marketing/ branding in line with Florida's (2004) strategies. Florida and ..... performing a death-defying stunt on the planet's highest skyscraper? Online at:.
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The UAE & Contemporary Film Marketing: From Film to Place Brand 1. Introduction The arts have been deployed as an element of urban development/ regeneration and place marketing/ branding in line with Florida’s (2004) strategies. Florida and Mellander (2010) and Pratt (2009) among others have indicated the instrumentality of deploying the creative industries in this space. Pratt (2009: 1043) highlights the centrality of such activities in strategies of ‘place-based competition for inward investment’. Our paper considers this in relation to the deployment of the film industry in developing place branding activities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In doing so, we draw on place branding, cultural geography and film marketing literature to develop our analytical framework. The following sections introduce the key literature, our methods and reflect on our findings before brief conclusions are offered. 2. Conceptual framework O’Reilly and Kerrigan (2013) provide three frameworks which illustrate their approach to film branding, including the Film Production-Consumption Matrix; the Socio-Cultural Construction of Film Brands Framework; and the Film Brandscape. Their 2 x 2 matrix focused on different aspects of the relationship between the producer and consumer. Quadrant 1 (P2P) represents the film production culture aspect; the interactions between a film’s investors, producer, director, actors, crew, placed brands, and intermediaries such as talent agents and product placement brokers. These interactions and discussions shape the eventual brand offering, incorporating back-office, off-stage and behind-the-scenes artistic or commercial activities. Quadrant 2 (P2C) represents communication between a film’s promoters and distributors and the film’s consumers, for example leading actors appearing on promotional talk-shows, or directors interviewed at film festivals, teasers, trailers, and posters. While this framework acknowledges the role of place in the film brandscape, the focus is primarily on the impact of place on the marketing of a film, so aligned to the country of origin effect literature. In this paper, we broaden the scope to consider the implications for place marketing which can be derived from various film industry activities. In doing so, we revisit the film marketing brandscape (O’Reilly & Kerrigan, 2013) and consider how the various elements of the brandscape link to film related place branding. 3. Research context While Patterson (2010), Plaza et al. (2012) and Rentschler et al. (2012) focused on the role of art galleries in urban development or enhancing cultural capital, the role of film in this space has not been researched to the same extent. By situating our study in the UAE context, we must be mindful of the centrality of the visual arts in the wider policy of development through the creative industries, namely the location of a new Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi. Indeed the rivalry between Dubai (the commercial centre) and Abu Dhabi, its richer sibling and state capital, has spanned sectors from infrastructure development (transport and construction); through education, sports tourism and events (including film and music festivals). Indeed for every event in Dubai there is an Abu Dhabi version be it Emirates stadium (Arsenal FC, London, UK) versus Etihad Stadium (Manchester City, UK), the DIFF (Dubai International Film Festival) versus ADFF (Abu Dhabi Film Festival). The rivalry between ADFF after its debut in 2007 is only about half a decade old, as the DIFF existed long before in 2004. Indeed DIFF has proved itself to be one of the household names in the region’s film industry circles: “In the span of a few years, the Dubai International Film Festival has established itself as the leading film festival in the (Arab Gulf) region... promoting and
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celebrating cultures from around the world ...faithful to its core remit of 'bridging cultures’...” 1 It follows, therefore, that DIFF is seen as central to strategies of presenting Dubai as open and welcoming to the outside world. In the case of Abu Dhabi, on the weekend of 11 October 2012 Richard Gere was in town to première his film “Arbitrage.” This is reminiscent of Tom Cruise’s scaling of Dubai-based Burj Khalifa (acclaimed tallest building in the world), in a chase sequence of the film “Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol.” In this paper we use two case illustrations from two star vehicle films, to evaluate the efforts of two populous Arab states (Dubai & Abu Dhabi) to develop their economies through film related place branding. In so doing, our paper seeks to extend the model of O’Reilly and Kerrigan (2013) to incorporate the role of film in place branding, specifically in the UAE context. With case illustrations of Arbitrage and “Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol,” we also reflect upon the James Bond franchise identified in O’Reilly and Kerrigan (2013). 4. Conceptual framework The film marketing brandscape (O’Reilly and Kerrigan, 2013) consists of a number of brand elements (see figure 1) and the authors argue that the combination of these elements should be considered in developing marketing strategies for film. This is similar to the complexity involved in place or destination marketing. In this paper we argue that this model may also be used in developing film related place marketing and we illustrate how the various elements of the brandscape can be incorporated into a place marketing campaign. Schroeder (2002, p. 3) notes the importance of the image in contemporary society where he argues that we are “organized around attention, in which strategic communication… incorporates visual images designed to capture attention, build brand names, create mindshare, produce attractive products and services, and persuade citizens, consumers and voters”.
