Film Merchandizing in India: Dhoom 3’s Boom
Expected Learning Outcomes
• Difference between the business and revenue models of Hollywood and Bollywood and the respective revenue sources and trends
• When should a film opt for merchandizing and the factors that contribute towards its success
• Reasons for Indian film industry’s lagging trend in terms of merchandizing and debate the best strategies that could be taken up to improve the state of film merchandizing in India
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Bollywood: The Business and Revenue Model
1. The accompanying article states that, “The way Bollywood makes its money is vastly different from the way Hollywood does. Further, the way Bollywood rakes in the moolah today is also very different from the way it did five years back”. What do you think are the differences between the way a Hollywood movie makes money and a Bollywood movie makes money? Can you analyze the same from the point of view of the parameters cited in Exhibit I.
2. In Hollywood it’s the studios that rule the roost, while in India it’s the producers and actors (at least in the case of reigning heroes) who call the shots. Does this difference have any impact on the way the movies are made and money is being made thereof?
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Film Merchandizing: The Global Best Practices
1. It all started with George Lucas (Lucas), during the late 1980s. Famously, Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, was said to have earned close to US$ 1 billion from merchandizing and sequel to the Star Wars films. The 20th Century Fox producers chose to sign away the merchandizing rights rather than give away Lucas a pay rise. Lucas benefited from 20th Century Fox’s lack of belief in merchandizing and thus the spinoffs or memorabilia was born to be an alternative source of revenue for films. Since then L&M (Licencing and Merchandizing) has steadily been growing as a revenue stream for Hollywood. What factors do you think have contributed to this meteoric growth?
2. The film merchandizing has been made popular with the likes of Mickey Mouse, Harry Potter, Spider-man, Iron Man, James Bond, Godzilla, Star Wars, Cinderella, etc. Analyze the factors that can contribute to film merchandizing.
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Film Merchandizing in India: Will Dhoom 3 ’s Boom Last?
1. India has the distinction of producing the highest number of films in a year (for instance, 1,602 films in 2012). But Indians don’t seem to want to take movies home in the form of licenced merchandise or memorabilia. What do you think can be the possible reasons for this aversion?
2. Shahrukh Khan was quoted to have said (when Ra.One ’s merchandise (G-One) was launched by Red Chillies Entertainment), “I have always loved collecting memorabilia of my favourite films and I am hoping that for our films too, if people like them, they should have the option of collecting good quality merchandise”. What kind of memorabilia – toys, games, bags, gadgets, caps, pens, key chains, balloons, upholstery, windscreens, etc., – do you think the Indian audience would like?
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Exhibits
Exhibit I: Hollywood vs Bollywood
Exhibit II: Film Merchandizing Potential