Marketing Ganga

Author: Shabbir Chunawalla

  • Adaptation of a Book for a Movie

     

    In Hollywood, more than 70 per cent of films are made out of books. One of the reasons is for pure business risk reduction.When a story works on paper, without music, without stars, the story has the potential. In addition, popular books tend to be cinematic. There is already a connect,e.g. Twilight  and Hunger Games . In India, 3  Idiots  was a big hit. There is a trend here in India to look for alternative to stars – the story. Certain things that feel good in a book do not work on the screen e.g . thoughts of a narrator. These could be incorporated through a visual or any other device. Some complicated novels have been converted into films e.g . Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence. The source material is kept aside and film making becomes the focus. Every page of the novel cannot be filmed, but this is compensated by cinematic elements, acting, music and cinematography. Deepa Mehta has adapted Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children into a film, (2013). Salman himself has written the screen-play. Salman got to see the rushes and the rough cuts. Francis Coppola had said that no film is ever as good as the rushes and no film is as bad as the first rough cut. Salman did sit through post – production and learnt about the montage and how the tiniest adjustments added to the rhythm of a scene. Movies are made in the editing room.

    A script is locked for shooting. Even then there things that just happen on the sets. These are little touches which happen on the sets. Sometimes these come from the director, actor or anyone. A script is never set in stone. Distilling the novel into a script would mean doing away with a lot of elements. According to Rushdie, what Michael Angelo said about a sculpture applies to the scripts. When Angelo stood before a block of marble he would take away everything that was not the statue, as if the statue was already in stone. If you think the book as a block of marble, and the film as a statue that is supposed to come out of it, take away the things that is not the film. 

    A book can afford to off tangent but a film has to follow the clearest line that will capture the audience.

    A 500-page novel has to be transformed into 100 – page script that retains the essence, spirit and complexity of the book. It is similar to pouring the contents of jugs into one.

    Ruth Prawer Jhabvala did this with ease. She is a writer of 20 screenplays, two of which won Oscars.She wrote 12 novels, one of which (Heat and Dust ) won the Booker. She is the only person ever to win both the awards. Merchant Ivory—Jhabvala team did many adaptations. The lady had Jewish parentage. She passed away.

    Abhishek Kapoor adopted Kai Poche. His next film is based on Charles Dickens work—Great Expectations.

    Several films recognised by the Oscars over the years for their biggest categories tend to be book adaptations.

    Great Books Made  into Great Films

                                                        *The God father                      *Atonement

    *Harry Potter                          *Schindler’s List

    *Lord of the Rings                 *One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

    *Forest Gump

    Upcoming Films Based on Books

                                                            *The Host                                 Stephnie Meyer

    * The Great Gatsby                 F—Scott Fitzaerald

    *Iron Man                                  Warren Ellis

    *The Reluctant Fundamentalist      Mohsin Hamid

    *World War Z                            Max Brooks

    *Safe Haven                             Nicholas Sparks

    *The Hunger Games: Catching Fire     Suzanne Collins

    *The Wolf of Wall Street         Jordan Belfort

    *Carrie                                         Stephen King

    *The Hobbit2; The Desolation of Smdug         J.R.Tolkien

    Some Top Oscar – Recognised Films Based  on Books in the Last 10 Years

    * Argo ( 2012 )

    * Life of Pi ( 2012 )

    * Hugo (2011 )

    * Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close ( 2011 )

    * The Descendants

    * The Social Network ( 2010)

    * Precious (2009)

    * Slum Dog Millionaire ( 2008 )

    * No Country for Old Men ( 2007)

    * Million Dollar Baby ( 2004 )

    * Lords of the Rings: Return of the King ( 2003 )

     

     

    Several films recognised by the Oscars over the years for their biggest.categories tend to be book adaptations

  • Cosmic Sex : A Bengali Film

     

    Amitabh Chakraborty’s Bengali movie Cosmic Sex  was premiered at Osian’s –- Cinefan festival in Delhi in August 2012. It had an uncensored sexual intercourse in an Indian film. Rii, leading actress, who had given an uninhibited performance was present. She took the questions from the audience. The idea of the movie was to achieve spiritual equilibrium through sex. Rii is the common link  between a set of films defying  conventional rules and decorum. She featured in Bishh, Gandu and Tasher Desh. Except Bishh  which had a theatrical release, the other films were restricted to special screenings and festivals. Cosmic Sex  is Chakraborty’s second movie in 23 years after his experimental debut Kaal Abhirati.

    The budget of Cosmic Sex  is a meagre Rs 80 lac. Tasher Desh  has been made by Q or Kaushik Mukherjee, who is Rii’s partner in life. She is officially Rituparana Sengupta.

