Synopsis

AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL Dissertation FORMAT FOR OUTLINE OF PROPOSED RESEARCH WORK

Name of the Student: Anuj Kumar Handa Programme: MBA (M&S) Contact No. 9654377588 Name of Faculty Guide: Mr. Ashok Sharma

Class Roll No.: A-43 AUUP Enrollment No.: A0102212043 E-Mail id: anujhanda29@gmail.com

1.

Title of the Research:

Advent of animation characters in Indian industry A Study

2.

Rationale of proposed investigation :

This study will help advertising agencies and various companies to understand the power of cartoon brands and help them reach out to a greater audience at a relatively lower cost. A cartoon mascot is the one thing that can help them stand out and separate them from the competition. In a diverse market like India where mass brands have not less than 16 language translations for their ads, mascots are a very powerful means to create a stronger connect with the consumers. It also helps minimizing surfing out of the channel during commercial breaks.

3.

Review of work already done on the subject :

Sahana Sarkar ( 2012) The Indian animation industry today stands at Rs 12 billion, and is projected to grow to Rs 42 billion by 2009. Animation in India is currently riding on two key factors - a large base of highly skilled labour, and low cost of production. While the industry is gaining prominence steadily, several important factors such as the government's role in supporting the animation industry, producing original content locally, and the importance of training, will steer to heights. . Neeley S M, Schumann D W (2004) Purpose - to assess the influence of child-targeted commercials with animated spokescharacters (actions and voice) on children's product knowledge and desires. Design/methodology/approach - draws on the relevant studies to discuss the ethics of using spokes-characters in advertising targeted at children; and homes in on some of the reasons why

advertisers may find animated advertising so effective for young consumers. Puts forward that while previous research findings reveal that children can develop character/product recognitions, the evidence that this can develop into product preference remain unproven. Adopting a Hierarchy of Effects model explores the way that advertising impacts on children's behaviour, and applies the model to two studies looking at US pre-school children's attitudes towards animated advertising. Outlines how the first study explored the influence of animated spokes-character action on a child's attention and recognition, and the second investigated the influence of auditory message complexity in young children's attention and retention of information; describes the collection of data through interviews and child observations. Findings - reveals that advertisements containing an animated spokes-character generate high levels of attention, character recognition and liking, and product recognition and liking. Outlines the problems associated with children's limited processing abilities and records that while they could easily recognize the perceptual features of the advertisements, as the tasks changed to require a higher level of cognitive processing, the children experienced difficulties in storage and retrieval of this character information. Research limitations/implications - the assumption that spokes-character was beneficial to the development of product knowledge and preference, remained untested; refers to, among other things, the small sample size. Urges further research into, among other things, the influence of parental information on a child's perceptions of advertising spokes-characters; discusses the implications of the research for advertising policies related to children

Shikha Saroj (March 2006)

Ronnie Screwvala, CEO, UTV said, This last year has been one of consolidation as well as establishing India as an animation destination. It is not to be viewed as a place for competition or cheap outsourcing, but more a place for high quality product with greater and improving creative inputs. The next three years will see incremental growth, primarily because lead players will need to establish good price benchmarks. India will also evolve as a local animation base which will allow us to originate content.

Animation enjoys a high level of universal acceptance and the industry in India is witnessing a revolution that will steal away the thunder from visual mediums such as popular TV serials and films. Though animation in popular films was earlier limited to few clips in movies such as Hum Tum and Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, movies like Bhaggmati - The Queen of Fortunes and Hanuman have revolutionised animation in India. Though animation was not considered profitable in India, the medium has witnessed growing acceptance since the late

90s. One of the prime factors of animations growth is the demand from overseas market as India is a cheap production alternative. However, many feel that this factor is a deterrent to animations development as people are focusing on providing content for international markets and neglecting India. Sushil Kumar Agrawal, MD and CEO, Ultra Group, said, India being an outsourcing hub for

animation is a problem as there is not enough content being produced for the local market. However, some players are now developing content for India. Production houses are realising the importance of aggressive marketing to promote animated content. Factors such as merchandising and producing music videos are conducive to animations development. Mattels movie Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus is the 6th Barbie Princess fairytale. Launched on October 9, 2005, it is the first Barbie blockbuster to have special 3D sections in the DVD. Nanette DSa, VP-Marketing, Mattel Toys India Pvt Ltd said, This is an endeavour to offer an international quality product to promote the movie Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. The lyrics have been written in Hindi in a manner that will connect with every little Barbie fan across the country. The song is beautifully written with a catchy tune, something you will find all girls humming. Ultra Movie Channel Ltd. and Percept Picture Company heavily marketed Benjamin, the friendly elephant and Hanuman respectively through multiple revenue streams such as merchandising and other innovative marketing strategies. Ultra has merchandising rights for all Benjamin characters for India and plans to market products like stationery, toys, games, consumer durables, ceramics, apparels, furnishings, gifting items, greeting cards, and party products.

