IIM Bangalore to do a case study on Bollywood PR agency

IIM institutes across the country are known for their talented and industrious students, and of course for their in depth case studies of various fields. Now we hear that IIM Bangalore will soon be doing a case study on Bollywood film and celebrity PR agency Spice. In a first of its kind, the management scientists will be making efforts to attain insights into Bollywood marketing.?

More importantly, this case study would be part of Media and Entertainment curriculum, wherein they will keenly study the process where films and individuals have opened up as brands, since Bollywood has become a strong contributor to popular culture and communication professionals have been exercising soft power over the Indian consumers. In this process, IIM Bangalore reached out to the Bollywood marketing and communication agency, Spice to develop a case on them.

The case disclosed the inception of the agency and their role in positioning of various big and small budget films that went on to become super successful. Commenting on doing a case study on Spice, Dr S. Raghunath, Professor Corporate Strategy and Policy IIM Bangalore says, "As a professor at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, I have researched media and entertainment industry and I teach an elective course on Strategic Management in Media and Entertainment Industry and an executive education programme on Business Management in Media and Entertainment Industry.When I completed the case on Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films and the movie release of 3 Idiots, I knew Spice was involved in expanding their reach where regional cinema dominated the regional, small town and rural markets. From published sources, I had information about their involvement with other blockbusters."

Later talking about the agency itself and his findings, Dr. Raghunath adds, "The Spice case discussion session with the students highlighted the importance of pre-release positioning of Bollywood movies as they are extremely perishable products being launched in a highly competitive market. In India, every weekend is an opening weekend with new Hindi feature films facing some form of competition from English and regional language films releasing on the same day or continuing attraction of the previous week's blockbuster or appeal of another Hindi film of a different genre releasing on the same day."