Take the Big Step
Help her earn livelihood... but does it really help?

(column by Sunanda Roy)

Chinamma hails from a socially backward community of devadasis (literally meaning 'servants of God' but in practice, prostitution) in Mudanguddi village in Raichur district of Karnataka. She is the national winner of micro entrepreneur awards (by Citigroup) from the southern region. Sounds uncanny? Yet, when celebrities working for a social cause, eminent persons from the corporate world and of course non government organizations all team up together, it certainly calls for extra attention.

Organisations dealing with billions of dollars have tilted their mindset of late to focus on the weaker segment of the society. With about the 500 million low-income entrepreneurs around the globe and a minimal of 5% having access to financial services - institutions are trying to gather momentum to enable the untapped rural masses by helping them to realize their dream of being self-dependent. You might not believe that one rug can change your life.

But in reality it does - by providing a job, three meals a day and a child's education. Banking on the poor can be profitable business. A range of players have jumped onto the microfinance bandwagon. NGOs are gradually getting metamorphosed into lending institutions, professionals are setting up microfinance companies & banks are working with groups to provide microfinance.

Some view it as a 'developmental role', while commercial banks call it 'good, sound banking'. Who would not want to raise deposits at a nominal risk? As it has been proved over and over again that the underlying problem has always been access to credit and not interest rates. P. S. Jayakumar, Country Business Manager, Global Consumer Group, Citigroup India agrees that "Micro enterprises have a significant role in building a financially self-sufficient community and it is important that small business owners receive economic support and training." Amen!

(End of Sunanda Roy column)

Go on be a 'bullion'aire
India's love for the 'yellow metal' will blossom

(column by Asif Ahmed)

Gold prices continue to rally both in domestic and international market as the yellow metal touched new heights. In India, gold touched a new high of Rs.9,500 per 10 gram and in international market, gold has already breached the $600 an ounce mark, and was quoted at $637 (spot); the June Futures has already reached a record $645.90.

Silver as well is tracking the 'golden' path, as the metal is at an all-time high of Rs.20,640 per kilogram. Though gold might appear to be costly right now, it remains a good investment opportunity, as experts believe that the metal is still in its initial bull phase and has a lot to offer in future. According to a study carried by ASSOCHAM, the prices of Gold will continue to move northwards.

Speaking at the release of the paper 'Yellow Metal: its future pricing trends', ASSOCHAM President Anil Agarwal said "gold prices are likely to be within the range of Rs.10,000 per 10 grams by October this year and would even exceed Rs.13,000 later in the time to come." According to the report, rising crude oil prices, persistent inflationary pressure globally, prevailing tension in Middle East and a possible economic slowdown are the key factors behind the boom. Gold is the second most preferred investment option after banks deposits in India. No wonder, everybody wants to be a bullionaire!

(End of Asif Ahmed column)

An ebony & ivory rage
Viraj Kalra, Head of Marketing for Planman Motion Pictures shares his unique publicity strategy for Dosar

You're watching the latest blockbuster from Karan Johar's stable; SRK is about to declare his undying love to a sultry lass, who by the way loves her childhood sweetheart Salman Khan. But Sallu is settled in London (of course, in the last scene Sallu was shown bringing home his phirang wife Anna!!). and out pops a question from your neighbour in the cinema hall, who's been trying to make polite conversation with you for the past hour now (the guy has verbal diarrhea?):

"So, how do you think Dharma Productions (Karan Johar's banner, for the uninitiated) marketed this stuff?" Too many eyewitnesses (in a crowded cinema hall) deter you from strangling the man, and anyway SRK's lovelorn dialogue is more important, isn't it? You ignore him. But movie producers cannot afford to ignore the question that easily.

More so in an overcrowded Bollywood mart that churns out more than 400-500 movies a year. Enter movie marketing, the only sureshot weapon in a producer's arsenal today to get a green light at the box office. For a movie to be successful, publicity & popularity need to walk together, but it is publicity that gives popularity a chance. Many great movies go down without a whimper because of inadequate publicity.

If you want your film to be popular you cannot possibly dream of compromising on your film's publicity (imagine Rang De Basanti being promoted as Bhagat Singh was!). Having created my case about the paramount importance of a film's publicity, I now come to the central theme of this piece: to present a case study on the publicity strategy for the black & white Bangla film titled 'Dosar' (Companion). The film released in Kolkata on April 14, 2006 and while I write this piece, it is playing in 12 theatres and pulling full-houses for every show every day.

