While you were watching the film, ad happened

Katrina Kaif calls up a friend in the UK, frantically asking for money. In a split-screen sequence, the friend (Upen Patel) walks into a money exchange office in the UK “The amount will be transferred while we are talking,” he consoles Kaif over the phone.

In a matter of minutes, the money reaches Kaif in rural Punjab. The message is clear: Western Union is your best bet for speedy money transfer across the world. But no, this is not a commercial to be aired on TV, but a dramatic sequence from the movie Namastey London (2007) that incorporates in-film branding — a phenomenon Bollywood is finally beginning to approach with some degree of sophistication.

Random and jarring product placements in one-off scenes are giving way to a more subtle marriage of brands in Hindi films. After all, it is a win-win situation for both. While brands achieve their purpose — of connecting to an audience without travelling the conventional advertising route — it opens up another welcome revenue stream for film producers.

Married to the script
Initially, in-film ads meant product placements for visibility. The classic example is the use of Coke in Taal (2001). Brand inclusion in movies back then was at a ‘telling and showing’ stage. The most notorious example was Hritik Roshan wooing Kareena Kapoor in Yaadein (2001) with the mouth freshener Pass Pass. He shows her his Pass Pass (on which the camera zooms in meaningfully) and chases her with the irresistible pick-up line, ‘Pass Pass? Pass Pass? Pass Pass?’ Though he does score with Kareena in the film, viewers weren’t amused.

“Today, the idea is to involve the audience with the brand, which is why the effort these days is to marry the brand with the personality of the script,” says Abhishek Nayar of Percept Picture Company. “It’s all about how deeply scriptwriters can put a brand in sync with a scene.”

Take the recent Anjaana Anjaani, a dud at the box office. In this film, the lead actors are seen flaunting brands they endorse in the world outside the film. So a good one-minute of a song sequence is devoted to Ranbir showing off the Provogue label. Similarly, Priyanka Chopra is seen flaunting the same Nokia handset she endorses in ads on the small screen.

Again, producers of the mega budget My Name Is Khan (2010) tied up with Reebok, and Rizwan Khan, Shah Rukh Khan’s character in the movie, is seen wearing only Reebok shoes.
Would viewers buy a particular brand of shoes just because they see Shah Rukh wearing them in his film?

“Clothes, accessories and products used by film stars usually become a trend in a film-crazy nation like India, where millions even sport their favourite star’s haircut,” remarks Kiren, CEO & MD, Molecule Communications. But she adds that it all depends on how smartly the brand inclusion is done.

Interestingly, the best known phenomenon of in-film branding is also the one that’s copped the maximum criticism. The Bond movies’ relentless promotion of a variety brands in multiple product categories, right from Dom Perignon and Smirnoff (liquor) to Bentley and Aston Martin (swanky cars) to Sony Ericsson (mobile phone), and Omega (watches) have earned the movie franchise a fair share of opprobrium. Forbes magazine published an article on Casino Royale (2006) titled, ‘James Bond: Licensed To Sell’ and BBC did a piece on Die Another Day (2002) titled ‘Buy Another Day’.

Audience is no fool
“James Bond is a cult example where the brands are stitched into the flamboyant 007 style,” remarks adman Piyush Pandey, But he adds a note of caution, “Brand inclusion of this kind has to be subtle, as the audience is no fool. If you try to make a film like an ad, it will fail.”

Website designer Mayuresh Pai, 23, contends that though in-film branding may not directly push him into buying a product, they nevertheless do have a lingering influence. On Anjaana Anjaani, Pai says, “Even as a non-Ranbir fan, his sense of styling impressed me” I wouldn’t mind picking up something similar, if not the same, for my wardrobe.” 

While subtly influencing the audience’s mind may work the best for marketers, using the products as mere props, with no connect with either the character or the plot is a strict no-no. “If you just get a star to hold a product in a film, it doesn’t work,” says Gautam Datta, CEO Cinemedia, PVR Ltd. “Pass Pass, endorsed in Yaadein, was too in-your-face,” says Dutta, adding that Bollywood has come a long way since.

Sometimes the association is glaring enough to put off a viewer completely. Devina Agasty, 24, recollects Vidya Balan brandishing a bar of Cadbury in Parineeta. “It was too much even someone like me, who is not clued into advertising,” she says.

Some marketers even believe that a brand’s association with a film can even result in tangible sales. “The brand-meets-Bollywood arrangement converts into sales if it’s done effectively. We have had great success with movie tie-ups like the one with Spiderman, Aladdin and Drona,” says Ahwin Uppal, GM Marketing, Graviss Foods Pvt Ltd on the successful association of Baskin Robbins with these films.

The satellite reach of Bollywood movies, where new releases are aired on the small screen within months of their theatrical release, not to mention the promos, also means greater exposure and wider reach. All this serves as an add-on for brands that want to claim their share of the Bollywood-ad-pie.

Marketing consultant Anirban Das Blah, asserts that brands are remembered when they are repeated. “Nobody will remember a logo or product in one scene,” says Blah. However, producers need to draw the line from the artistic poinb of view. “If it becomes intrusive and affects the narrative, the whole thing flops.”