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Tag: Sooraj Bhalla

  • Sooraj Bhalla to step down as founder & CEO of Mates

    Sooraj Bhalla to step down as founder & CEO of Mates

    Mumbai: Mates founder and CEO Sooraj Bhalla has announced his decision to step down from his position. Under his leadership, the entertainment specialist unit of media agency Madison World emerged as a prominent name in the industry. 

    Bhalla played a significant role in building the branded content and content marketing advertising vertical to its leadership position. His last day at Mates is 31 December.

    “So far, my focus has been to work towards driving impact for clients and touch an emotive chord with consumers with the power of content and communication,” said Bhalla. “In this next chapter of my professional life, I am looking forward to taking these years of rewarding experience with Mates and continue delivering value through the various channels of communication in the content space.” 

    An alumnus of Jamnabai Narsee School, Bhalla spent his initial 10 years in creating content – direction and production, followed by fourteen years in content marketing, branded content, film marketing, celebrity management and solutions.

    He has worked on blockbuster projects like “Andaz Apna Apna,” “Damini,” “Ghatak,” and “Barsaat,” having started his career as an assistant director to Rajkumar Santoshi. He was also the executive producer of Hindi feature film – “Shararat.”

    After procuring prolific experience in content production and direction, his first independent venture, TeamWorks focused on branded content, celebrity management & film marketing. It was eventually bought out by Sam Balsara to create Mates.

    Bhalla has worked on more than 100 films from the country’s top producers and studios, being instrumental in delivering breakthrough communication with engaging content formats. He has won over 17 accolades in the advertising and media industry.

  • Brand Integration grows in Indian Cinema

    Brand Integration grows in Indian Cinema

    MUMBAI: As the new Rs 200 crore club emerges in Bollywood, it’s also been a strong year for brand integrations in films. Krrish 3 has revolutionised Bollywood content with the most number of brands ever having been integrated in a film. Mates India, a well-known brand integration, film marketing and celebrity management firm, was behind weaving in five brands – Cadbury Bournvita, Flair pens, Tata Manza, Fortis Hospital and Forever Jewelry into the film. And the jobs of Sooraj and Darshana Bhalla don’t end there as post the integration; merchandising has also become an equally important marketing tool in today’s day and age.

    Cadbury Bournvita for example was not only the drink consumed by Rohit in the film while he works in his science lab but as consumers we soon saw special Krrish Bournvita packs on the shelves in our grocery stores. A fly with Krrish contest was implemented which would create a direct connect with the consumer and also allow for the winners to meet Hrithik Roshan one on one if they happen to be one of the lucky winners.  Such activities not only benefit the brands but also help the film maintain its shelf life beyond the first weekend.  Promotions and ads around the integrated products (ex: Krrish Flair pens) keep the buzz around the film alive and hence it becomes a mutually symbiotic relationship.

    Bridging the gap in this relationship is a firm like Mates, which finds the right synergies and creates opportunities for both the films as well as the brands.  Talking about the changing trends, CEO Sooraj Bhalla says, “It has been amazing to see how over the years content and advertsing are seeping seamlessly into each other and providing for a great viewer experience. Krrish 3 has been a very ambitious project for brands too. The belief and the vision has paid off.”  Besides Krrish, Mates has worked on integrating content in many other films such as Race 2 (Audi), Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (MakeMyTrip.com and Jabong.com), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Birla Sun Life Insurance), etc.

    By Dolly Bhatter, publicist by profession (PR and CEO of a PR firm)