Brand with Bollywood
Mohini Bhatnagar
29 July 2003
Brands and popular cinema have aligned well. Mohini Bhatnagar describes how this marriage of convenience has become a happy and prosperous one
Mumbai: Brands are increasingly being associated with films. And companies are seeing big business in being associated with films. They feel that their brands connect on a more emotional level with the audience if placed in a film.
So far so good. But it is worth exploring why more and companies are making a beeline to advertise in films and what makes films so attractive to companies.
Remember the Subhash Ghai-produced and -directed blockbuster Taal, which had this very romantic scene featuring Aishwarya Rai and Akshaye Khanna sharing a bottle of Coke? The scene became more romantic for Ghai because Coke India dished out Rs 1 crore for placing the product in the film.
Sources say Ghai approached the two cola giants operating in India. Pepsi India declined probably because it felt the asking rate of Rs 1 crore was too high. Hence Coke was the only right choice.
