FILM PROMOTION : AN INDIAN CONTEXT
A MINOR PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OFCALICUT IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTSIN
FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH
MARCH 2011-2014DEPARTMENT OF FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH
CHRIST COLLEGE, IRINJALAKUDA
SUBMITTED BY,
ARUN MADHUSUDHANAN (CCALAFER 12)
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the project work entitled “Film
Promotion : An Indian Context” is a bonafied work done by
us in partial fulfillment of requirement for the award of
degree, bachelor of arts in Functional English, under the
supervision of professor C.V Francis, Department of
Functional English ,Christ college, Irinjalakuda .I
further declare that the work reported in this project
has not been submitted and will not be submitted ,either
in part/ full, for the award of any other Degree/Diploma
in this institute or any institute or university.
Place:Irinjalakuda
Date:
ARUN MADHUSUDHANAN
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project work titled “Film
Promotion : An Indian Context” submitted to University of
Calicut in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the award of bachelor degree of arts in Functional
English, is a record of the original work done by Arun
Madhusudhanan under my supervision and guidance during a
period from July 2013 to March 2014 (5/6th
semester).During their tenure with me I found them
sincere and hard working. I wish them a great success in
the future.
C.V Francis
Department of Functional English
Christ College,Irinjalakuda
Prof. Sathyan Joseph Kolengadan
Lecturer, Selection grade
Head of the Department of Functional English
Christ College, Irinjalakuda.
Place:Irinjalakuda
Date:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost I bow down before the Almighty for his
inspiration and help in completing this minor project in
time.
I would also like to express our sincere thanks to Prof.
C. V. Francis, Department of English, Christ college,
Irinjalakuda, my supervising teacher, for his outstanding
support and valuable guidance.
I thank Prof. Sathyan Joseph Kolengadan, the Head of the
Department of English, for his support and encouragement.
I also recall with gratitude the other members of the
faculty.
A special word of thanks to my dear friends who shared
their time in helping me to find more points on the topic
and for giving us necessary materials related to the
project.
Arun Madhusudhanan
Place : Irinjalakuda
Date :
OBJECTIVE
To study and explain the process of film promotion
To analyze the process of film promotion and explain
it in the Indian context
To study the latest trends of film promotion in the
Indian film industry.
Film Promotion is an art. An art, which is the reason for
the film industry’s unprecedented success. A good film is
an advertisement all by itself. But how far can the reach
and the viewership of the film go? Film production was,
is and will always be a very costly affair. Not everyone
can make a full-fledged film that will run in multiple
theatres, be selected for prestigious awards. Even if one
has the skill to do so, money is a very important factor
in the film industry. Therefore, production houses and
distributors spend a large amount of money in the
production of a film. To make sure that this large amount
returns back to them with a profit, they arrange
campaigns and promote their film.
There are many film promotion strategies and techniques.
The list is ever expanding due to novelties emerging
every day. The goal is to grab the attention of the
audience and anything is fine; be it an attractive poster
of a famous star in an action still or a famous actress
involved in a scandal. As long as the film gains profit
anything goes in this particular field.
This project analyses in detail the latest trends in Film
promotion. The arrival of the internet, the new media and
the social networking websites has changed the film
promotion practice. People can make films now and the
marketing could be completely done with little or no
costs using social networking websites. Adding novelties
such as games and interactive websites also help promote
the films.
