Brand Placement in Film Content: Insights From Pakistan’s Reviving Film Industry

Authors

  • Talha Iqbal Department of Mass Communication, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)
  • Dr. Najma Sadiq Department of Mass Communication, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6308-3398
  • Salman Nasir Department of Mass Communication, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)

Keywords:

Brand Placement, Top-grossing Films, Lollywood, Pakistani Film Industry

Abstract

Brand placement has gradually increased in its importance due to the diversity of marketing
communication strategies used by the brand leaders. The product manufacturers have
developed a strong competition regarding placing their goods in the media text. To
understand brand placement techniques, the present study analyzed 16 top-grossing
Pakistani films, from 2014 to 2018. The content analysis was used to investigate product
categories, brand visibility, visual placement, brand association with characters, the context of
placement, and integration of brand with the storyline in the film content. The findings
revealed fast-food restaurants and banks as brand leaders in the overall data. The visual
placements, denoted as seen placement, were abundant, with the placements mostly in neutral
scenes. Overall, there was a lack of association of brands with the film characters. Over a
period of time, there was an increase in the integration of brand placement to the storyline
and central placement was prevalent. Contributing to scarcity of literature on brand
placement in Pakistan, the study provided insight from the example of a struggling film
industry that started its revival just about 20 years ago

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Published

2022-04-19

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

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