Pri S. Jothi (2003).

Can you imagine anyone but a banker or investment professional telling you how to invest your hard-earned money? Discount celebrities who endorse almost anything under the sun, does Chintamani ring a bell? This claymation character (clay animation) representing ICICI Prudential was a makeover for the insurance sector, which until then used emotional ads showing how a dead spouses insurance cover helped the family tide over financial crises. Those must have been early days, but today Chintamani has company Pandu Mangal of Amaron Batteries, Boomer Man, Cheetos Cheetah and the Kelloggs team of animated characters, to name a few. Why are advertising agencies today liberally using visual effects (VFX) and animation in television commercials (TVCs)? Because new technologies are available, accessible, affordable and obtain the desired results faster than what was possible a few years ago. An advertising creative can be created on many media real life (shoot), animation, computer graphics and claymation. You use what is best to bring to life the story idea. It could be a real-life shoot or animation or graphics or a combination of them all, says Madhukar Sabnavis, Regional Director - Thought Leadership and Country Head - Discovery & Planning, Ogilvy & Mather (O&M). His agency created the Amaron claymation campaign as well as the relatively-low-on-VFX ad for Cadburys Dairy Milk.

For Cadburys Dairy Milk, O&M used two ad formats a real-life shoot with actor Amitabh Bachchan for the Kuch meetha ho jaye campaign and an animated film for kids for the Kitna ma zaa aye re campaign. Why? Because the ads targeted different consumer groups.

For Hutch too, O&M used different formats. The boy and pug campaign focused on network coverage, the boy-girl animation promoted value-added services and claymation was used to sell the mobile TV concept. The Amaron campaign was fully animated because the idea was based on lesser-known folk stories and we felt claymation was the best way to deliver this idea, says Sabnavis. RK Swamy BBDO used animation to describe the working of client Hawkins Ventura pressure cooker because it could not be captured through live action, The agency has used technology to demonstrate products such as ICI Dulux, Brylcreem, Gillette Vector Plus and Orient Fans. The use of VFX and animation in these cases is clearly to communicate a specific message, otherwise impossible through direct shooting. In 1998, Fountainhead Communications used animation for client CavinKares Nyle shampoo, where a wood nymph with silky shiny hair was created to prance around the shampoo bottle. More recently, it created an ad for client Fairever fairness cream, where a model going through a milkfall (waterfall made of milk) would become fairer as she came out on the other side.

Today technology is no longer a means to save costs because companies are willing to pay more to get the right look and feel for the ad, . Has this dependence on technology resulted in roles shifting from the ad agency to the postproduction houses as in who calls the shots while making.

4.

Objective(s): To understand why cartoon branding is more effective than celebrity endorsements. To study consumer awareness about toon brands and mascots. Ascertain advertising reach of companies using toon brands and mascots. To compare the cost of cartoon branding v/s celebrity branding.

5.

Major Hypothesis (s): No hypothesis (Cross tabulation, Bar Graph)

6.

Materials and Methods :

Material regarding the study of marketing communication will be collected through various research papers, books and some internet sources. Primary data collects through questionnaire conducted for customers Secondary data collects through research papers, magazines, newspaper articles. Descriptive research will be carried out.

7.

Tentative Chapter wise details of proposed research: 1. Introduction 2. Literature Review 3. Objective of Study 4. Research Methodology 5. Findings & Analysis 6. Recommendation and conclusion

8.

References Cited: Sarkar Sahana, (2012), Indian animation: Realising its true potential, Page 4-5. Neeley S M, Schumann D W (2004) Journal of Advertising, Autumn 2004, Volume: 33
Issue: 3 pp.7-23 (17 pages)

Brand Communication, Contemporary approaches by Naveen Das (issue: 2007) Business and marketing magazine (issue: 15th ) Strategic Brand ManagementResearch paper, Dec 2008,

Jothi. Pri S. (2003). Toons sell . . . and sometimes they don't: An advertising spokes-character typology and exploratory study. Proc. Conf. Am. Acad. Advert., pp. 43-52

Saroj Shikha, (March 2006),Animation: Sleeping giant begins to stir Page 5.

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Synopsis Approved

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