This project also explains some early film promotion
practices that had been carried out in India and shows an
evolutionary development.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4
OBJECTIVE 5
1. INTRODUCTION 8
1.1 Film Promotion, a definition
1.2 Campaign
1.3 Some Global statistics
1.4 Why Promote?
2. FILM PROMOTION 13
2.1 The Art of film Promotion.
3. FILM PROMOTION TECHNIQUES
173.2 Trailers
3.3 TV Ads
3.4 Posters
3.4.1 Types of film posters
3.5 Press junket.
3.6 Product placement
3.6 Extended Placement Promotion
3.7 Audio Launch
3.8 Radio Promotion
3.9 Film Promotion in News Paper & magazines
3.10 Websites, Internet, Digital Media.
3.11 Merchandising
3.12 Conventional Media
3.13 Direct marketing
3.14 Street and Guerilla Marketing
3.15 Partnerships
3.16 Events
3.17 Novelties & other techniques
4.FILM MARKETING STRATEGY
30
5. FILM PROMOTION IN INDIA
39
5.1 How it all began
5.2 India now
5.3 Posters and magazines
5.4 Television & RADIO
5.5 Alternate channels
5.6 Product placement
5.7 Multiplexes
5.8 Internet, Social Media & Bollywood
6. CONCLUSION 47
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
49
1.INTRODUCTION
You're out doing some shopping in the mall. Sitting
at a traffic light, you see a bus drive by with a huge ad
for the latest ‘Shah Rukh Khan’ movie, something about
him being a superhero. You saw something last night on TV
about the crazy special effects they used to make the
film. You think, maybe your child would like to see it.
At the mall, it seems like that ‘Ra.One’ is everywhere.
They're selling stuffed ‘Ra.One’ and also some plastic
toys and the children everywhere are so excited to see
it. They all want one. Back at home, you turn on the TV
and every commercial break has a different trailer for
the ‘Ra.One’ movie. You go online to check the latest
headlines and there's a big interactive banner ad
featuring the Super hero at the top of the ‘The HINDU
Times’ Web site. Literally everywhere you look, someone
or something is reminding you that the ‘Ra.One’ movie
opens on 26 October 2011.
Box Office India estimated that the final total
investment for the film was 175 crore. It was universally
accepted that ‘Ra.One’ was the most expensive Bollywood
film as of that time; certain sources labelled Ra.One as
the most expensive Indian film ever. Although the movie
industry takes in billions of dollars a year, very few
Bollywood movies actually make a profit. That's because
it costs a tremendous amount to make a major studio
movie. The budget of an average Bollywood movie of course
depends on the movie and who is making it. For example,
an average low-budget movie, with a good cast which
generally does not include stars, takes almost Rs 2 to 5
crores. At the same time, movies made by big banners may
easily go upto 20 to 50 crores. For example, the average
budget of top 10 grossing movies of 2010 was 40.5 crores
with the minimum being 17 crores and the maximum being 60
crores.
1.1 Film Promotion, a definition
Wikipedia defines film promotion: "Film promotion is
the practice of promotion specifically in the film
industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the
process of film distribution or movie marketing. Film
promotion generally includes press releases, advertising
campaigns, merchandising and media, and interviews with
the key people involved with the making of the film, like
actors and directors. As with all business it is an
important part of any release because of the inherent
high financial risk; film studios will invest in
expensive marketing campaigns to maximize revenue early
in the release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal
about half the production budget. Publicity is generally
handled by the distributor and exhibitors."
Every major studio and movie distribution company has an
internal department devoted to promotion. The promotions
department is responsible for designing and implementing
an effective, cohesive advertising campaign across
several different media platforms, including theatrical
movie trailers, newspapers, magazines, television, radio,
the Internet and billboards. The movie business is
cyclical and seasonal by nature. Major studio releases
are clustered during the Holidays, long holiday weekends
like Diwali, Holi, Memorial Day and Labor Day. With so
many high profile movies fighting for the same audience,
movie marketer’s job is to figure out how to make their
films stand out from the pack.
In recent years, the general tactic has been to "go big."
For expensive, blockbuster movies, the marketing campaign
alone can cost as much as half of the total production
budget. So if a film costs 8 crore to make, the
distributor might spend 4 crore on advertising and
promotion. The hope, of course, is that all of this
marketing money will pay off in ticket sales. One of the
most important indicators of the success of a movie
marketing campaign is the gross box office sales from the
first weekend of a movie's release. Opening weekend sales
are a direct reflection of how much buzz and excitement
has been generated by the promotional campaign.
Even if the movie is not a big box office hit, strong
opening weekend numbers can be enough to break even or
earn a small profit for the studio. It's not uncommon for
large Bollywood movies to make over 40 percent of their
gross profits in the first week of release. Once the word
spreads that the movie isn't worth the money, some
blockbusters experience huge drops from the first weekend
to the second. Such was the fate of this Ranbir Kapoor's
‘Besharam’ that it couldn't even triple it's opening day
collections (Rs 21 crores) when it came to calculating
the lifetime score (Rs 60 crores).