  • Death-by-1000-Cuts Syndrome

     

    This term is coined by Kevin Lane Keller, marketing professor, Tuck school, and branding expert. He compares the changes in the brand to the cuts on the human body. Human body can suffer a few cuts, heal them, and become normal. But if the same body  suffers a 1000 little cuts, it may never recover fully. The same is true for the brands. Small changes, limited in number, do not affect the brand much, but too much tinkering damages a brand. Strong brands avoid this. Starbucks almost succumbed to this syndrome, by  entering into unrelated areas. But the founding CEO set matters right. Nike too did initiate many things but survived, as it stuck to its core value ‘authentic athletic performance.’ It is the safety zone . The safety zone can be expanded in phases.

  • HFR Format for Films

     

    There are four ways of watching films – in 2D, 3D, IMAX or at a higher frame rate (HFR) at 48 frames per second. HFR enhances the viewing experience. Most cinemas across the world do not have the capability to show the HFR version. However, the projection equipment can be upgraded to suit the format. 24-frames is the industry standard for the last 80 years. It is the cheapest speed to provide basic quality. However, it produces movement artifacts like strobing, flicker, and motion blur. Science tells us that the human eye stops seeing individual pictures at about 55 FPS. Therefore, shooting at 48 FPS gives you much more illusion of real life. It gives the movie a wonderful immersive quality. The projection technology will take some time to catch up with the film making technology. 48 FPS shows more matter on the screen in a split of a second. All projection equipment is capable of playing HFR. What is needed is licensed software that allows decryption of 48 frames both on the digital server as well as the projector. Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An unexpected Journey  has been released in HFR format too. It is a prequel trilogy to Jackson’s wildly successful and Oscar-lavished The Lord of the Rings  films.

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  • Iconic Brands

     

    Brand icon is much more than a strong brand. It is timeless, incomparable and irreplaceable. Few strong brands achieve this iconic status. These brands have high emotional connect with the consumers. Even those who have not experienced the brand have strong feelings for it. Saatchi and Saatchi look upon brand icons as love-marks. These are the brands which people love and respect. A brand icon has to be high on both love and respect. A strong brand could be high on respect, but low on love. A fad is high on love, but low on respect. A brand’s iconic status is tested against its absenteeism. It may leave a void in people’s lives. Brand icons belong to  the people and not to the organisation. Disney is an iconic brand. Harley Davidson is another classic icon. Harry Potter is a recent example of an iconic brand. Cult brands have small following. Iconic brands have a large following. Amul is an Indian example of an iconic brand. IIT is another Indian example.

  • Production Aspects of TV Commercial

     

    A commercial has to pass through three stages -–  pre-production, production itself, and post-production.

    Pre-production

    In pre-production, we select a strong story- board in keeping with our ad strategy, and decide about the casting. Mostly, the cast consists of models considered suitable to enact the roles envisaged. Cast can be picked up from established actors and actresses. But it will shoot up the production budget. Even common people can be used in casting. After the client company approves the story board , it is sent to TV channel for clearance. Mostly it is cleared if it does not violate the broadcasting code set by the TV channel.

    The production company submits a production estimate to the ad agency. It is called budgeting. It include expense heads like pre-production expenses, recce expenses, casting fees and expenses, production salaries, unit salaries, electrical unit expenses, camera equipment expenses, art department’s expenses, studio charges, location shooting costs, post production  costs, insurance and miscellaneous expenses. Animation production expenses and mark-up are added to the total expenses to give the total production cost.

    Production cost can be controlled if we know how all the elements contribute to the costs. Besides, one must always try to have a strong idea, rather than celebrity endorsements and fancy special effects. Over-time also adds to the budget. We have to get multiple bids from several production companies to select a cost-effective bid. Most commercials are shot on film, and later edited on tape.

    Production

    The actual shooting of a commercial is a matter of cinematography. It has a time schedule of generally one to three days. The actual time taken depends upon whether it is shot in a studio or location, the complexity in terms of lighting, the camera movements and the action involved. The whole process is well-planned to avoid time over-runs.

    Shooting is a team work where the key figure is the Director. The script is divided into shots, and there is a sequence of shots. To economise, all shots on one location may be shot together. A cinematographer translates the director’s vision to celluloid. Lighting is looked after by specialised technicians. “Light, camera, action” are the three commands that set the ball rolling. Each shot is clapped before action. If a shot is not okayed by the director, he shouts ‘cut’. Then the clap reads ‘shot one, take two’. As many takes can be taken as necessary to get the perfect result. The perfect shot (at least two ) are canned. These are printed in the lab to convert them to rushes.

    Post-Production

    In post production, we generally include editing, special effects and dubbing. Video tape editing is simpler and faster than film editing.

    Last Word

    Great commercials are built around strong ideas. We should not produce lousy commercials, and waste resources. We have to spend our budget effectively.

