Being movie enthusiasts, my father and I use to deliberate about them now and then. Recently, my father re-watched the 1967 Tamil mystery thriller, ‘Adhey Kangal’, produced by AVM Productions, on Amazon Prime Video. After watching the flick, he mentioned recollecting a then print marketing strategy for ‘Cinthol’ and A. C. Tirulokachandar’s directorial effort.

He said the production house or the Godrej Consumer Products Company Ltd (GCPL) owned brand had then strategized newspaper advertisements quizzing readers the number of instances on the brand name ‘Cinthol’ featuring in the movie. And, they were asked to mail their answers to the address specified in the advert. Likewise, there was a contest where consumers were encouraged to dispatch ‘Cinthol’ soap’s wrappers by post. Also, the advertisements carried an announcement on considerable rewards for winners of the contests. Thereby, prodding the readers to watch the movie as well as to purchase ‘Cinthol‘ soaps.

Marketing Journo

It was a scene from the movie that enabled my father hark back to the strategy.

The narration of the scene sets off with the heroine and her friends shown indulging actively in social work. One among them bathes a couple of kids of the locality. A little one who awaits in queue for his turn carries Cinthol Body Talcum Powder (Probably!) and soap apiece, with the sides of both products carrying the brand name facing the camera. The lady who helps in bathing gets the soap from the kid. And then comes a close-up where the woman shows the brand name more prominently and then unwraps the soap’s cover.

In this day and age when product placement or embedded marketing has become more apparent even in TV News Channels – brand names affixed to laptop’s top cover – it is interesting to know of an instance in yesteryear and the print marketing strategy coupled with it.