'Avengers: Age of Ultron' gets record brand association in India

As Indian fans eagerly await the release of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" on Friday, a week before it hits screens in the US, Marvel has collaborated with 50 brands across various categories -- touted to be the highest brand association for any film in India -- to take the theatrical experience a notch higher.

It comes as an effort to give the fans an opportunity to own products of Marvel Super Heroes - The Avengers.

Disney India's Consumer Products business has associated with brands in categories like apparel, accessories, toys, home and more to bring alive the Marvel Super Hero action.

Some of the brands include Amazon, Myntra, Funskool, Liberty, Hero Cycles, Pantaloons, Tupperware, Kinder Joy, Hamleys and Landmark.

Abhishek Maheshwari, vice president and head, Consumer Products, Disney India, told IANS: "Post the success of the first movie -- Marvel's 'The Avengers', the popularity of the franchise has grown exponentially in the country amongst kids and adults alike.

"At Disney, we have visibility of our Marvel movies till 2019 and it is this long-term vision that our partners value, which translates into-deep rooted associations. Given the anticipation around 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', brands see a lot of demand around Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor-branded products.

"This year, we have over 50 brands on board for Avengers, which is by far the highest for any Hollywood or a Bollywood film in the country."

Shah Rukh Khan's mega-budget project "Ra.One" was last promoted heavily with over 25 tie-ups across myriad categories.

As far as "Avengers: Age of Ultron" is concerned, they have on board Amazon.in, which has created a special Avengers Store, a one-stop-shop for all products inspired by the Avengers Super Heroes. The products listed will cut across ages and across categories -- toys, consumer electronics, apparel, accessories, fashion, stationery, publishing, home and DVDs.

Then there's also Myntra.com for a range of Avengers branded adult fashion range; Liberty, which is doing a footwear range of 50 styles for children; Kinder Joy, which has introduced a limited edition of surprise toys; Mountain Dew, which has Avengers branded packs; Subway, offering two limited period Subs titled 'The Earth's mightiest Subs'; Hamleys, for a special promotion in six cities -- Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Ahmedabad; and more.

Marvel's "The Avengers" was introduced to the world in 2012 on the big screen. Now with the sequel, the Studio is geared up to make the release widespread in the country, by releasing it in double the screens than "The Avengers" in 2012.

"Avengers: Age of Ultron", the eleventh movie in the Avengers franchise, will be released in over 1500 screens.

With the promising high-impact action in the film, there is also a huge demand for regional dubbed version and fans will be able to enjoy the movie across multiple languages - English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

The previous titles in the franchise were "Iron Man", "Iron Man 2", "Iron Man 3", "Captain America: The First Avenger", "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", "The Avengers", "Thor", "Thor: The Dark World", "Hulk" and "The Incredible Hulk".