MUMBAI: It’s not just the Finding Nemo fans who are impatiently waiting to throng the theatres for its sequel Finding Dory, several brands are equally excited for the latest animated delight from Pixar and Disney that will release on 17 June in Hindi and English in 2D, 3D and IMAX formats across 600 screens in India.
Including Myntra, Bioworld, Trucare, Hamleys, Gingercrush, Firstcry, Colgate and Yakult -- as many as 16 Indian brands have come on board to celebrate the animated adventures Nemo, Dory and Marlin. As per Disney India, that is the highest number of brand integrations that any animated movie has achieved in India.
Which doesn’t come as a surprise given the increasing importance of kids in purchase decisions in families as per industry recognised Turner’s New Generations report 2016. With the growing popularity of animated movies in India amongst kids, brands too are paying keen attention and increasing their visibility.
Explaining why Finding Dory would strike a chord with a larger audience, Disney India consumer products head and VP Abhishek Maheshwari said, “Finding Nemo was one of the most successful Disney and Pixar movies and we are very confident that the then younger audience, who are now grown up to be young adults or parents will come watch Finding Dory and at the same time introduce the franchise and its lovable characters to their kids, nephews and nieces.”
Apart from the usual brands that are believed to have kids as their primary TG, Finding Dory has seen media promotions and merchandising deals across a wide range of categories. While Myntra, Bioworld and Trucare have signed merchandising deals for its apparel range , brands My Baby Excel, Frank and Rowan have struck merchandising deals to launch for the new Finding Dory toys product line.
Excited about launching an apparel collection for the much anticipated Disney film, Myntra Fashion Brands head Abhishek Verma said, “The in-house brand, YK (Yellow Kite) has specially associated with Disney for a fun filled Finding Dory kids wear collection. We are extremely excited about our collaboration and look forward to its success".
In the household segment, Essfil is producing special Finding Dory themed frames and mugs, while Raghuvir Lifestyle is weaving bedsheets with the colourful characters on.
For the consumer electronics segment, Macmerise and Hamee have signed deals for their power banks and mobile covers.
Retail and eCommerce players didn’t lose out either in making the most of the eyeballs the movie promises to grab with Hamleys, Gingercrush and Firstcry on board as brand partners.
“Activations around movies gives us a good opportunity to engage with the customers and create lasting impressions, especially if there is good movie merchandise available. Finding Dory is one such successful story where we are seeing a lot of traction on the sales front with animatronic models of Dory, Nemo and others selling as hot cakes in our stores even before the movie hits the theatres. We are planning multiple activities across our stores in association with Disney over the next two weeks to promote the movie and the merchandise,” shared Hamleys head of products Manu Sharma on how associating with animated films that targets kids is a significant marketing move for brands.
The media spends for the movie’s promotion are in the range of between Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore approximately for each media association, while the merchandising deals for toys and apparels etc., start at Rs 50 lakh and go up to Rs 1 crore as well. As per industry estimates, these brand associations amount to between Rs 15and 18 crore worth of media value for the studio.
Going by insights from media management agencies, brands like Hamleys and Yakult with kids as their TG would predominantly spend on kids channels for media promotions of the movie, followed by English GEC channels to target young parents.
Apart from the media promotional deals that the studio has signed with Colgate and Yakult, Disney has focused the film’s marketing strategy on two key points -- firstly, it reached out to Finding Nemo fans and built affinity towards Dory among kids; and secondly by creating a local relativity in the market by inducing local elements.
The film was dubbed in Hindi with dialogues written by Mayur Puri. Puri and his team of writers along with the extraordinary voice cast have given a unique twist to the Hindi dubbed version of Finding Dory, by giving the characters special localized accents – such as the Nawabi Sea Lions as seen in the Hindi trailer.
Speaking of his association, Puri said, “After The Jungle Book and Captain America: Civil War, this is my third project with Disney India and I cannot think of a better project to complete our 'hat-trick'. It has been a learning experience as well as a joyride to bring Dory, Nemo and a host of new adorable characters to life. I'm extremely proud of the Hindi version which keeps the essence of the original intact but is more relatable for the Indian audience.”
Disney India had earlier used the same strategy which successfully worked for its popular international release The Jungle Book.
Disney’s marketing strategy further included tie-ups with media houses to host special ‘Bring your kids to work’ activities wherein kids were treated to fun Dory related activities to build affinity towards the character.
In addition, Disney India has partnered with PVR cinemas for on ground activities like ‘Doryminders’, reminding people of movie going etiquette and the ‘Finding Dory’ treasure hunt, which allows lucky moviegoers to win exciting prices. Disney has also partnered with Imagica and Hamleys for Dory centric activities and photo opportunities with interactive standees.