1.2 Campaign
An overview every movie is different and the
promotions department must figure out what type of
campaign will be the most effective at reaching the
target audience. This requires researching the tastes and
media-consuming trends of the target audience. Based on
this research, the movie marketers decide how much of
their budget to spend on each different media outlet.
The theatrical trailer is often the first chance to
promote a movie to its target audience. Starting up to a
year before the release of a major studio movie,
distributors run movie trailers that are meticulously
edited and audience-tested. The idea is to give
moviegoers a taste of the laughs, special effects and
plot twists of the studio's upcoming releases, while
leaving them wanting more. It's an art form that's
usually handled by special trailer production houses.
About the same time that the first trailers hit the
theaters, the movie studio will unveil an official Web
site for the film. Typical movie Web sites allow visitors
to view multiple versions of the trailer, watch behind-
the-scenes interviews and mini-documentaries, read plot
synopses, download cell-phone ringtones and desktop
wallpaper, play games and chat in forums and even pre-
order tickets. The official movie Website is only the
beginning of a much larger Internet marketing campaign.
As the release date of the film draws closer, movie
marketers try to get early favorable press coverage in
newspapers, magazines and on entertainment TV shows. The
main movie publicity tactic is something called a press
junket. At a press junket, journalists, entertainment
reporters and movie critics are flown out to a special
location for a day or weekend of interviews with the
stars and creators of the film. The actors, directors and
screenwriters sit in separate rooms and the reporters are
brought in one by one to ask their questions.
Weeks before the movie opens nationwide, the promotions
department starts an all-out publicity blitz. The idea is
to bombard the public with so many images and promos for
the movie that it becomes a "can't miss" event. Movie
marketers will plaster the sides of buses with huge ads,
place billboards all around the city, run tons of teaser
trailers on TV, place full-page ads in major newspapers
and magazines, and the movie's stars will show up on all
of the major talk shows. The Internet is proving to be a
prime spot for these publicity blitzes. Promoters can
place rich, interactive ads on the Web sites most
trafficked by their target audience. They can also
release behind-the-scenes clips, bloopers and other viral
videos on video-sharing sites like YouTube. Or they can
release different media clips and let the fans create
their own trailers.
Another popular strategy is to use highly visible product
tie-ins and corporate partnerships. One final movie
marketing strategy is the publicity stunt, an
orchestrated media event where someone does something
incredibly silly, dangerous or spectacular to draw
further attention to the opening of the movie.
1.3 Some Global statistics
According to the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA), here's how its member studios decided to
allocate their marketing budget in 2007 for the American
Film Industry:
Newspapers: 10.1 percent
Network TV: 21.6 percent
Spot TV (purchasing commercial "spots" from
individual TV stations): 13.9 percent
Internet: 4.4 percent
Theatrical trailers: 4.2 percent
Other media (includes cable TV, radio, magazines,
billboards): 24 percent
Other non-media (market research,
promotion/publicity, creative services): 21.8
percent
MPAA also surveys the Global market and the global box
office numbers. They are as follows.
Global box office for all films released in each
country around the world reached $34.7 billion in
2012, up 6% over 2011’s total, due to an increase in
international box office ($23.9 billion) and
U.S./Canada box office ($10.8 billion). All
international regions with the exception of Europe
experienced growth in 2012.
Chinese box office ($2.7 billion) grew by 36% in
2012 to become the largest international market,
surpassing Japan.
International box office is up 32% over five years
ago, driven by growth in various international
markets, including China, Russia and Brazil. Over
two-thirds of the world’s nearly 130,000 cinema
screens are now digital.
The Indian motion picture and television industry is
one of the largest and fastest growing sectors,
contributing c. USD 8.1 billion (c. INR 50,000 Cr.)
to the country’s economy, equating to 0.5% of GDP,
in 2013, according to a new report launched on March
12. The sector also supports a significant 1.8
million (18.8 lac) jobs.
Sanjay Gupta, COO, Star India, said, “The media &
entertainment sector in India has significant headroom
for growth – unshackled, it can contribute as much as
0.5% to India’s annual GDP growth.”
