Points of View: In-film branding: Why is it booming?

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Who needs commercial breaks when the whole movie is your play-ground? afaqs! looks at the recent spurt in in-film brand placements.

In 2008, afaqs! carried a POV titled 'Why hasn't in-film placement taken off?' So much has changed since then. Besides the spurt in volumes of brand appearances in films of late, one can even make a case for how in-film branding has become cruder than before. Sure, the insipid product pack still appears almost as an apology, in the background of the occasional movie scene but we also have a Shah Rukh Khan rattling off the product features of Nokia in Chennai Express. Not to mention the barrage of brands that have integrated with the recently released political drama Satyagraha -- Sahara Q Shop, Ultratech Cement, Rupa, India Gate Basmati Rice and Wishtel India, to name a few.
And, in-film placements have gone beyond product appearances and superstar testimonials. Today, brand names appear in song lyrics (Fevicol) and film titles (Mere Dad Ki Maruti). Of course, there's still no way to measure ROI on in-film branding. But one can always look for a weak connection. After Mere Dad Ki Maruti released, the Ertiga saw a 30 per cent spike in test drives and enquiries. And around that time, there was no other advertising for the brand on air.
Measurable or not, subliminal or shameless, the fact is, in-film brand placements are on the rise. So what makes the present times so conducive to in-film branding? There are several reasons.
For one, given the exorbitant endorsement fees charged by leading actors today, brand tie-ups with films starring them seem like a cheaper way to get access to the rub-off effect of these stars.
Secondly, many professional managers have come into this business. A lot of in-film placements take place through media barters - in exchange for getting placed in a film the brand gives the producer media space worth X amount, say Rs 2 crore. Which means, instead of the usual brand campaign, co-branded content is used in the brand's ads. This content typically comprises scenes of the movie in which the brand is visible, like in the case of Tourism Ireland and Ek Tha Tiger. Besides this, brands get a lot of ancillary visibility around the films, such as X number of tickets/CDs/merchandise from the film and meet-and-greet opportunities with the cast as contest giveaways.
Besides overseeing these barter deals, these professionals also craft '360 movie strategies'. For example, if a camera brand (Canon) is being endorsed by an actor (Anushka Sharma), they ensure the actor uses this brand in her next movie (Jab Tak Hain Jaan) for a role that requires her to use a camera (her character Akira Rai is a videographer).
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