F E AT U R E
cure investment. Under pressure to reach out to their
consumers in the face of increasing media clutter and
fragmentation (especially on traditional media), brands
are latching on to the opportunity offered by a booming and extremely buzz-worthy film industry – and giving
money in return for content integration. In theory, brand
integration creates a win-win situation for producers and
brands; producers get the money they need to make
their films and market them without having to share
their profits with the brands (the investment in the film
is classified as a marketing expense), while brands get
a captive audience and an opportunity to really connect
with their target market by virtue of their integration into
the storyline of the film (as opposed to being ignored by
audiences during a 30-second TVC). The reality, however, is somewhat different. If the integrations in this
year’s local films are anything to go by (I’m looking at
you Sprite and Cornetto), it would appear that brands
have learnt absolutely nothing from their awkward and
unsubtle attempts to integrate themselves into television
content. Raheel Pasha, Marketing Director, Personal
Care at Unilever Pakistan, which has done its fair share
of brand integration in films such as Jawani Phir Nahin
Aani and Karachi Say Lahore, believes that this process
is “at a nascent stage and we are still learning. Typically,
the brand will want to communicate their proposition but
communicating this in a film requires the art of storytelling and this is very new here.” Marketer turned producer,
Murtaza (his last posting was Director, Brand Communications at Mobilink) believes the reason why brands get
integration wrong is because “they treat films more like
TVCs [without realising that] cinema audiences do not
like it when a brand is in your face.”
Considering that, as Pasha reveals, brands use integration to “drive top of mind and saliency” and select films
based on the popularity of the cast and the director’s
credentials (as opposed to ensuring a fit between brand
and storyline), it is hardly surprising that some local films
this year have ended up looking like extended TV commercials.Yet, for cash strapped filmmakers, the benefits
of integration outweigh the disadvantages. Industry insiders suggest that the fact that even an off the beaten
track film like Shah managed to secure corporate support (from Bank Alfalah) is a sign that confidence in the
potential of film is growing.
Back to the future
Although brands are likely to remain a major part of the
support structure for local films (and the success from
this will encourage more investment in film), increasing
the number of cineplexes and screens is the only sustainable way to ensure the stability of the recently jumpstarted local film industry. And this is where the government has to play a role. Ramzi explains that when India
was trying to establish more cineplexes, the Indian government gave cinema owners benefits, such as a fiveyear break from paying entertainment duty if a cineplex
of more than three screens was built, electricity at a re-
duced cost and a three-year income tax holiday. In contrast, Pakistan’s government offers no such incentive,
although doing so would not only help establish more
cinemas, it will also create hundreds, if not thousands,
of new jobs, not only in the cinemas but also in every
film related field. Having more cinemas, in turn, would
make it possible for local films to have longer runs on
screen instead of being pushed out by new local and
international releases, thereby increasing their odds of
making a profit.
However, despite the lack of incentives and with the
costs of establishing and maintaining cinemas soaring,
groups like Cinepax for example are planning an expansion of about 28 new screens in the next year or so.
Whether or not this expansion will help bring down ticket
prices (which currently range from Rs 500 to 1,200) and
make cinema accessible to a wider cross section of the
population, is a question mark and will ultimately depend
on the cinema owners’ profitability.In the meantime producers are working on other ways to shore up profits.
Releasing films internationally and appealing to the
large expatriate Urdu and Hindi speaking populations in
the West is one way of doing this. According