3 6) Samsung Mobiles Samsung Mobiles also got a very good placement in the film as the entire cast of the film used Samsung mobiles and these were very well visible in the film, in various scenes across the movie. Aamir is even the brand ambassador of Samsung mobiles so the integration was well done.

6 Picture 4 7) Van Heusen Brand Experience which is the in-film branding division of Lodestar Universal company had taken care of film properties in Ghajini with actor Aamir Khan for the upper end Van Heusen brand. Even for 3 Idiots also they have associated with Aamir for the brand placement of Van Heusen, for which Lodestar Universal will charge 10% to 15% of the deal amount with the film, from the brand Van Heusen. 8) Volvo The Red coloured Volvo XC90 Sports Utlity Vehicle from the international auto major Volvo was another important placement in the movie, the film director and producers wanted only red coloured SUV as other colours would get mixed up with the background locations of Shimla and some places of Ladakh, but the Red coloured SUV from Volvo was not yet launched in India, so the company has brought two red Volvos directly from their Sweden headquarters for their brand

7 promotion. As the important scenes of the film were shooted in the Volvo XC90 with greater placement and visibility. Picture 5 Out-of-Film Branding Out-of-film-branding is promotion by using the plot of the film and footage for a co-branded promotion campaign, which is also having a two way advantage both for film and for the products also. Out-of-film brand integration will help to increase the visibility of the film after the release of the film. Out-of-film-branding covers, television advertising, outdoor advertising, radio, and, press advertising, merchandising film based products at corporate retail outlets for increasing the products visibility through films. Brands Associated with 3 Idiots (In Alphabetical Order) 9) Converse Shoes The American Sports Company, Converse was inspired by the roles in the film 3 Idiots has launched a special footwear line and named them after the movie as Converse 3 Idiots Collection. There is very good placement for the company in the film as the footwear was worn

8 by the stars of the movie, and the visibility is very high. The entire range was made available at all Planet Sports, Pantaloons and Central outlets across India. Picture 6 10) Facebook Crazy Idiots Test & Virtual Gifts on Facebook Facebook has introduced innovative promotional campaigns known as Crazy Idiot Test (C.I.T.) and a limited edition Virtual Gift that all the 3 Idiots fans can share all around India with their friends and family. Crazy Idiot Test (C.I.T.) was also designed in such an innovative way that it attracts the young students, where they can test their Idiot Quotient! By solving the puzzles at the website Idiots Academy and they have to clear all the semesters. And then finally they you can proudly join the Idiot Clan. A virtual gift is a combination of doodle t-shirt and Converse shoe that was available for Indian users so that they can share these virtual gifts with their friends. The virtual gift was put

9 on Pantaloon s Facebook Page with URL- - and the virtual gift will be available to all those site.people who sign up for Facebook on that web. Picture 7 11) HomeShop18 The exclusive merchandise of 3 Idiots was being sold through Home Shop 18 which is a 24 hours advertising television channel in India. Aamir khan had exclusively designed the Converse shoes collection which is popularly known as the doodle design. Aamir being the first film star who has personally designed any film merchandise. Picture 8 Picture 9

10 12) Pantaloons Pantaloons launched the 3 Idiots apparel and accessories collection, by a grand gala event in Mumbai where Aamir Khan walked on the ramp. Once again Aamir Khan has designed the tenhands drawn Doodle T shirts, while making of the film, these doodle T-Shirts are the attractions of the collection. This collection was made available across all Pantaloons stores in India. The starting range of these T-shirts was Rs. 399/-. The collection not only included the Aamir Khan Doodles T-Shirts, but it also included the replicas of t-shirts worn by Aamir in the 3Idiots film, dresses and garments that are worn by Madhavan and Sharman Joshi in the movie, and even the replicas of garments and jewellery that Kareena Kapoor wore in the film. Picture 10 Picture 11 Picture 12

11 13) Reliance Life Insurance Reliance Life Insurance contributed around Rs 6 crore in its campaign known as All Is Well campaign. In this tie up with the movie Reliance life Insurance company is using the main concept of the film 'All is well', as it is one of the main themes in the film. The campaign, was conducted in various advertising media like television, radio, and outdoor advertising. With this concept the Reliance Life Insurance Company is assuring that it will take care of its consumer's l worries and making them to live life to their fullest. The outdoor advertising for the campaign was also done very innovatively on hoardings, bus shelters, busses, platform signages and mobile vans also. Primesite is the outdoor media partner taking care of outdoor campaign by creating cut-outs of the star cast, which were displayed across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and other 500 towns across India. Picture 13 Picture 14

12 14) Zapak.com Zapak.com was the official digital marketing partner for the 3 Idiots Film and Zapak has build and developed the official website for the film with the URL- This website offers content with the theme of the movie targeting the young people. The website was designed so innovatively that it will make the user go through different rooms of Idiots Academy some of them are director s office, the lab, the hostel, the canteen, the class room and even the toilets also. As Internet and mobile enabled advertising is increasingly becoming the preferred destinations for the youngsters, and over 50% of Indians are below the age of 25 years. So this integration had helped them out Table 1: Brands Associated with 3 Idiots In-Film-Branding Brand Logo

13 1) Air India 2) Airtel 3) Fortis Hospitals 4) Mahindra Flyte 5) Pepsi's Aquafina 6) Samsung Mobiles 7) Van Heusen 8) Volvo Out-of-Film-Branding Brand Logo 9) Converse Shoes 10) Facebook

14 11) HomeShop18 12) Pantaloons 13) Reliance Life 14) Zapak.com Source: Compiled by The Authors from various Sources. Conclusion Film branding is proved out to be an effective marketing communication strategy to indirectly target a huge audience and promote the brand along with contributing to the films publicity spends. In-film-branding was very effective tool for promoting the products surrogately to the target market, whereas the out-of-film brand associations enhance more outreach of the film and the brands associated with it. There are almost 14 brands associated with the bollywood block buster 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, and almost all the brands have success story regarding their brand promotion for being associated with the movie.

15 REFERENCES 1) Jagdeep Kapoor, In-film branding is the in thing -Businessline-June ) Marketing Director, How To Sell A Movie In Bollywood Tuesday 23 Feb ) Purvita Chatterjee, Marketing Brands riding on 3 Idiots get a fillip Jan ) 5) 6) news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id= )