Figure 1: The Film Brandscape from O’Reilly and Kerrigan (2013) 1
This is according to HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Honorary Chairman Emirates Group. See DIFF News (2012). Retrieved from: http://www.dubaifilmfest.com/index.php/en/about/about-diff/
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Linked to this, Beeton (2010) has indicated the range of images that destinations present through film. O’Reilly and Kerrigan (2013) identified five “brand elements” – people (actors, directors, etc.); characters (role in film); product placement (notably commercial brands); place/ tourism brands (locations); studio brands (e.g. the likes of Warner Bros etc.); and country of origin (Hong Kong’s martial arts vis-à-vis Bollywood). With regard to the deployment of film in place branding, we will consider how these categories link back to the case of UAE in the following sections. Film related tourism has been investigated by O’Connor et al. (2008, 2010), Kim and Richardson (2003) and Croy (2010) has considered the strategic dimensions impacting on film related destination brand management. This paper unites these perspectives in broadening the scope of destination branding through film to consider not just the film in its entirely, but how the various elements of the brandscape contribute to place marketing. 5. The Impossible Mission- (Film) Branding Dubai In 2010, Tom Cruise was in Dubai filming Mission Impossible IV. This attracted press attention as Cruise was reported to be performing his own stunts. The Daily Mail (25th November 2010) reported that; ‘A figure was clearly perched on top of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, which stands at 2,717 feet - and judging by his adrenaline junkie behaviour, it's very likely to be Cruise’. Here we see Cruise living up to the identity of his fictional character Ethan Hunt who is associated with hanging off skyscrapers, cliffs or other thrilling scenarios. The stunt for ‘Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol’ thought to be part of a chase sequence set in Dubai was described thus (see Fernandez, 2010): “Between Scientology and all that couch jumping, Tom Cruise’s career hasn’t exactly flourished in recent times, but it seems the actor is literally back on top of things. The 48-year-old action movie star has wowed Dubai’s residents with his stunt work for “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”, currently being shot in the emirate over a three-week period.” Over a year later the stunt is still making headlines (see McGinley, 14 December 2011) with some interesting quotes with far-reaching implications: “The Top Gun actor, who also produced the action flick, said he had a fantastic experience filming in Dubai and said many of his Hollywood contacts had shown interest in the city.” It further went on to state (see McGinley, 14 December 2011): “Cruise, who spent four days filming action scenes for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on the world’s tallest building, etched the message to his wife and family in the tower’s spire. The marking is believed to consist of Cruise’s signature, a heart symbol and an inscription to his wife and children, who had travelled to Dubai to watch the shoot.” Three of the five film brandscape elements are identified in the current study (i.e. the person, character, and place) as portrayed by Tom Cruise (person brand) scaling the acclaimed tallest building in the world in “Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol,” set in Dubai (place brand). In relation to the character brand it has also been reported that (Daily Mail, 2010): “Cruise apparently relived his Days of Thunder glory recently on a night out with 75 of his Mission Impossible crew and castmates, including British actor Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner, out go-karting at the Dubai Kartdrome going by his “character's name from the 1990 race car film ...Cole Trickle...” We can look to celebrity branding literature such as Rojek (2001) to understand the role of the actor/ character brand within film related place branding. What we can see is the
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transference of cultural capital from Cruise as an actor and his rebellious; thrill seeking characters in Days of Thunder and Mission Impossible, Ghost Protocol. Taken as part of the overall strategy of opening up Dubai to international investors and visitors, this transference can be seen as a key strategic tool. In understanding this with respect to the film brandscape we can turn to O’Reilly and Kerrigan’s (2013) 2 x 2 Film Production-Consumption Matrix. First, Quadrant 1 (P2P), which represents the interactions between a film’s investors, producer, director, actors and discussions shape the eventual brand offering, incorporating back-office, off-stage and behind-the-scenes artistic or commercial activities. Second, Quadrant 2 (P2C) represents communication between a film’s promoters and distributors and the film’s consumers, for example leading actors appearing on promotional talk-shows, or directors interviewed at film festivals, teasers, trailers, and posters. In the case of Dubai, the process of negotiating access to the location and key landmarks for filming can be seen as P2CP activities which can produce positive brand associations for Dubai as a destination. Similarly, the publicity activity generated during filming, subsequent interviews relating to filming in Dubai and enjoying it as a destination can be seen in the P2C quadrant. Just as Dubai benefitted from the Tom Cruise association, Abu Dhabi latched unto Richard Gere. Prior to his trip to Abu Dhabi for the première of Arbitrage (with co-star Susan Sarandon) at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Aftab, 11 October 2012), Gere was quoted as saying: “I've been to Dubai, but never Abu Dhabi. I have absolutely no expectations of what it will be like, but I'm looking forward to going there.” It is also worth noting that O’Reilly and Kerrigan (2013) used the James Bond Franchise as their Case Exemplar, considering that it “is one of the most successful projects in the history of film.” Indeed Kerrigan (2010:45) identifies franchises as “repackaged, repositioned and recycled” film products. According to them (O’Reilly and Kerrigan, 2013): “Following Stern (1996) (etc), we introduce a case in order to illustrate the brandscape, and, in doing so, we highlight the hierarchies which may exist as well as the need for consistency which is evident within this particular case.” Similarly, both Arbitrage and most importantly the Mission Impossible movie sequels are used as case exemplars in the course of this study. 6. Conclusions Our main contention is that while films and/ or movies have evolved over the years, they have more recently evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry in the context of emerging markets – challenging hegemony of Hollywood (Madichie, 2010). However, while both the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) may be in their sixth and ninth years of existence respectively, the film tourism opportunities can be better exploited and leveraged to be consistent with the investments in the industry. Consequently our paper is a preliminary attempt to problematise such tourism potential in the light of film two rivalrous film festivals. This is especially curious in the context of a country that is largely unknown in the business of film – unlike the populous Bollywood (Indian movies) and Nollywood (Nigerian movies) in other emerging markets. We have, therefore, sought to highlight a growing trend and avenues for sustainable needs assessments strategies; as well as suggested insights into what needs to be done in order to leverage “the tourist gaze” in the Gulf region. Hopefully, by presenting what can be considered a tourist narrative (RicklyBoyd, 2010), our paper should spur Middle East and other Gulf States governments and their respective stakeholders (including non-governmental organizations, NGOs), into action especially in terms of leveraging opportunities presented by film (and to some extent music) festivals in the region.
