Changing Face of Movie Marketing in India

The changing face of movie marketing

by BHATNATURALLY on JULY 21, 2008

Singh is Kinng is coming out of my ears. Among the recent Hindi movies this must rank as the best pre-launch hype. Almost all of them follow the same routine: create some controversy or news story during the making of the film, ensure a big bang music launch, plaster every news & entertainment channel with promos, interviews with stars, ‘making of the movie' stories, a contest on youth channels like MTV or Channel V, use an event (preferably a live awards show) to plug the film, promote an item number and so on. What is the new is the increasing use of social marketing sites and online advertising. Every other film has a mandatory Facebook & Orkut page nowadays.

The codes of a typical brand launch are very much in view. Given that a film's fate is sealed in the first few weeks, it seems to be an all-out effort to seduce the viewer into brand trial. It's all the more true if the film is a big budget, mainline film. Niche films like Manorama Six Feet Under and those that cater to smaller towns (Vivah?) follow the slow burn approach.

Singh is Kinng has all the ingredients: a website, a Facebook page, an Orkut page and truckloads of unpaid media coverage. They have also successfully created interesting news bytes (Snoop Dogg and the pagdi), a hummable refrain and promoted the film through shows like IAAFA where Akshay performed some acts from the movie. The website is created with the media community in mind, loaded with press kits and stuff. But the social network pages have the usual gallery and messages. When all Hindi films

The mantras Hindi film marketing seem to be:

1. When in doubt, pitch to the youth: almost every genre of film made today (there seems to be just two: action and comedy) aims to appeal to the youth. The promos are slicklymade, the ads are on the interner, social communities are sought to be built etc. The success of Jaane Tu is an example – apart from online advertising, the stars were promoted through meets in malls where the youth hang out. And everyone has a presence in Social Networking sites. Not surpsing. According to Express Computer: a study done by AC Neilson across males and females between the ages 13-35 years across the country, users spend an average of nine hours per week on the Internet, only for personal purposes, and of these nine hours, approximately 25–75% is spent on a social networking site. But the question to be asked is: what can the films do different there? Apart from the usual clips, songs and pictures there is pretty much nothing else.

2. Get big brands on board: not a week passes by without agencies getting a proposal to ‘integrate' a brand in an upcoming movie. It helps if the leading lady or hero of the film is the brand ambassador. Lux was roped in as a sponsor