Discovery pulls off a coup in in-film branding with 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan'

One of the leading ladies, Anushka Sharma, as Discovery Channel employee Akira, became a voice for the brand, says Discovery Network head Rahul Johri, who calls the integration of the brand with the story as an 'interplay between fact and fiction'

Shachi Tapiawala | Mumbai | November 28, 2012

The brand association of Discovery Channel and Yash Raj Films in the late Yash Chopra's last film 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' was undoubtedly a coup in brand integration in the entertainment industry. The film shows an important member of the cast as an ambassador for the Discovery brand and a vehicle for multiple marketing and media opportunities. The uniqueness of the initiative is that it turned out to be a natural fit in the script, maintaining the brand prestige and values of the channel.

Rahul Johri

Discovery Channel leveraged the mainstream medium – Bollywood – to stretch its reach across India and abroad. Talking to BestMediaInfo.com on how the channel established a unique brand connect, Rahul Johri, Senior Vice-President and General Manager – South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, said, “We associated with the movie 'Jab Tak Hain Jaan' during the production stage purely because of two names – Yash Raj and SRK. Additionally, Yash Raj Films was very upfront and open about our brand's association in the storyline and the plot. There has been fantastic response in terms of brand connect. More than Discovery just being there as a part of the film, it was the first for us or any company to initiate this kind of integration.”

Discovery Channel's association with 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' required a smart strategy to establish the channel's association with the story while not deviating from the core values. In the film, the goal of one of the female leads, Akira, played by Anushka Sharma, is to work for Discovery Channel in its London office. She chances upon the opportunity, in the form of Shah Rukh Khan who is employed with a special unit of the Army and is an expert at defusing bombs. She goes on to convince her seniors to produce a documentary on him – 'The Man Who Cannot Die'. The audience discovers the entire story through Anushka's eyes.

Besides shooting in various locales, Anushka was also filmed at Discovery Channel's London office, making the experience as real as possible for viewers. In the film, viewers could see the cohesive branding with the crew members in Discovery T-shirts, lanyards, stationeries and Anushka's camera.

Johri elaborated, “This integration was more distinguished than other in-film advertisements as it was more of an interplay between fact and fiction. While watching the film, you don't even feel it is an association or integration as Discovery is a part of the script!”

Anushka, as the Discovery Channel employee Akira, became the voice for Discovery Channel. Akira introduced herself as a Discovery Channel employee while speaking of her life at Discovery and her quest to discover the truth behind the compelling story of 'The Man Who Cannot Die'. This not only established Discovery Channel's core brand values of credibility and trust but also helped it garner its share of voice among the plethora of promotions around the film.

The association was promoted digitally during its release and also through Discovery Network's eight channels. Johri said, “I believe that there are multiple mediums available and hence there should be a balance of promotional mediums to promote all activities. It should be a media mix and we too promoted the association using a multi-media platform.”

Shachi@BestMediaInfo.com

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