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Business News/ Industry / Media/  Man of Steel’s superpower: promotional tie-ups
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Man of Steel’s superpower: promotional tie-ups

Film said to have $160 mn in collective promotional support, over 100 promotional partners globally

A still from the movie ‘Man of Steel’. The movie releases on Friday across 800 screens, 500 of them in 3D, in four languages —English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. (A still from the movie ‘Man of Steel’. The movie releases on Friday across 800 screens, 500 of them in 3D, in four languages —English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.)Premium
A still from the movie ‘Man of Steel’. The movie releases on Friday across 800 screens, 500 of them in 3D, in four languages —English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
(A still from the movie ‘Man of Steel’. The movie releases on Friday across 800 screens, 500 of them in 3D, in four languages —English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.)

Mumbai: Man of Steel, the new Superman movie, is looking to best Indian box-office collections by the Iron Man and Batman franchises when it releases on Friday across 800 screens, 500 of them in 3D, in four languages—English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Warner Bros is seeking to exploit Superman’s popularity with a marketing budget that’s slightly more than that of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. Company officials didn’t elaborate.

Product tie-ins in India include the Nokia Lumia handphone, the Fiat Linea sedan, Kellogg’s Chocos breakfast cereal, Dabur’s Real Activ juice and Amul milk. Toy brand Mattel will launch Superman figurines while Funskool India is introducing games and puzzles. Apparel companies French Connection (FCUK) and BioWorld will launch a range of branded t-shirts, among other items.

The movie is said to have over 100 promotional partners globally and $160 million in collective promotional support.

PVR Cinemas will launch its IMAX theatre in Mumbai with the film. This is PVR’s second IMAX and the fourth in the country.

While promotional tie-ins aren’t new in India, experts said the amount of money and the number of brands looking to associate themselves with such movies is growing. The Fast and the Furious movie franchise, targeted at a niche audience, has signed up brands such as Bajaj Auto, Tata Photon and Apollo Tyres.

However, when it comes to Hollywood, superhero films tend to be the genre of choice, as brands don’t have to spend on building the franchise. Also, the films are dubbed in multiple languages, appeal to a wider age group and feature easily identifiable icons. For instance, Iron Man 3 had 15 brand promotion partners in India, the highest for any Hollywood movie till date.

That’s small compared with key international markets, a function perhaps, said an expert, of how marketers approach such deals here.

“The basic premise of this is to get involved at a very early stage. So as a brand if you want to go beyond just a basic co-promotion, you need a lead time of approximately nine months to do something more complex, like putting the superhero on the pack or carton or merchandising," said Navin Shah, joint managing director of EMC Solutions Worldwide Pvt. Ltd, a branded entertainment solutions firm, adding that most of the deals with Hollywood movies in India were last-minute tie-ups.

Krrish 3, the Indian superhero movie starring Hrithik Roshan and scheduled for a Diwali release, will likely make a bigger splash when it comes to brand expenditure.

“This is not just in terms of the number of brands on board. The sheer quantum of brand spends will be three times that of Superman and Spiderman put together," said Shah, adding that the reason for this was that Hollywood superhero movies wouldn’t be shown outside the top 23 cities. “If I am a mass marketer, I am more likely to place my bets on an Indian superhero film like Krrish 3 or Chhota Bheem."

According to industry estimates, Krrish (2006) had more than 12 brand tie-ins worth an approximate 20crore. The sequel has lined up 15 brand tie-ins worth 50 crore already, according to people aware of the numbers. (Krrish is a sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya, hence the sequel’s title of Krrish 3.)

Nokia, one of Man of Steel’s global partners, will use the occasion to push sales of the Lumia 720 phone in India. As part of the promotion, Nokia launched an app with information, trailers and augmented reality functions, along with limited edition accessories and a photography challenge that gave fans a chance to win tickets to the film’s premiere in New York.

“It’s all about relevance of the association," said Viral Oza, director marketing, Nokia India. “You want to be associated with a platform that your consumers are passionate about. Man of Steel is a strong platform in that sense."

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, which sells the Amul brand of products, hopes to urge “consumers to unleash their inner hero with the surge of energy that Amul milk provides", said managing director R.S. Sodhi.

Nagesh Basavanhalli, president and managing director, Fiat Group Automobiles India Pvt. Ltd, is looking for rub-off effects that will highlight the “superior power and performance, over and above the classy Italian styling" of the company’s Linea T-Jet model.

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Published: 13 Jun 2013, 09:09 PM IST
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