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References Aftab, K. (11 October 2012) From ladies man to villain. The National, p. 8. Beeton, S. (2010) “The Advance of Film Tourism”, Tourism and Hospitality Planning and Development, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 1-6. Croy, W. G. (2010), “Planning for film tourism: active destination image management”. Tourism and Hospitality Planning and Development, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 21-30. Daily Mail, The (25 November 2010) Sitting on top of the world! Is that Tom Cruise performing a death-defying stunt on the planet's highest skyscraper? Online at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1331003/Tom-Cruises-MissionImpossible-stunt-worlds-highest-skyscraper-Dubai.html Fernandez, K, (2 November 2010) Tom Cruise in death-defying Dubai stunt. Emirates News/24. Online at: http://www.emirates247.com/entertainment/films-music/tomcruise-in-death-defying-dubai-stunt-2010-11-02-1.312255 Florida, R. and Lennander, C. (2010). There Goes the Metro: How and Why Artists, Bohemians and Gays Effect Housing Values. Journal of Economic Geography, 10(2); pp. 167-188 Florida, R. (2004). Cities and the Creative Class; Routledge; London. Henderson, J. (2006)Tourism in Dubai: Overcoming Barriers to Destination Development. International Journal of Tourism Research. 8, 87–99. Kim, H. and Richardson, S.L. (2003), “Impacts of a popular motion picture on destinations perceptions”, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 216–237. Madichie, N. (2010) The Nigerian Movie Industry “Nollywood” - A Nearly Perfect Marketing Case Study. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 28(5) pp. 625-649. McGinley, S. (14 December 2011) Tom Cruise etches graffiti on tip of Burj Khalifa. Online at: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/tom-cruise-etches-graffiti-on-tip-of-burj-khalifa435107.html O’Connor, N., Flanagan, S. & Gilbert, D. (2008) “The integration of film induced tourism and destination branding in Yorkshire”, International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 423-437. O’Connor, N., Flanagan, S. & Gilbert, D. (2010) “A Film Marketing Action Plan for Film Induced Tourism Destinations - Using Yorkshire as a case study”, European Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 80-82. O’Reilly, D., and Kerrigan, F. (2013) A View to a Brand: Introducing the Film Brandscape, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 47, Issue 5/6 (forthcoming). Patterson, Anthony. (2010) Extreme Cultural and Marketing Makeover: Liverpool Home Edition. In: O’Reilly, D., and Kerrigan, F. (Eds.) Marketing the Arts: A Fresh Approach. London, Routledge. Plaza, B., Haarich, S., and Waldron, C. (2012) Branding Bilbao: Assessing the Role of an Art Museum in Creating a Valuable Place Brand. Paper presented at Association of Cultural Economics International meeting (ACEI 2012), Kyoto, Japan, June. Pratt, A. (2009). Urban regeneration: from the arts ‘feel good’ factor to the cultural economy. A case study of Hoxton, Urban Studies 46(5-6), pp. 1041-1061. Rentschler, R., Jogulu, U., Kershaw, A. and Osborne, A. (2012). Extending the theory of metaphor in marketing: the case of the art gallery, Journal of marketing management, 28(11-12), pp. 1464-1485. Rickly-Boyd, J. (2010) The Tourist Narrative. Tourist Studies Vol. 9(3) 259–280 Rojek, C. (2001). Celebrity. London: Reaktion Books. Schroeder, J. (2002), Visual Consumption, London and New York: Routledge. Stern, B. (1996) “Deconstructive Strategy and Consumer Research: Concepts and Illustrative Exemplar”. Journal of Consumer Research, 23 (2): 136-147.
