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Purvita Chatterjee

To engage in co-branded promotion

A STILL from the film.

Mumbai , June 23

Hindustan Lever Ltd has decided to use the big budget film `Krrish' to market its largest selling soap brand — Lifebuoy. The FMCG major will engage in a co-branded promotion with the film, which involves printing pictures of Krrish's character on its Lifebuoy packs and also giving away merchandise based on the film.

Explaining the reasons behind choosing Lifebuoy, a HLL official said, "We chose Lifebuoy over the other brands since the brand is all about protection and Krrish's character is also about protecting the world from enemies. But, we will start our marketing initiatives only after a few weeks post the release of the film." In the past, HLL had associated its Lux brand with films; but in the case of Lifebuoy, this is the first time in many years that the soap brand has seen any film based association.

Marketing Initiatives

Apart from the co-promotion planned for Lifebuoy, HLL has also decided to invest behind merchandise from the film to go with its products. It has appointed Pantaloon Retail to create products such as masks and tattoos, cashing in on the popularity of the film. However, all its promotions are currently on hold and the company will wait for the film to release to unleash its marketing initiatives. Considering this is the first time HLL has decided to step up it's spends behind any film brand, it is the genre of the film based on the super hero, which has attracted the FMCG major into investing behind the film.

Co-Branding

According to Mr Rahul Welde, General Manager-Media Services, HLL, "Brand associations with films provide a great opportunity to stand out of the clutter. The important variables - firstly the fit between the movie and the brand, and secondly the genre, cast and scale of the movie. In execution terms we look for association, which goes beyond mere product placement. This is gaining ground and I think it will evolve quite rapidly."

Apart from HLL's Lifebuoy brand, there are other brands such as HPCL's Power and Pidilite's Rangeela Acron and Wills Lifestyle brand of John Players, which will be using co-branded communication to ride on the film.

More Stories on : Strategy | Cinema | Brands | Personal Products | Hindustan Lever Ltd

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HLL to ride on film Krrish to market Lifebuoy

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