Dude, where's my Ertiga?

Blending a brand into a film’s storyline is tricky enough. How about, then, a movie that plugs and celebrates the latest SUV from India’s biggest carmaker? Mere Dad Ki Maruti, released on March 15, has become the first instance of an advertiser funding the production cost of a Bollywood movie. In return, the end product has Maruti written all over, topped up with a hard-selling pitch for the Ertiga inside a company showroom — in short, a veritable showreel for the car. 

In a depressed market that saw sales of passenger cars plunge through much of last year, the Ertiga has been the one bright spot in Maruti Suzuki’s business. Launched in April 2012, it accounted for most of the 79,192 UVs (utility vehicles) sold by the company in FY13.

And, at a price tag of ₹6 crore for 101 minutes of screen time and an audience of 6 million viewers so far, the film is not a bad deal for a company that spent ₹350 crore on advertising and brand promotion last year. The company is hopeful that if the film is aired four times on satellite television, it could bring in an additional audience of 5 million across its target group aged 25-44 years. 

Produced by Y Films, a division of Yash Raj Films focused on movies for youth, the story revolves around retrieving a lost Ertiga, which was meant to be a father’s wedding gift for his daughter. The big challenge is to ensure that it doesn’t come across as one annoyingly long commercial. Mayank Pareek, COO (marketing & sales), Maruti Suzuki, admits that the key is to seamlessly integrate the movie’s content and storyline with what the brand has to say. Eight years ago, Maruti Suzuki had first tasted success with its newly launched Swift featuring prominently in Yashraj Films’ BuntyAur Babli.

Prathap Suthan, managing partner at Bang in the Middle, an independent advertising agency, cautions that this is a route fraught with risk. “If the film had flopped, the brand’s image would have tanked. That said, only Maruti could have pulled it off since the brand is generic.” On a total budget of ₹10 crore — production costs being ₹5.5 crore and promotions and advertising accounting for ₹4.5 crore — the film has managed theatrical collections of over ₹11 crore. MSM, which owns the Sony television channels, is said to have paid ₹2 crore for the satellite rights. “Actually, most of the money came in before the release and we needed to make just ₹1.5 crore to recover cost,” says Ashish Patil, business and creative head at Y Films. 

Predictably, Pareek is excited about the prospects of this model. He is confident that content integration will be the next big thing in brand building: “If people are hooked on to the content, the brand will get a chance to be seen or heard.” As for the film maker, Patil is thinking of a sequel.