Take two

Two films top the Brand Derby charts. Here's why

Munnabhai MBBS and Koi Mil Gaya were the biggest hits of 2003""but neither made it to the annual Brand Derby because that's all they were: movies.

Their 2006 spin-offs, though, are a different story altogether. Not only are Lage Raho Munnabhai and Krrish the year's biggest blockbusters, they are also top of the heap in the 2006 Brand Derby.

Here's the story. An overwhelming 97 per cent of Derby respondents voted Lage Raho Munnabhai a successful brand launch, making it this year's winner (the remaining 3 per cent chose the "don't know" option).

About 84 per cent felt the same way about Krrish, which helped it nudge reality show Nach Baliye out of the way to third place. Respondents were generous with praise: "terrific promotion", "mass appeal", "fresh advertising", "appealing communication" were some of the comments for both movies.

Nowadays, there is little to distinguish between the marketing initiatives of movies and consumer brands. Still, Krrish and Lage Raho were in a class by themselves. Both relied on dedicated qualitative market research to understand their market and potential audience, even as the films were under production.

Lage Raho, for instance, is not a strict sequel to the 2003 hit, but the lead characters had built up such tremendous brand equity, it would have been a crime to let it go waste. "I stuck with Munna and Circuit because they would make it easier to market the film," agrees Rajkumar Hirani, the film's director.

Trade analyst,Taran Adarsh approves of the move. Says he, "One of the reasons why Lage Raho was such a huge hit is because it was riding on an established brand."

But even if the characters were familiar, Lage Raho's producers were careful to keep excitement levels about the film high, by not revealing the storyline. "Our research showed that nothing works like surprise, so we focused on building that," says Thomas T George, head, marketing and promotions, Vinod Chopra Films.

That meant controlling the pre-release campaign to keep the "Mahatma Gandhi element" secret, while only hinting that there was something unusual about the film. Film critics and trade analysts believe the trick worked.

The theme and treatment of the film took moviegoers by surprise and it became a talking point. The massive word-of-mouth publicity generated beat anything the producers could have paid for.

Rather than depend on in-house initiatives, Krrish outsourced the entire marketing function to P9. Based on extensive research, the movie promotion company identified two sets of target audiences for the film: family audiences, aged 12 and above, and children below 12. All marketing plans and co-branding deals were based on this finding.

Tie-ups with Lifebuoy soap and Pidilite's Rangeela paints, for instance, targeted children, while associations with Power petrol and men's apparel brand John Players ensured adult attention. Result: Krrish was promoted continuously on television, while the Rangeela deal took the film to schoolchildren. "Krrish's long list of co-promotions got it extensive visibility," agrees Komal Nahta, editor, printer and publisher of trade journal Film Information.

Branding experts believe the reason films enjoy high recall is their carpet-bombing marketing tactics. While typically, mid-sized brands spend Rs 15-20 crore over a year, a big-budget movie may spend close to Rs 10 crore in just three months. Lage Raho and Krrish weren't quite as lavish, but they did spend Rs 7 crore and Rs 8 crore over a three-month period, respectively.

Thomas believes high-decibel publicity is essential for a film. "Consumer brands can afford low sales in initial days as they can make it up later in the year. The shelf life of a movie is just two-three weeks," he says.

The media attention didn't hurt, either. When Krrish opened, Star News broadcast a special, hour-long programme, while Munnabhai's "Gandhigiri" was written about in almost all national and regional newspapers. "Films are covered by all forms of media, for free. This publicity is worth two-three times the amount spent otherwise," says Navin Shah, CEO, P9.

Ongoing promotions are also a new strategy for Indian films. By systematically releasing new snippets "" about the making of the movie, the actors, new promotions, new scenes... "" moviemakers are ensuring sustained interest, both in the film and the brands it endorses.