Space of Culture and Brand in Sequel of Telugu Films: A Qualitative Study

Culture, Film And Branding: A Theoretical Review

It is imperative to discuss certain concepts and theories pertaining to branding in the domains of films. Daragh O’Reilly and Finola Kerrigan (2013) in their study ‘A View to a Brand: Introducing the Film Brandscape’ assert that the socio-cultural approach to branding is essential. It is a common practice in film marketing that marketability and playability have engagements with marketplace. Marketability refers to the strengths of a film to its target audience. On the other hand, playability is all about the audience’s response to the film (Kerrigan, 2010).

In their findings, Holly Cooper, Sharon Schembri, and Dale Miller (2010) claim that brand narrative is a multivariate construct the culmination of a multitude of different influences which have bearings on buyers and sellers. As result, consumers attempt to link social and contextual meaning to products and brands through observations of certain brands displayed in the films. In addition, D. Jobber (2004) has rightly observed that successful brand narratives possess the elements of clarity, consistency, competitiveness and credibility.

Yi Zhang (2015) underlines that the brand image has heavy bearings on brand equity which is related to the consumer’s general perception and feeling. This strategy is used by filmmakers to market the audience for their films. M. Lorenzen and F. Ta¨ube (2008) and P. K. Nayar (2009) explore that the star plays a greater role in making a film box office hit in Hindi cinema. It can also be applied to Tollywood in probing the complex nature of the space of culture and brand in sequel of Telugu films in India.