Today, casting big stars alone can’t guarantee a movie’s success; and neither can good content or an original script. A clever and effective marketing strategy though can help get the desired numbers at the box office. Shobhana Nair speaks to movie marketing wizards to understand how they continuously innovate and overcome unique challenges along the way
This happened for real at a coffee shop in New York, not too long ago. A young girl was sitting inside this crowded shop, quietly sipping her latte and typing away on her laptop. In a second, a man shifts her table and her latte spills all over the laptop. The man apologises profusely, but the girl is furious and she yells back at him.
Pretty soon, every one’s looking at these two, wondering what’s with the chaos. In a fit of rage, the girl gets up raises her hand, outstretched towards him. The man instantly rises, elevates in the air and is thrown against the wall — as if by some telekinetic force that’s coming from the girl. Everyone’s spooked. She can’t understand what just happened. She screams in fear… the shelves rattle, the books fall to the ground. Everyone scurries out of the shop, shocked by what they just saw.
If you’re blinking twice too, yes, this did happen for real and the video has also gone viral (17 million views and counting!). But this isn’t exactly entirely true. This entire incident was, in fact, orchestrated as an elaborate marketing stunt to promote the upcoming release of Carrie, a remake of the 1976 thriller/horror cult hit of the same name, about a naïve college girl who discovers she has, you guessed it, telekinesis.
This is perhaps an excellent (albeit, freaky!) example of how movie marketing has evolved into a tricky combination of art, science and storytelling. It’s not about having big names and pretty faces on big hoardings anymore. Why? Because the experts will tell you that audiences will always want something different, unique and, most importantly, it should be cool enough to share on Facebook and Twitter of course.
A STRUCTURED BUSINESS
The marketing experts in Bollywood get this too, but they also understand the challenges involved especially when it comes to the use of media, the desired target audience and the budget.
Take for instance, this movie trailer, which was released only recently and has already recorded more than 16 million views on YouTube. No this isn’t a Hollywood movie, but our own desi superhero film Krissh 3.
To create such buzz and hype around the trailer, one of the most viewed right now on YouTube, well before the movie is out, requires an aggressive marketing muscle. “A few months ago to the release of the first look; we had taken Hrithik Roshan to Facebook’s office in Hyderabad where he interacted with his half a million fans across 60 countries via a video chat. During the chat, Hrithik unveiled the first look of the film through a motion poster,” says Neeraj Roy, Managing Director & CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, the digital partner of the film.
Apart from the trailer release, the marketing team also promoted the movie’s soundtrack, and launched caller tunes, ringtones and images to give the consumers a sneak peak of the movie. “Ultimately these will nudge viewers to hit the theatres,” adds Roy. “It may also lead to digital content consumption as a movie, video or game. The culmination of all these is where various products are getting sold.”
So why are movie marketers working overtime? Rudrarup Datta, Head of Marketing, Viacom 18 says that the change of wind in movie marketing came in with the entry of corporate firms in the film industry. “From being a family-led business to a more structured business now, what is getting more noticed is that even good content requires a good marketing plan. Bad or average content with good marketing plans can still manage to recover and suffer fewer losses.” He further adds, “A bad product, like in other sectors, remains a bad product. You can push it as much as you want to but no marketing plan can change the product and a good product can do far more than what you had expected.”
Marketing a movie may sound similar to marketing any other product where a movie’s attributes, strengths, target audience, etc., are studied closely. “The classic difference between this category and others is that I don’t have to push my consumers towards my category. My consumer is seeking the content and hence I have a huge advantage. However, I have to make it interesting and break through the clutter as there is enough content out there already,” believes Datta. And on that note, here are some of those clutter breaking strategies employed by movie marketers in India.
Innovating with Digital and social media
Ravi Jaswani, Managing Director, Digit 9.0, shares why digital marketing is important for movies vis-à-vis other media: “Digital media has a better reach and is more interactive. The feedback from consumers is instant, and it’s also easier to withdraw in case of flak, which makes way for correcting and reworking strategies.”
The other reason why digital is gaining traction is because the largest audience today is the youth. Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment and the producer behind films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara says, “Digital can give you the opportunity to target and reach out to youth instantly. You can identify your audience, and you can reach out to them and make them aware of what you are trying to sell. It has also become easier for them as they don’t have to wait for the promo on TV. You can access it (online) and then on your smartphones.”
However, he also adds the number of likes and hits does not translate into box-office figures. “We get excited when a trailer has been watched by 6 million people, but the truth is even 20% of them don’t come to buy tickets!”
The best part of Digital, however, is that it allows you to innovate for any kind of movie. Take for instance, Chennai Express starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. To promote the movie, a unique karaoke contest was launched on Facebook. Keen participants had to download the karaoke app, sing a song from the film by matching the lyrics and share their scores on the movie’s Facebook page. The best part was that the fan with the highest score won the opportunity to meet Shah Rukh Khan.
