MUMBAI: MC Mary Kom winning the Bronze in Olympics made news everywhere and so did the announcement of her biopic starring Priyanka Chopra. The news not only excited the viewers and audiences, but it has also thrilled the advertisers.
The marketing leaders found a perfect opportunity to be associated with the brand ‘Mary Kom.’
The biopic has partnered with 20 brands including Havmor, Monte Carlo, Usha International, Artemis Hospitals, Edelweiss, Tokio Life Insurance and many more. Media channels like Ten Sports and India TV have also been incorporated in the movie.
Viacom18 Motion Pictures marketing head Rudrarup Dutta says, “Powerful stories like Mary Kom reaches out to all sections of society. It also touches the lives of people across demographics and interests. The story lends itself to collegial propositions with brands.”
“All the brands have been woven into the movie’s script,” he adds.
To leverage the integration, the brands too are promoting the movie through co-branded TVC, radio and digital contests. For instance, Mother Dairy has a TV campaign which promotes its product featuring Priyanka Chopra as Mary Kom.
Dutta says that the biopic became a sensation from the moment it was announced. “And due to its association with names like Viacom 18, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Priyanka Chopra and Mary Kom, the brands were interested in getting attached to the name since day one.”
Even though Dutta did not comment on the cost of the movie or the revenue garnered by the brands, he mentions that the partnerships is giving the movie an impact value of Rs 20 crore – 25 crore.
In the past, too, films have incorporated brands in the script by giving them prominent visibility in scenes like Coca-Cola in Taal (1999) and more recently, Nokia in Chennai Express.
The film production house organised ‘Cineshorts,’ a short-film contest, which allowed aspiring filmmakers and documentary makers to submit five-minute long films on the theme ‘Against All Odds’. According to the marketing head, this was purely a Viacom 18 initiative and the associated brands did not sponsor the contest.
On 5 September, Mary Kom will hit 1800-2000 screens in India and around 300 screens internationally. While Zee has the music rights, Colors has the satellite rights for the movie.
Viacom 18 earlier hit gold with a biopic on Milkha Singh and now hopes that it will be able to punch its way in box-office with Mary Kom.