Ravi Kottarakara, President, Film Federation of India
FFI, said, “India is the largest producer of films in the
world, with 1602 films released in 2012, however up to
90% of those films do not release in cinemas, due to the
inadequate number of screens in the country. The Indian
film and TV industry supports 1.8 million jobs which
include talented artists, technicians, directors and
daily wage workers whose livelihoods depend on the
profitability of this industry, however piracy continues
to create a negative impact on the profitably of our
industry. This report is a timely reminder that while the
Indian motion picture and television industry accounts
for 0.5% of the GDP of India, the Government needs to
address key industry growth drivers and challenges which
include infrastructure development, facilitating faster
clearances for foreign and Indian film productions and
building a robust regulatory environment to deter
piracy.”
1.4 Why Promote?
Marketing is an essential part of a movie’s success in
theaters. Without proper marketing development, a movie
with fantastic plotlines, characters, actors, sets, and
special effects may fail to attract an audience. With
declining DVD sales, studios look to make back all of
their money and more during theatrical runs. But with
movie theater attendance down to its lowest in sixteen
years, many studios are trying to cut back on budgets.
Although blockbuster box office receipts are always
desirable, some are re-focusing their efforts to secure
large profit margins. Low-budget movies have much to
gain. By determining the most effective methods to
increase attendance and profits, studios will be able to
have more successes and reduce the fear of losing money
on a project, keeping them in business and the
entertainment industry alive.
“In a world where money spent on the budget of film
often sees 50% going on promotion as opposed to what you
actually see on screen, the idea that we have a world
where the consumers can exercise authority is absurd.
This industry is like any other. Of course it has to sell
things, but it doesn't rely on waiting, listening,
responding, to what audience want and then delivering
that to them. It relies on knowing which part of the
world and the media will need its product and will pay
for them.” -- Toby miller (social scientist)
Film promotion is the practice of promotion specifically
in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination
with the process of film distribution. Film promotion
generally includes press releases, advertising campaigns,
merchandising and media, and interviews with the key
people involved with the making of the film, like actors
and directors. As with all business it is an important
part of any release because of the inherent high
financial risk; film studios will invest in expensive
marketing campaigns to maximize revenue early in the
release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal about half
the production budget. Publicity is generally handled by
the distributor and exhibitors.
Film marketing, in line with the marketing management
processes in other industries, begins at the new product
development stage and continues throughout the formation
of the project ideas, through production and into
distribution and exhibition. At key stages in the product
life cycle, various actors are involved in numerous
marketing activities, from marketing an idea or a script
to a production company to the nal fi marketing of the lmfi
in cinemas, on DVD and through other exhibition outlets
such as VOD (video on demand), cable television and
terrestrial television.
Cinema attendance worldwide has increased rapidly in
recent years and this growth in attendance has seen a
parallel increase in the utilization of cinema as an
advertising medium In addition to the increasing reach of
cinema, some researchers have argued that cinema
possesses a number of advantages which make it a more
attractive medium than has hitherto been recognized.
2.1 The Art of film Promotion.
Why film is the most influential art form after
literature:
“Film matters for the same reason all art matters –
because it embodies and conveys the values and
beliefs of the culture within which and for which it
is made. Popular art forms, such as film, are of
special importance because they speak to the most
central of those values and beliefs.” - David
Fincher (Director)
Because film is us. We as a society use the filmic
form to tell stories about who we are and our
society; they are a record of what makes us human
and what concerns us in the everyday. Even with the
influence of new media technologies that have
changed the way we now watch films (not in the
cinema but at home and online) films are still very
much part of the media landscape. The film form,
narrative and styles with which we are so familiar,
from Hollywood blockbusters to the avant-garde,
shape our own personal narratives. Film offers us a
language to speak to each other across national,
class, economic and racial lines – film is a
phenomenon that allows us to understand cultures and
people.
Because it matters for the same reason all art
matters – because it embodies and conveys the values
and beliefs of the culture within which and for
which it is made. Popular art forms, such as film,
are of special importance because they speak to the
most central of those values and beliefs.
Because matter because they can provide compelling
and creative artistic and entertainment experiences
for audiences. Some films are just fleeting
entertainment but others are magnificent, wondrous,
thought provoking works of art. In the age of the
laptop and mobile smartphone, ‘film’ is everywhere
but cinematic film is still, at its best,
extraordinary.
Film matters because it has the power to connect us
to a world outside of our own, even if the only
travelling we do is from our sofa. We can glimpse
cultural differences and engage with all kinds of
diverse attitudes to life when we broaden our
viewing horizons beyond the mainstream. Themes
explored in film, also speak a universal language
that anyone can understand regardless of background,
education or race, which makes it a truly democratic
art form.
