I still clearly remember one thing — I must have been around twelve or thirteen years old back then. Star Plus drama serials were ruling every household at that time. One Hindi serial after another would air on TV. Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Kumkum, Kyuki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi — just a few names that were household hits. Women at home — mothers, aunts — would drop everything just to catch each half-hour episode. They were completely hooked on these so-called dramatic soap operas.
Anyway, I’m a Brand Practitioner now, so let’s put that nostalgia aside and talk about branding and marketing for a bit. Back then, following the classic motto “No work? Let’s waste time!”, I used to sit with my mom and aunts and watch those same cheesy drama serials. Honestly, I did enjoy them back then. I don’t know if you remember, but suddenly one day, in every serial, every character — like Anurag Basu, Mr. Bajaj, Prerna — all of them suddenly had the Nokia 1100 phones in their hands. And whenever someone got a call, the signature Nokia ringtone would start playing.
At that age, I didn’t have the faintest clue about marketing or branding. But when I stepped into the vast world of marketing years later, I got introduced to something called Undercover or Stealth Marketing. This strategy is simple — you place a product cleverly inside a movie, series, or soap opera in such a subtle way that as an audience you don’t even realize you’re being marketed to. Of course, if you’re a Brand Practitioner, you see it differently.
Apart from the Hindi serial example, there are tons of other classic cases of undercover or stealth marketing. Take two big Indian movies that made waves recently: Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan and Thalapathy Vijay’s Leo. If you look closely, you’ll see that in Jawan, there’s stealth marketing for Asian Paints and the Zomato food delivery app. In Leo, you’ll notice Vijay, aka Parthiban, using a Samsung Ultra series phone. And whenever he gets a call, the Samsung ringtone plays loud and clear.
Seeing Parthiban holding that Samsung phone and hearing that tune made me feel really nostalgic — it took me right back to those old cheesy Hindi serial days. I connected these two moments of my life and realized that back then, I didn’t even know the M of marketing. But now, at least I can spot these branding tricks here and there. Haha!
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