Atul Hegde, CEO, Ignitee, which has rolled out quite a few digital and social media camapigns for Bollywood movies, lists the basic of a digital marketing plan for a movie, irrespective of the budget:
• YouTube is such a huge success in India because it is powered by content on Bollywood and cricket. For movie production houses, it is crucial that they have a strong YouTube channel with lots of subscribers. The more the subscribers, more people will watch your videos and that’s the reach you get free of cost.
• Twitter presence is required and it is huge for film stars. It is a celebrityled medium which works if you have a big star in your movie. For a small star, however, might not work as well as it takes a lot of patience and time to generate traction.
• Having a Facebook community is a must. Facebook allows you to interact with your audience and get their attention at least three to five times a day. With so much content about the movie, a Facebook community helps in increasing engagement and interaction.
• If your budget allows, Google Hangouts can also be used as a direct interaction tool between the stars and their fans.
Special promotions for movies with no stars
The marketing plan may look simple for a big ticket flick featuring A-list actors, as the star comes with a huge fan following. But the plot twists a little when it comes to marketing niche content with no star value. Such movies bring with them a different set of challenges that requires innovation, smart planning and a focused marketing approach. “Hitting numbers on films that don’t have a star cast and actually come with nothing, is a challenge,” says Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms. “When we did The Dirty Picture promo, we decided to come up with a 10-second video on YouTube, instead of 45 seconds or 1 minute. We created a teaser for the teaser — which recorded 6 lakh views in around three hours!”
Also consider Ship Of Theseus (2012), which was targeted at a discerning audience. This small-budget movie with unique content from one of the biggest film studios in India, Disney UTV, was meted a treatment that was as unique. The movie was released only in seven cities; however, viewers were asked to vote for the movie to get screened in their cities as part of a special campaign. This strategy helped the filmmakers to generate interest in the content and also ensure that it reached out to those
for whom this movie was right up their alley. And guess what? The number of cities rose up to 37 in the last week of the movie’s theatre running. Clearly, the organic growth of the movie can be credited to the marketing geniuses behind the film, Spice PR. “The marketing budget of Ship Of Theseus was just Rs 40
lakh,” recalls Prabhat Chowdhury, Head of Spice PR. “A marketing budget decides your horizon and once that is clear, then it makes way for anything that’s in your power do. If you don’t have the budgets, you are forced to innovate and tailormake your activities.”
Shikha Kapur, Executive Director - Marketing, Studios, Disney UTV, adds, “We always knew that it was a beautiful film, meant for a different audience. We were very sure that we can’t go into blanket buying or carpet bombing, because if we do so then we are asking people to stay away. We handpicked the distribution strategy and backed it up with a marketing plan that actually helped the film grow week on week.”
Unique campaigning in non-metros
A marketing strategy is almost always chalked out in tandem with a distribution strategy. For a movie marketer too, he needs to consider the most important cities in terms of revenues, identify potential new markets and address weaker markets better. The growing importance of non-metro cities made Spice PR form a sub-division called ‘Spice Bhasha’ to cater the needs of those markets. “We have invested a lot in terms of finance, research and network since these are very promotional friendly cities, which was not the case few years back,” says Prabhat Chowdhury.
Ashwani Shukla heads Altair Media, which specializes in city tours for Bollywood movies. He says, “The main objective of city tours is to grab the attention of the local media and the local audience. The tour allows you to interact with the local media directly.
So you invest less but get the maximum output.” He also adds that since regional territories have grown bigger, they should also be targeted by movie campaigners. With smaller towns, movie marketers also need to acknowledge the fact that the number of mobile and smartphone users keeps increasing every day. Film producer Ritesh Sidhwani shares, “I think the consumption of mobile phones smaller cities is huge. They might not have tablets, TVs and computers, but they have smartphones, because it’s convenient and it allows them to do anything from paying bills to watching videos.”
Creating the perfect first poster
There have been several classic movie posters in Bollywood. However, it is interesting to know the detailing and sheer effort that goes behind creating one. For example, the posters of Raanjhanaa depicts the story of two opposites — a ‘beauty and beast’ pairing of sorts. The creative is artistic and colourful, and focused more on accomplishing the story through visuals, without giving away key points, that on the best-looking character. Joy Ghoshal, Co-founder & Head of Creative Concepts, Marching Ants says, “A poster is the bridge between the director’s vision and what the will consumer understand. Designing a poster is identical to a mainstream advertising process and we get involved into the film marketing process far before the film gets marketed.” While posters have always been the obvious first piece of communication about the movie, marketers are experimenting with its format and the medium of release. While outdoor hoardings have a good share in the media mix, many are looking to launch first posters and peeks via Facebook or Twitter, or even letting select media do the honours. “We utilize the most accessible medium as per our selected target audience,” says Parag Desai, CEO and Managing Director of Universal Communications, which has handled movies like Singham and Dabangg 2. “Instead of using every medium in a random manner, we focus on the medium which comprises the major chunk of our target group.”