Faces Win Races: To make-up for the lack of songs, skin show & over the top comedy it was decided that the look of the publicity material (still & moving) should highlight the star power of Konkona & Prosenjit. Konkona is the ruling princess of niche urban classes (after the success of Mr. & Mrs. Iyer, Page-3 and Mixed Doubles); Prosenjit rules the heart of the masses.

For the outdoor campaign, 'Kolkata major' was broken into twelve regions and they were tagged either class or mass, hence Konkona or Prosenjit. So while there were wall posters, pole kiosk and bus back designs that highlighted Prosenjit's face in mass regions, there were bus-shelter, billboard & mobile-van designs to be made visible in affluent Kolkata that donned Konkona's face. The same treatment was given to print ads.

The Plot is the Pilot: While the plot\s not exactly feel-good in entirety, it nevertheless is a story that appeals to married couples. The team realized that for the film to generate mass appeal it had to build universal associations. So, the key associations were woven around the word 'companion' (discount on couple tickets, road shows targeting couples, all visuals highlighting the relationship between Konkona & Prosenjit) and the feeling of insecurity and questioning of trust with taglines like 'Is this happening at your home?'; 'How much do you trust your husband?', et al

Ebony & Ivory Mania: When asked at a press conference "why did you choose to make Dosar in black & white?" Rituporno simply said "call it a directors whim or simply that I did not feel the need to use colour to tell this story, but I promise you that you will forget that the film is in black & white within half an hour of the film starting.” Unknowingly Rituporno gave us an important highlight to cut through clutter and noise. So, we decided to make all our communication material in monotones to break the clutter in this over-coloured world. Eberything shed colour: print & TV adds, outdoor & in-theater publicity, and even event ambience & décor. Planman Motion Pictures’ logo, which otherwise supports shades of blue and gold, also shed colors & turned B&W.

Hoardings: This space became Planman Motion Picture’s primary target because a film hoarding in B&W will have to stand out for its colors (or actually the lack of it). So, Dosar had 15 hoardings and two bus-shelters across strategic locations in Kolkata and created immediate strategic visibility. Dosar tied-up with one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in Kolkata and bartered the prime & prominent hoardings for the sponsor’s logo presence on all film collaterals. Between hoardings, busshelters, bus-backs & wall posters, for those 21 days Kolkata was literally painted B&W.

Radio Partners: A contest called ‘Amar Dosar’ (My Companion) that Planman Motion Pictures suggested to the Radio Stations caught them hook, line & sinker. English/Hindi speaking listeners in the age-group of 20 to 35 were targeted through Power FM while Bangla speaking listeners in the age-group of 30 to 60 were reached through Amar FM. A month long campaign with ads, contests, teasers, RJ mentions, crossovers, interviews to RJ’s emceeing Dosar road shows, this partnership created high-impact publicity for the film.

The ‘Compatibility Check’: Malls are red hot in Kolkata now. Here Planman Motion Pictures entertained the shoppers with a road-show titled ‘The Compatibility Check’. With an opportunity to serenade and propose your companion to actually checking on your compatibility with him/ her; participants got an opportunity to walk the red (in this case black) carpet to the premiere of the film and meet the stars in person, to walking home with a three-seater black & white leather couch; among other inducements, this concept road-show became a rage with the shoppers at the mall.

Ebony & Ivory Exhibition: We turned the colourful and popular Atrium Cafe at The Park into B&W, to announce that Planman Motion Pictures next film Dosar is black & white and revolves around the theme of companionship. For Dosar's publicity, was the black & white exhibition. Six feet tall monochrome freeze frames of celebrity couples and families like the Bachchans, Neetu Singh & Rishi Kapoor, Sharmila & Soha, Aparna Sen & Konkona Sen, Arshad Varsi & Maria to six other such magical pictures photographed by champion lens-men like Daboo Ratnani, Jagdish Mali, Jatin Kampani, Satyaki Ghosh and others were exhibited on sleek black isles inside the Atrium Café. All of these strategies set the ball rolling for the publicity campaign of Dosar and the results were evident in the enormous advance booking with which the box-office closed on the day before the movie’s release. Publicity continues even after the release but its real task stops (should stop) on The Final Friday and it is from here on that for a good film, popularity takes over. The popularity has already taken over for Dosar. Cheers for Rituporno, Prosenjit & Konkona! According to Shubho Shekhar Bhattacharjee, CEO of Planman Motion Pictures, “Dosar is a film for all to see and we will release sub-titled/dubbed prints of the film soon in Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore”....