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Brand integration in Bollywood has come out of the closet. And how! One has traversed the entire 360-degree here. From the days when a prominent Pan Parag banner would be draped across a college stage when a ‘filmi jhatka’ was running, to the appearance of a packet of Red Label tea on the breakfast table, to the cut-out of a brand being crashed into by a zooming car in which the villain was trying to get away, we have come full circle.
The subtle gave way to the overt and the overt gave way to the subtle.
My contention is a simple one. The subliminal works, the subtle rules. A subliminal placement works better in the long-term than the crass efforts at brand placement, which have given brand placements a terrible name in India.
Brands cannot be forced down the people’s throats. They can be guided seamlessly into psyches by patient, constant, slow and subliminal effort. When you have in-film branding with care and subtlety, they stay there.
For example, the Aston Martin in a James Bond film. It is there with a clear context of placement. The Aston Martin does not shout. There is FedEx in Castaway, which has a clear context to it being placed in the film. It has not been forced into the plot, certainly not as forcibly as the effort of Fevicol in Dabangg 2. See the success of an accidental brand placement versus a conscious one — Zandu Balm in Dabangg was a big hit. And in the beginning, Emami went after the filmmakers for infringing on their brand.
In Hollywood, we had a similar case when the makers of Louis Vuitton sued Warner Brothers, the makers of The Hangover 2. The brand actually gained by the casual and the irreverent mention of a Louis Vuitton (pronounced wrongly on purpose) by the irrepressible Alan (Zach Galifianakis). Nevertheless, whether it is Hollywood or Bollywood, the best brands seem to respect forced and paid placements over the spontaneous and un-paid. And this is where the error lies. When you as the brand custodian control brand placement in a film, you make it as forced as possible. When a creative mind uses it accidentally in a script, its best use happens. It becomes spontaneous and real.
Fevicol Se in Dabangg 2 looks as forced as forced can be. There is so much discomfort in the lyrics and in the meaning of it. And most importantly, there is discomfort in the intent of the filmmaker and the marketer as well. And it shows. The consumer is not a moron. The consumer is your wife! Marketers need to understand this before stifling the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs.
If the debate is over the subtle-versus-the shameless use of product placement, the shameless is ruling. Everyone is out to force the worst out of product placement, with little emphasis on context.
So, we need filmmakers to insist on context when looking at product placement deals. We equally need marketers who look for proper context when studying scripts and options. We need to avoid a path where products are in the the face. That era of brand-placement is done with. It worked when the masses thought like the masses. Today, the masses think like the classes. There’s been just too much of it. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Harish Bijoor
Brand expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults
In-film branding is a great way of enhancing the image of a brand. Whatever the product, in-film branding and communication seems to have arrived in a big way on the Indian marketing scene. Brands like to cut the clutter and be noticed. In-film brand integration, or product placements within motion pictures or television shows, is done to increase the visibility and recall of brands. Such kind of positioning acts as a catalyst for instant recognition of the brand at the point of purchase.
There has been brand placements in Bollywood as early as 1940s. The inclusion of brands during those days was an unconscious effort. Today, the concepts of marketing have undergone enormous changes. Apart from vanilla advertising through TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, it is also about engaging customers on every platform and making the brand relatable through different media mix.
Nowadays, the in-film branding has amplified and gained far more acceptance by both production houses and corporates as a marketing tool. There are certain brands, which have become cult brands thus becoming a part of the popular culture of the country. Such brands automatically find space in movies because of its core brand proposition.
A classic example is Fevicol. There are more than 35 instances of the Fevicol brand featuring in Bollywood movies over a period of time — this has mostly been done in consideration of its bonding property. Such iconic brands are used unconsciously or consciously because of their high brand value and mass acceptance.
Brands have their own unique characteristics. These days, production houses take cognisance of this fact. If a company does in-film placement of its products, then it is creating promotional tie-in opportunities and the movie also provides further visibility options through the number of TV broadcasts it will receive in future, and its availability through VCDs/DVDs playback. The benefits of product placement can go well beyond on-screen exposure if utilised properly. One can promote the association with a film by generating internal and external promotional campaigns keyed to that movie.
The other concern lies in how the viewers are going to react to these in-film placements. The in-film brand integration should be like a natural flow in the movie to have greater effectiveness. When subtly and seamlessly integrated into the context of the script, it tends to have a positive impact on the viewers. The mention of Fevicol in recent movies like Son of Sardar, Golmaal 2 & 3, Masti, Kya Cool Hain Hum, Dil Bole Hadippa, etc is not only subtle but absolutely in sync with the content. However, when the brand/product placed is not in sync with the storyline, it provokes a negative response from the viewers. They feel the advertisement was too apparent and it loses its essence.
With the growth of professionalism in Indian cinema and the growing need for less cluttered communication channels, there is a vast opportunity for product placements to emerge as a strong vehicle to communicate to the huge film-viewing population in India. As the evolution of our movies continue, we will see more and more brands putting their bets on in-film placements.
Anil Jayaraj
CMO, Pidilite Industries
CMO, Pidilite Industries
