Bodyguard – how “Brand” wins over “Brain”

I watched the much-awaited Bollywood flick, Bodyguard, recently and thought to myself: “This is such a clear example of how brand power prevails over logic for the Indian consumer.” The brand involved is Salman Khan.

Click to view official trailer of 'Bodyguard'

In my books, the movie lacks a convincing rendition, the songs are average, roles of supporting actors are more ‘insignificant’ than ‘supporting,’ the fight sequences are beyond far-fetched and the dialogues, crass. Despite these several shortcomings, the one right choice of casting Salman Khan much more than makes up for the inadequacies. The movie turned out to be the largest grosser, beating ‘3 Idiots,’ which made me feel rather uncomfortable with the Indian consumer’s choice.

Then again, I am one of those consumers.

India’s ‘scale advantage’ and delivering what the audience would expect from a Salman Khan-starrer is what ensured Bodyguard’s success. After delivering hits with ordinary movies like Ready and Bodyguard, one needs to accept the fact that “Brand Salman” is the most bankable brand in Bollywood today.

What Ready and Bodyguard did right was tailor the movie to suit Salman Khan instead of the other way round. Instead of playing a gamble by showing the actor in a different light/avatar, the movies simply continued with showcasing the elements of the actor that his fans identify him with – an exhibition of his physique, over-the-top fight scenes, dialogues oozing machismo and ludicrous comedy. The movies were more an infomercial of Salman Khan, harnessing only (or mostly) his strengths and portraying him to be bigger than the movie itself. Come to think of it, even the more talented Aamir Khan can probably not pull that off. That is the beauty of brand power. A strong brand makes appeal trump logic.

Another brave and brilliant move was to release the movie on Wednesday instead of Friday, creating cinematic history. Despite movies being screened in theatres from previous weeks, the Salman Khan-starrer garnered 85% release clearance from distributors across India. This gave the movie a huge advantage to cash in on the holidays due to festivals on Wednesday and Thursday. The results spoke for themselves, with the movie raking in over Rs. 20 crores on Day 1.

The marketing budget set aside for the movie was also by far the highest in the industry, at Rs. 22 crores. Having said that, the promoters did not hard sell the movie, since the target audience was so large and loyal that it guaranteed a good opening as long as there was enough buzz. The marketing was not as innovative as that of Ghajini, but the systematic TV, radio, print and online promotions reached significant eyeballs and created the required buzz.

The sheer power of “Brand Salman” is evident through the 65:35 ratio in favour of single screens showcasing the movie, indicating not only a large but also widespread fan base.

I strongly believe that Salman Khan’s philanthropic efforts are tremendously helping him with marketing and with increasing his fan base. Apparently, an autowala had approached the actor’s parents in their Mumbai residence after hearing about the actor’s benevolence. Salman Khan more than obliged by financing the surgery of the autowala’s daughter, thus creating a huge fan and a mobile advertisement of his movies (courtesy the auto rickshaw). The actor has helped several people in distress through such acts of compassion.

It takes a lifetime to cultivate an image and develop a reputation. Despite his casanova image, Salman Khan has consistently contributed to society. His charitable work has clearly overshone his antics and his recently launched NGO, Being Human, is also acting as a powerful marketing tool. Indians are an emotional people. Acts of charity and social upliftment will always go down well with the audience and only help garner increased support.

Bodyguard has been a great lesson in how Brand wins over Brain.