  • Public Service Advertising (PSA)

     

    Advertising can be used to promote community and social causes and is called public service advertising. Public service advertising touches upon people’s deepest fears anxieties and values. An egg being dropped from a height into the frying pan is equated to ‘ human brain on drugs’. Cocaine is compared to a barrel of a revolver pointed up the nose of a teenager. We can promote causes like family planning. Lintas made the slogan ‘ one or two, that is enough ‘ or in Hindi ‘ ek ya do, bus’ very popular. Sometimes public service ads lack impact. One reason is human nature. We may be appalled by images of starving children but very few of us are willing to part with our own food to do something about it. Noble thoughts are not necessarily followed by noble deeds. Public service advertising, however, creates awareness. It is difficult to change the mindset of people. Public service advertising should answer the following questions:

    Are there any alternatives? Maybe public relations or other kinds of communication may do a better job than advertising.

    How to solicit media support?  Media has to choose amongst a host of such advertisers  while providing free time or space.

    What are the  the expectations from the viewers or readers?  Sometimes, we intend to change the behaviour, say the voting pattern or the drug habit. Sometimes,we seek some munificence. Sometimes, a toll free number call is required to induce someone to action.

    How to measure?

    We have to measure its effect. Just emotions are not enough.

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  • Brand Equity

     

    A brand is an asset just like a factory and plant machinery. A brand does not become an asset as soon as it is it is born. It is ‘ built’ ‘ up over a period of time. Brand equity is the result of the process of brand building. Aaker calls brand equity a set of assets associated with the brand, which provide value to its customers. In short, brand equity  represents the value inherent  in a well-known brand name. A strong brand equity means easy acceptance of new products, willingness to pay more for the brand, preferred shelf-space. A strong brand equity gives financial clout to the company. Brand with strong equity can be bought and sold.

    Which assets lend the brand its equity ? These are brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality of the brand and the brand associations. These four set of assets are created and enhanced by the brand managers to built brand equity. Brands are developed over a period of time – they are not made in a day. The process of brand building is continuous. Brand building process starts with product development, positioning and launch, brand development, brand association and brand extension – brand improvement.

  • Successful Media Plan

     

    There are two major components of successful media plan — frequency and continuous advertising. These need not be supported by a very heavy budget.

    Brands can be built on a small budget. Even a single medium can be used to achieve frequency and continuity to reach the target audience.

    People have short memories , and they tend to forget most of what they learn within half a day. It is, therefore, necessary to repeat the message for better retention. Though forgetting is faster after learning, it levels off later.

    People’s  Forgetfulness

    Some advertisers wish to reach a wide audience at the cost adequate frequency. But they waste most of the media, spend.

    It is necessary to put reminder ads  for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) like soap or toothpaste. Even those products which are purchased on occasions, it is necessary to sink in a message.

    When we want to achieve maximum impact so as to rise above the clutter and demand attention, we use concentration strategy. The media effort is not spread over the year. It is hoped that people will remember. But this is a moot point.

    Repetitions and Retention

    Effective advertising is delivered in sufficient frequency, leading to the concept of minimum effective reach.

    We can afford to reduce the reach thereby reaching a smaller audience.This is preferred to larger audience but with a small budget. Perhaps this will confine advertising to fewer markets. It also means selective advertising for some products. It also means selecting media which match our target audience precisely.

    It is an ideal situation when we advertise all the 52 weeks in a year. But this is not feasible, for most advertisers. We have to compromise and adjust between the effective level and budgets.

    Flighting  is a technique of concentration of advertising into bursts with a gap in between. Initially, it is a flight of four to six weeks each to achieve meaningful levels. This is preferable to a lower weekly level for a longer period of time. Flighting can be used to support sales promotions and to spend maximum in peak seasons.

    Pulsing  is another technique. It means continuous advertising together with periodic high concentration bursts  to support seasonal buying, promotions and other marketing factors. Brands have specific requirements which influence frequency e.g. purchase cycle, developmental stage, competition or creative itself.

    The more the repetition, the better are the chances of product acceptance. Besides, repetitions have a cumulative effect. No doubt, the message to begin with must be strong. But the more we repeat it, the stronger it becomes.

    “This is not an issue between reach and frequency, but reach with frequency.”  (Roman and Mass)

  • Brand Building

     

    Companies formerly had only a product to satisfy the consumer needs. These products were given a name called a brand name. But just as a person who has been christened by the aunty or godmother later acquires certain traits giving him a unique identity and image, brands in course of time get associated with a set of tangible or intangible benefits which flow from the product. Brand strategy decides what a  brand stands for and for whom. Advertising does play a great role in investing a brand with a set of unique characteristics. The other elements of marketing mix also support in this process. To build strong brands, a company must build a relationship between the brand and the consumer. Relationships arise from the customer’s entire brand experience.