Slice of life branding opportunities galore in this city

‘Metro’, the forthcoming UTV Motion Pictures film, is all about real emotions in a city environment, and a total of three brands have jumped onto this real life bandwagon: Lenovo, Radio Mirchi and Shaadi.com

One city. Countless emotions. Three brands. That seems to be the mantra for UTV Motion Pictures’ forthcoming film, ‘Metro’, which will release in cinema halls on May 11.

‘Metro’ is the story of seven people in a city (Mumbai), and how living there changes their lives. The storyline has the protagonists (Konkana Sen Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Shiney Ahuja, Shilpa Shetty and Sharman Joshi) exploring relationships. The various emotions these relationships entail play out in the backdrop of the city. Therefore, this slice of life movie has been pegged on the ‘One city, countless emotions’ premise.

Slice of life branding opportunities galore in this city

As the film is targeted at urban viewers, three brands have associated themselves with the movie. For one, Shaadi.com, the online matrimonial site, has a prominent presence in the film and Konkana Sen Sharma and Irrfan Khan’s love track makes use of this. They play characters who are getting older and feeling the need to find a life partner, and they turn to Shaadi.com for help with finding partners.

Sen Sharma is shown logging on to the website, and there are mentions of Shaadi.com in her conversations with Khan, which make the nature of the site evident. There are even comical scenes in which the protagonists see some funny profiles on the site and have a good laugh about them. “As this film is about relationships, Shaadi.com seems to be a perfect fit,” says Siddharth Roy Kapoor, executive vice-president, marketing, distribution and syndication, UTV Motion Pictures.

Apart from this in-film placement, Shaadi.com has also added a contest around the movie on its website, whereby if users can devise the perfect strategy for wooing Khan and Sen Sharma, they stand a chance at winning tickets to the movie and watching it with the two actors themselves. Press and outdoor ads on the association complete the list of activities.

Keeping urban audiences in mind, Lenovo, too, has leveraged the film. Actors Kay Kay Menon and Sharman Joshi are shown working in a call centre, a setting that demands computers. Lenovo has prominent brand presence in shots of the call centre setting. “The business environment is perfect for a brand such as Lenovo,” claims Kapoor. Sen Sharma is also shown using a Lenovo machine in her office.

Apart from this, a co-branded TVC has been released on television, which has moments of the movie displayed on a Lenovo screen. As Lenovo wishes to bring out its durability premise, one shot shows Irrfan Khan dropping his Lenovo laptop by mistake, only to find it undamaged and in perfect working condition.

The third brand to step in is Radio Mirchi. Sen Sharma has been shown as a radio producer with Radio Mirchi, which involves a fair amount of branding (logo presence and the Mirchi colours, red and green). The protagonists also mention the company from time to time. Radio Mirchi has also served as a partner to ‘Metro’, launching contests (for movie tickets and merchandise), radio spots and press ads around the movie, while also playing songs from ‘Metro’ as part of its content. Chosen listeners can also talk to the cast while they are interviewed by radio jockeys. “The merchandise aspects involve low cost but high value products such as caps, bags, pens and mugs,” reveals Kapoor.

While these three brands have concentrated on embedded advertising, ‘Metro’ has also tied up with ‘Hindustan Times’ and MTV as its media partners, by which it will obtain space on the respective media.

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