MARKETING MANAGEMENT ....7 REASONS WHY STILL ROCKS

MARKETING MANAGEMENT 7 REASONS WHY STILL ROCKS



Lessons for marketers from the film's enduring popularity, 10 years since its release

Early social-media feedback and the pre screening reactions to Chak De India should have killed the film, according to its director Shimit Amin. He spent a lot of the time tuning out feedback. It was a risk: a Yash Raj film with none of the trademarks of the studio -glamorous stars, catchy song and dance numbers and exotic locales. But it endured, leaving the Indian sports fan with an anthem that we've heard deployed across all sports.

Here's how the film earned loyalty, love and a devoted fan following; the stuff that brand dreams are made of, in short.

1 Getting The TG Right

The team deliberated a lot on who the film was being made for.Amin admits, “In India, we try and make a film for everyone, which in my mind is dangerous.“ While some people manage it successfully, for him it was important to know the TG and their minds. He wanted the film to appeal to kids first: “They are the best recipients of idealism and can relate to role models much better than adults.“

2 The Film v-s FMCG Conundrum

While marketing and distribution of films have been likened to an FMCG launch, the writing and making is entirely different.Jaideep Sahni, who conceptualised and wrote Chak De India, believes people instinctively relate to and value things that carry genuine feeling, as opposed to a planned and created `entertainment brand' which gets consumed for a few days and then forgotten. In his view, fiction turns out best when it's about ideas that mean something to one personally--which in this case, were women athletes and the ignored world of publicfunded sports, layered with India's uniqueness as a multilingual multi-ethnic and multi-religious society.

3 The Underdogs as Rockstars

The film's enduring legacy is thanks to avid viewers of its reruns: like the 14 year old we spoke to who has seen it over 10 times. No mean feat in an age where many more screens vie for Gen Z's limited attention span. The underdog to champion story comes through as the single-most compelling reason. Social psychologists have tried to unravel why people root for the underdog (in real life), given that supporting the one more likely to win has more positive utility.Opines Professor Tanuka Ghoshal, assistant professor of marketing, ISB Hyderabad, Brand Chak De India celebrated the triumph of the underdog (an eternal formula for success), refuelled our sense of national pride and repackaged SRK in a credible human avatar.

4 Keeping it Real, Relatable and National

Being made by a person (Amin) who is confessedly not an avid sports-fan, surely played a part in keeping the film relatable to other non-sports fans. According to Jitender Dabas, CSO, McCann Worldgroup and a former hockey player himself, “The film wasn't just about a singular narrative of a hockey-coach looking for redemption but multiple narratives of different girls from small towns that con nected to audience at several levels.“

And you didn't need to know, love or even like hockey to identify with these narratives. The stories made it more than just a sports movie.

5 In-film branding? Yes, Please

Contrary to what one would assume for such a film, Amin assuredly wanted brands on-board.“Sponsorship of the team plays a very important part especially where government funding is limited. We required brands to show the transition of the lives of these players.“ The makers had a choice between a foreign insurance brand and an Indian brand, and opted for the latter with the girls shown wearing UltraTech Cement branded jerseys.

6 Stop! Overexposure Ahead

For Sony Entertainment, which holds the broadcast rights of the film, Chak De has been special. A film that has given them consistent ratings and one that they have been very careful of not overexposing, shares Neeraj Vyas, EVP movie cluster, Sony Pictures network (SPN). The film is played on an average six times a year on the channel.

7 Brand Longevity via The Anthem Song

The roar of the film's title-song often plays at sporting events big and small, and keeps reminding us of its default sports anthem status. Part of a plan? Yes, Amin shares: “The producer Aditya Chopra had the confident vision early on that we ought to have a song that could become a cult and a sports anthem.“

Adds Sahni, we did have the objective of attempting a sports anthem which people would enjoy singing every time an Indian team played in any sport anywhere in the world. It ended up becoming that.

By Amit Bapna

 Aug 23 2017 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)