The fourth Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) opening this week, promises the perfect present for global brands aiming for an intelligent corporate social and cultural marketing campaign this Christmas.
Whilst not long-established as a festival and ostensibly a not-for-profit cultural event, the millions of dollars being poured into the occasion, combined with the opulent Dubai backdrop offers much of the glitz and glamour of more established festivals such as Cannes.
Even the cornerstone of Film and Showbiz, ‘Variety’ magazine, is showing interest in the potential deals rumoured to be struck around the pools and sand dunes at one of the world’s richest towns.
Entrepreneurs after a new direction on their map to opportunity will also no doubt head East for a strategic ‘foot in the door’ to a fast growing regional film market with global aspirations. (International collaborated movies like Monsoon Wedding (2001) (India/USA/France/Italy/Germany) took $13.9 million (£7.1m) at the box office).
Movie making has always been big business. According the Guinness Book of Records in 2005 the USA made 600 major movies at a cost of $13,945,000,000 – an average of $19,950,000 per movie. The total world feature movie production reached 4,603. The top three movie-making countries are: India producing 1,041 movies in 2005 alone. USA, 699 (2005). Japan, 356 (2005). However, Uncle Sam still leads the way for countries bringing in the dollars at the box office – $9,420,000,000 (Gross in 2006). All that excludes branding opportunities created for movie merchandise and sponsorships.
Away from the big box office bucks, international film festivals give brands the opportunity to support worthy local creative community initiatives such as film making workshops encouraging people to express fears, dreams and ambitions.
The blockbuster ‘Michael Clayton’ is opening the festival, featuring over 141 films from 52 counties, including India and China. (The movie’s lead actor George Clooney will attend a star-studded Opening Night Gala). Sharon Stone will also be making a charity appearance. All this strengthens the cultural fusion between the West and Middle East.
Natural supporting roles
Film and brands go together like cinema and popcorn. In a turbulent world, movies offer brands the chance to be associated with a creative vision of hope, which, through great story telling, explores common human traits and transcends superficial cultural differences.
This year, Baghdad is also to host its own international film festival with movie contributions from Egypt, Jordan and Iran. Other established Middle East film festivals like the Haifa Film Festival, Eilat Film Festival and especially the DOCAVIV festival already attracts international brand sponsors including Fed Express and Orange.
Big movies. Big business
In addition to DIFF giving distributors the chance to market films in various territories, the showcase will help the local economy show-off venues, movie studios, entertainments and attractions to businesses and families alike. That kind of exposure builds local brands from telecoms to coffee shops; attracting passing trade from movie-moguls and stars looking to reserve a spot in one of Dubai’s exclusive holiday retreats as well as long-term business.
In an age where brands depend on media such as imagery and film to convey corporate messages to worldly-wise consumers whose tastes are influenced by global influences, Middle Eastern festivals like DIFF offer a real challenge to the notion that film and razzmatazz should be confined to the hills of Hollywood.
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 10:04 amand is filed under media, Misc, Tourism and travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
