A short assignment, submitted in the ‘Media Market and Media Law’ class, as part of an international student exchange program in Communication and Media Science, by the European Union, named ‘Erasmus+ KA 107 Credit Mobility Project’, at Budapest Metropolitan University, in Budapest, Hungary.
Product or brand placement is a form of advertising that in turn generates revenue
for the companies that produce television shows or films. Aside from the traditional
form of direct advertising, product placement is an indirect or implied form of
advertising where the product/commodity is smartly included in the visual
presentation, more often in a subtle, yet eye catching manner. This trend however is
constantly increasing in Indian cinema (not confined only to Bollywood, that’s a
stereotype) where advertising and marketing have become multi-million-dollar
industries. Successful product placement, especially with regard to conglomerates
lies in identifying the target audience and not doing a branding overdose (which
unfortunately happens a lot in India). Then, the screenplay director and writer must
find a way to integrate this into the script and explain the usage to the audience as
per the context (in some cases). However, product placement for tobacco and
alcoholic substances is prohibited in Indian films by law. Research has shown that in
the 3 main categories of product placement i.e., automobiles, electronics and
clothing, there is a variance in their on-screen appearance duration due to aesthetic
and utility purposes. It was found out that the ideal time was less than 10 seconds
for automobiles, up to a few minutes for electronics and a majority of the duration of
the film for clothing/fashion accessories. Hence, a skillful combination of all 3 types
will result in more viewership and response.
Akshat Thonangi