If you bought a Nokia lumia after being exhorted by SRK in Chennai Express, you’ve fallen into the brand-film tag. Deebashree Mohanty speaks with ad gurus to find out how this brand viral has become prominent cast and crew of any given movie. ‘Don't be surprised by casting credits rolling down with SRK holding a Pepsi bottle or Katrina Kaif soaking in a bathtub with lux in hand’, admen warn you
SRK sports a Tag Heuer, drinks only Pepsi and calls his on-screen lover through his Nokia lumia and zips across in a Hyundai i10. Hrithik Roshan drinks only Coke and works on his Acer laptop (even when he is dancing around trees). When he is hungry, he stops working and eats Hide and Seek biscuits! Welcome to a world where the thin line dividing commercials and movies have long blurred. Ad gurus tell you that in the next decade, we could have entire songs dedicated to products. The trend has already begun, with songs like ‘tu shola mein Coca Cola’ (from Shortcut Romeo), ‘mein Zandu balm huyi’, ‘Fevicol se’... so on and so forth, making their presence felt.
Ad guru Prahlad Kakkar, who has been churning out innovative creatives for more than 26 years, says that there can be no better medium for a brand promotion than films . “The reasons are dime a dozen. First, there’s a captive audience for the brand promotion which may, for example, get missed while a person is surfing a TV channel. The product registration in the viewer’s mind is far greater when it appears in a film. A study by a media company found that the impact of a 10-second brand appearance in a film had more than 1.52 times more effectiveness as compared to a 30-second commercial on any other medium. This means, producers are laughing all the way to the bank and viewers go back home saying yeh dil maange more. As long as the brand is not on-your-face and if it is merged subtly into the film, it really doesn’t matter. But if it stands out as something alien, then God save the product,” Kakkar says.
Speaking of a promotion that stood out as an eyesore was the Heineken Beer promoted by Daniel Craig in the James Bond movie Skyfall. “Imagine 007 ditching the vodka martinis for beer,” Kakkar exclaims.
“Bond movies are known for being the ones with the largest product placements. But going by the ethos of the film, the products are mostly upmarket ones. The introduction of Heineken in Skyfall was not only irrelevant but also a no-no for his fans who see beer as a very middle class drink, something that doesn’t go down well with 007. In the Indian context too, there are many such eyesores where the brand is desperately trying to merge into the film’s ambience,” Kakkar tells you.
According to media2e, an online brand campaign company, SRK’s Chennai Express which had four major product placements (Nokia, Tag, Ray Ban and Pepsi) is not a case in isolation. While Don had six products placed strategically at interesting points in the movie, Hrithik Roshan’s Krrish was a walking-talking advertisement platform.
As many as 12 products were endorsed through Krrish. “SRK, no doubt, is the darling of film product endorsements. That’s because he has the maximum endorsement value. According to a latest estimate, he makes more than Rs 100 crore by way of commercials alone. Hrithik Roshan is a close second. Aishwarya Rai was also in that league in her prime. Her films Taal and Guru were laced with product placements (Coke for Taaland Hero Cycles in Guru being the most prominent ones),” Avinash Mathai, Founder CEO of media2e, tells you.
But, is there a separate budget for stars if they endorse a product via a filmIJ “Not really. It just showcases their brand loyalty and gets them newer endorsements. It is the producer of the film who makes a handsome amount. The actor gets a new deal. Everyone is happy. In Taal, for instance, when Ash danced to the rhythm song with a bottle of coke (along with Anil Kapoor), it was enough for her to bag a deal with Hero Cycles. She was later seen with that brand in Guru. It is not just viewers who are targeted through endorsements, the actor aims at bagging other brands,” Ashwini Dutta, assistant designer of Ogilvy&Mather, reveals. Dutta works closely with brand owners to know their strategy.
Earlier, film endorsements were left out of the contract an actor signed. But now, things are different. “The contracts are very specific. They mention every detail of what is expected by the endorsee or the ambassador. Given a star’s schedule, we make inroads into his films (that should suit the target audience). The details are worked out by the marketing team and creative directors. The producer has a say too,” Natasha Singh, of Tag Heuer, tells you.
Ad companies tell you that celebrities have a say in what they endorse and how.
“Vidya Balan is one who will not do an endorsement without getting into its details. She was to endorse a jewellery brand in The Dirty Picture but refused because she thought the ad lines were derogatory to the brand she was endorsing,” Dutta says.
In India, advertisers are very sensitive to creative lines used in their endorsement. “If the Ranbir-Deepika starrer Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani ran into hot water because of a Roohafza campaign gone terribly wrong, there are many others who have sued filmmakers for irresponsible advertising.
“It is not as if movies have products always with the consent of the brand owner. Sometimes, producers place these products randomly. If it comes to the notice of the the brand owner, the film has to deal with court notices. Often, an out-of-court settlement is the answer,” Anshuman Khatau, creative head, Adone agency, tells you, signing off.