Tanaaz Bhatia, Bottomline Media on the meeting ground of entertainment & marketing

Tanaaz Bhatia of Bottomline Media, who has developed promotional campaigns for Ra.One, branded content such as What Women Want, and much more, talks about movie marketing, in-show product integrations, and the objective of influencer collaborations.

"If you see something again and again, you get bored of it. Marketing is all about innovation," says Tanaaz Bhatia, Founder & MD, Bottomline Media. Innovation is also an important part of brand and product integrations, which have become a seamless part of the media landscape with the rising number of entertainment shows on OTT platforms.

The Indian landscape of web and OTT platforms have embraced these integrations with open arms. While brand awareness, forging connections, and building brand loyalty are a few of the observational objectives. Diving a bit deeper into this territory, Bhatia shares why the brands integrate themselves into these content pieces, and what the parties involved gain out of this.

Bhatia states that when woven into the story seamlessly and matched with the content's concept, it becomes easy and engaging to talk about the product's benefits. This works better as opposed to a recitation of product features. Although it depends on the integration into the script and how organic you can make it when you talk about the product.

She cites the example of What Women Want, a Talk Show hosted by Kareena Kapoor Khan.

"Out of the several brand integrations we did, one of them was American Pistachio, which is basically a healthy nut. Health & Wellness of women is one of the important topics the show touches upon, and this brand was integrated in such a way that we spoke about the benefits of the product, but it still remained authentic and true to the goals of what the show stood for."

She cites a similar example of the popular OTT show Koffee With Karan. She mentions that the show is all about beauty, luxury, and unconstrained conversations. and the sets and ambiance are visually appealing.

"Karan stands for luxury and opulence. So when the Jaquar lights come on, it's a spotlight moment for the brand," says Bhatia.

The two parameters that she always weighs the integrations on are… "The brand has to be a natural extension of what the show stands for and we should be able to integrate it organically."

She further elaborates that the viewers are able to distinguish sponsored segments, but they should not go, " What the hell are these guys talking about?" "All the brands integrated into the show Dream Homes With Gauri Khan lent itself to the show, and the brand's messaging was interactive. It has to flow organically into the content."

Also Read: Native advertising on OTT Content – Product placements get more organic

Innovation In Movie Marketing

Movie marketing has been an evolving space with digital transformations and technological advancements that aim to keep pace with changing consumer behaviors. Trailers, posters, and outdoor advertisements are now complemented by a digital presence. Influencer marketing, dance challenges, and interactive campaigns have attempted to enhance the marketing activities but a majority of the campaigns have fallen into a typecast.

When we look back at Ra.One, one of the most expensive Hindi films made at the time of its release, it was also accompanied by one of the longest-running campaigns that included brand collaborations, a 3,600-feet long fan mail trail, gaming tournament with Nvidia, multi-city tours, Live Chats, interactive game on Facebook, and a robust presence on social networks such as YouTube and Google+, and merchandising.

Discussing innovation in this marketing campaign, which was ahead of its time, Bhatia states that when the company was founded within the first three years there were several 'firsts' in the campaigns helmed by the company. For instance, merchandising with Ra.One and the collaborations with McDonald's for a Happy Meal. And this is where Bhatia emphasized the need for innovation because every year you have to innovate or people get bored.

She cites the example of Barbie which is essentially a simple movie when it comes to the storyline but has gone all out with brand collaborations right from clothing & apparel to creating an Airbnb experience where you can actually stay in Barbie's house. Barbie has collaborated with over 100 brands from various industries and dispensed the most extensive marketing campaign of the year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Social Samosa (@officialsocialsamosa)

"You push the envelope and go a few steps further. In anything you do with whatever means you have, you have to innovate and you can't keep repeating what's already done. The way you create your online strategy does have a significant impact on the way the movie audiences are enticed to go to the theatre," she adds.

Bhatia believes connecting with the audiences when they go to the movies really works, because it entices people to go and watch the film, and mirrors their experience. She also shares her two cents on the rise of influencer collaborations with production houses to promote movies released in theatres. She reckons that they may not be as impactful in pushing audiences to go to the theatre and watch the film, but they make a considerable contribution to promoting the music.

Concluding the meeting ground of the two worlds of entertainment and marketing, she further adds that marketing in the entertainment vertical is a growing avenue and has several integration points today. Consumers are becoming smart and we also need to keep the integration of the movie as well as the brand, and not make the viewer go, "Oh my lord, what did I just watch!"