PR tactics that really work
News of linkups and breakups between co-stars-turned-alleged-lovers may be ideal fodder for tabloids. This is usually no thanks to Cupid’s mischief, but to their PR reps, who work overtime before the movie is up for release. While attention-seeking stories that get leaked out in the media is no spy’s secret, how effective is this gimmick with the intention of making some noise about the movie really? “Linkups and breakups are sometimes a part of a marketing strategy, but over a period, they are not effective,” says Prabhat Chowdhury. “While fans may like to read such stuff, it’s not necessary that based on that they will watch your movie. At the end of the day, your content (of the campaign, promos, movies) needs to appeal to viewers.” This kind of tactic too varies from film-to-film. So a serious film like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was never in the news for the wrong (or for love gone wrong) reasons, and yet became one of the biggest grossers this year. “We never did anything frivolous as we had to send across this message that this is the most credible film you will watch,” says Rudrarup Dutta. “We maintained that attitude throughout. You instigate a certain kind of flavour and let the audience amplify it.” Another notable example is Bodyguard — the fact that the movie’s lead Salman Khan was born in Indore and was brought up there till the age of nine, was effectively used to promote the movie.
Subtle, logical co-branding
For marketers of consumer brands, especially lifestyle and FMCG labels, striking an advertising and branding partnership with a movie that’s yet to release is only logical, considering the potential mass attention the movie can attract. “A co-branded TVC gets more eyeballs by reaching out to the target audience,” says Ameya Sule, Business Director, GroupM ESP, the content arm of Group M. “This makes more sense as there’s a seamless integration of a brand already in the movie. So why not cash it in? We usually do a strategic two-to-three week period around it and reap the benefits.” These kinds of advertisements, released before and around the release date, work both ways for brands and movies of course. And while it seems to be an ideal route for brands, they also need to ensure that their brand message or ideology gels well with the movie’s content and style. Online fashion and lifestyle store Myntra.com’s tie-up with Cocktail (2012) is a fitting example. A high-focus multimedia campaign including TV, Page-3 write-ups, digital activities along with PR events with the lead actors gave the brand the push it needed to stand out in the cluttered fashion retail e-commerce space. Travel portal MakeMyTrip promoted its last minute hotel booking deal through the pre-release promos of the film Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (2013) – which fit perfectly considering the movie’s storyline is partly about friends who go backpacking.
WHAT’S THE FUTURE REALLY?
While movie marketers strive to innovate and try to edge ahead of the competition with new, bold activations, there are some harsh realities they need to consider. For instance, the fact that TRAI’s 10+2 ad cap is just around the corner for the broadcasting industry will also mean that movie marketers need to reshuffle their media mix and think carefully about making TV promos, the star of their campaign. “Gone are the days when one could put 20 spots on air,” admits Shikha Kapur. “The ad cap will have an impact on how we buy media. We are preparing ourselves for the change, although TV will still be one media where we need to be ahead of the curve. We have started exploring the HD space for urban films. We believe can be on the HD space and deliver the GRPs.”
Movie marketers also have started to see digital media as more than just a launch platform or just a part of a campaign. But will it into a more mature medium? Experts in the field are confident and are already noticing positive results. “With online movie releases, pay-per-view movies, digitization of content and online ticketing, digital marketing for movies is only set to grow,” says Ravi Jaswani. “More RoI-based campaigns, better creative liberties than traditional media, deeper reach through mobile users, live interaction with celebrities are just some of the tools, which will drive online movie marketing.”
Kapur believes that while online marketing is ideal, especially for those on a tight budget, continuous interaction with consumers need to be improved. “We need to think about how we mobilize an important fan base that studios create. We don’t think we interact with them after a movie gets released. What do we do with that data? What do we do with all the wealth that we create online? Is there a customer relation that we can look into?” Changing consumer demands and dynamics will continue challenge movie marketers to not just think fast on their feet but think of something fresh and different—whether it the way they create and release their poster, or design their digital campaign, or think about co-branding with a label that resonates with the movie’s content. While there’s no denying that the business of movie marketing is evolving, Farokh Balsara, Leader – Media & Entertainment, India, Ernst & Young, believes that marketing strategies for movies needs work at an intrinsic level too. Besides coming up with interesting campaigns, Balsara feels that marketers also need to think seriously about timeliness and planning, by taking a page out of Hollywood. “It is still at a stage where a movie is made, and one gets down to thinking of marketing it only two to three months before it releases,” he says. “The marketing of a movie should be concurrent with its creation, whereby through focus groups, one would know what is working for the audience and what isn’t.”
Feedback: shobhana.nair@exchange4media.com
