In-film placements the emerging ad mantra

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Mumbai, Sep 5: A bunch of ‘in-film placements’ and its perceived growth potential has prompted a flurry of activity among advertising agencies and product companies. While major advertising agencies are beefing up their operations to handle the influx of new in-film advertising accounts, product companies are increasingly investing in this mode of marketing.

For starters, Madison Mates is adding muscle to its existing manpower to handle new projects while Mudra Max is gearing up to provide innovative entertainment platforms to its existing as well as new clients. Group M Entertainment & Sports Partnership (ESP) is also consolidating its services with a sharp focus on activation in a bid to strengthen its services.

On the other side of the spectrum, FMCG majors Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Britannia Industries Ltd (BIL) are investing in in-film placements, recognizing its growth potential. Yet another company Kaya Ltd, a subsidiary of Marico Ltd, is also evaluating the option of foraying into in-film placement sector to promote its brands, said Rakesh Pandey, CEO of Kaya Ltd.

According to Neeraj Chandra, vice president, sales, marketing and innovation, BIL, the company has forayed into the in-film placement sector by introducing Treat’s brand mascot Funtoon in the film Hari Puttar: a comedy of terrors. “As the popularity of Bollywood films has increased dramatically, advertisers are keen to invest in in-film placements to lure consumers,” said Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann Erickson, the brain behind BIL’s new initiative.

Sharing similar views, R Balakrishnan(Balki), chairman and national creative director, Lowe India said, “The concept of in-film placement is gaining momentum in India. Many of our clients are opting for this mode of marketing to gain visibility.” On Mudra Max’s strategy, Chandradeep Mitra, president of Mudra Max said, “We plan to offer interesting and impactful content platforms through films as well as tele-serials and reality shows.”

Mudra Max has worked for clients like TTK Prestige, Zydus Cadila and Fortis Hospitals in the recent past. “Our future projects include brand integrations in films like Ghost Ghost Na Raha (PVR Pictiures) starring Esha Deol and Rahul Bose, Alibaug (White Feather films) starring Dia Mirza & Irfan Khan and Acid Factory (White Feather Films) starring Fardeen Khan, Dino Morea, Dia Mirza and others,” added Mitra. Across the road, Group M’s ESP is beefing up its operations to sustain its competitive edge in this sector. On the agency’s initiative, Hiren Pandit, CEO of E&SP said, “Our in-film placement strategy for Reebok in Goal and Moutain Dew in Mission Istanbul has worked very well for the brands. Our core focus is on activation after in-film placement.”

As for Madison’s strategy, Darhsna Bhalla, CEO of Mates said, “In the coming months, our clients’ brands will be integrated in Diwali releases which include Heroes, Dostana and Golmal 2. We are getting into a lot of allied businesses linked to movie marketing and branded contents.”