The Persuaders ; Movie Producers Exploit Media Hunger for Glamour and Consumer Products' Desperation for Celebrity Endorsements by Generating Enormous Pre-Release Hype, and Getting Big Numbers in Hollywood- Style Opening Weekends

India Today › August 30, 2006

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Summary

People have forgotten Rs 1 crore is Rs 100 lakh," says Karan Johar, who thought nothing of housing his stars and crew at New York's Radisson Hotel-at $300 (Rs 14,000) a night-for over a month. As one of Mumbai film industry's biggest producer-directors, he doesn't need to. With television channels, consumer goods, telecom companies and Internet service providers vying for a share of the magic kingdom, a savvy filmmaker doesn't have to fight to get attention. Despite the much-talked-about media clutter, audiences can be persuaded, with a series of measures both old and new, to willingly part with their hard-earned money to entertain and feed themselves in a darkened movie hall while a Hindi film runs its course. Take Johar's Rs 50-crore Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. He had tie- ups with NDTV, MSN, MTV; with star Shah Rukh Khan's brands Videocon (which gave him 30 hoardings across Mumbai), Compaq (which is airing TV spots worth Rs 1 crore promoting the film), AirTel (which is paying for co-branded TV spots-valued at Rs 2 crore-in return for mobile content); and got products from LVMH and Nike. He even created a line of coffee mugs, key chains and diaries as gifts for winners of contests with multiplex chains. None of it cost him money, yet, he says quite proudly there's a buzz about the film. "When I go into a public space, I can feel the vibe-the men want to slap me and the women are smiling at me. People loved it or hated it, but everyone is discussing it," he says. And watching it as well in the crucial first week-the box office revenue so far is Rs 40 crore and still counting.

Indeed. Johar is one of a handful of big ticket filmmakers in Bollywood who know the value of their product. Which is why though Bollywood movie revenues last year crossed Rs 2,500 crore, the marketing spend was only Rs 140 crore, which is just 6 per cent of an average movie budget, compared to the Hollywood standard of 40 per cent. As M. Suku, national director, Broadmind, a Group M unit specialising in entertainment marketing, puts it: "Bollywood's image is larger than life and bigger than what is spent on it." It is especially true of the major movies (about 10 per cent of the total), which are so highly anticipated that brands are willing to pull their forelocks and scrape their knees in an effort to get piggyback visibility. A big movie can strike as many as six strategic partnerships without any cash exchange. The producer gets visibility across all media and the brand gets the right to use the film's title to promote itself. Take Rang de Basanti. Its target audience matched that of Coca-Cola, which designed a "Piyo sir utha ke" advertisement and a special edition bottle. In a blitz valued at Rs 10 crore with associations with LG, Berger Paints, Provogue and Club HP, its producers UTV did not spend more than Rs 4.5 crore from their own pocket.

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The Persuaders ; Movie Producers Exploit Media Hunger for Glamour and Consumer Products' Desperation for Celebrity Endorsements by Generating Enormous Pre-Release Hype, and Getting Big Numbers in Hollywood- Style Opening Weekends

Even older style producers like Rakesh Roshan have wisened up: Roshan, whose Krrish has made Rs 100 crore and still counting, values the marketing of his film at Rs 10 crore, which comprised Rs 1 crore in cash and Rs 9 crore in media visibility thanks to a minimum guarantee deal with P9, a movie marketing company. Singapore Tourism Board spent on several TV and theatrical trailers, Pantaloon spent on merchandising Krrish toys and there were in-film placements (see box). Clearly, marketing, whether paid for by the producer or by the strategic partners, says Prabhat Choudhary of Spice PR, a marketing consultancy, has emerged as the single largest budget component.

Where once Bollywood marketing was restricted to hoardings and ...

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