Film is a medium watched by all regardless of age,
sex, caste, culture, religion, country and
educational levels.
So, it is only fair to say that Film promotion is an art
that is vital to any production, small or large, big time
productions or small time filmmakers. Film promotion is
an art that is nearly as vital as the actual making and
filming of a production. When done right film promotion
allows you to reach audiences you would never have
thought was possible. Thus, it helps build a fan base and
have a higher potential for success. Film promotion is
even more important when it comes to small scale film
makers who may not acquire any press at all without some
effective promoting and marketing. While the idea of film
promotion may seem costly; the art of film promotion is
ultimately necessary to be competitive in our modern time
where everyone has access to the tools of success.
CHAPTER 2
FILM PROMOTION TECHNIQUES
Cinema from its earlier days has used various
marketing strategies to advertise the release of films.
Earlier, distributors employed marketing teams to create
press books which would carry information about the cast
and the production crew, plot synopses, stories about the
making of the film, background information, still
photographs from the film and from behind the camera, and
details of the availability of posters or other
promotional aids such as lobby cards or ‘standees’. They
would also carry interactive crosswords and puzzles for
the audience. Other techniques consist of, TV
advertisements, billboards, trailers, print and media
advertisements etc.
With the advent of social media there is now tons of free
and simple ways to promote your film and other
productions. There are the obvious social mediums such as
Twitter, Facebook, and Google + which are effective when
used correctly.
3.2 Trailers
Trailers are considered to be film advertisements which
are released weeks or months before a certain film will
be released for public viewing. It is also made from
different sequences of the film which has been chosen
properly. They are generally made in order to make the
public be aware of what they should expect from the film
and make them curious to see it. However, the sequence
that the trailers have is not in sequence which will
apply in the film itself. Another thing about the movie
trailers is that what you actually see in the trailers
itself is that it can be seen in the original movie. Some
of the movie trailers have some sophisticated special
effects in some scenes which was not planned to be
utilized in the original film itself. This method is
actually effective because it actually in increases the
hype of the audience which makes the film itself a
blockbuster in the end.
Trailers usually have company productions, names of the
cast and likewise the crews, and the distributors. One
can likewise see the trailers as the output of the
thorough market research which has been done in different
areas. Trailers these days are one of the vital things to
make a movie be in public and there are some agencies
which specializes in creating trailers for new movies
which are called trailer houses.
Most trailers have a three-act structure similar to a
full feature-length film. They start with a beginning
(act 1) that lays out the premise of the story. The
middle (act 2) drives the story further and usually ends
with a dramatic climax. Act 3 usually features a strong
piece of "signature music" (either a recognizable song or
a powerful, sweeping orchestral piece). This last act
often consists of a visual montage of powerful and
emotional moments of the film and may also contain a cast
run if there are noteworthy stars that could help sell
the movie.
Music helps set the tone and mood of the trailer. Usually
the music used in the trailer is not from the film itself
(the film score may not have been composed yet). The
music used in the trailer may be:
Music from the score of other movies.
Popular or well-known music, often chosen for its
tone, appropriateness of a lyric or lack thereof, or
recognizability.
"Library" music previously composed specifically to
be used in advertising by an independent composer.
There are many trailer music library companies which
produce trailer music.
Specially composed music
Voice-over narration is sometimes used to briefly
set up the premise of the film and provide
explanation when necessary. Since the trailer is a
highly condensed format, voice-over is a useful tool
to enhance the audience's understanding of the plot.
A cast run is a list of the stars that appear in the
movie. If the director or producer is well-known or has
made other popular movies, they often warrant a mention
as well.
Most trailers conclude with a billing block, which is a
list of the principal cast and crew. It is the same list
that appears on posters and print publicity materials,
and also usually appears on-screen at the beginning (or
end) of the movie. Studio production logos are usually
featured near the beginning of the trailer. Until the
late 1970s, they were put only at the end of the trailer.
Often there will be logos for both the production company
and distributor of the film.Many trailers are mixed in
Dolby Digital or any other multichannel sound mix. Scenes
including sound effects and music that are enhanced by
stereophonic sound are therefore the focus point of many
modern trailers.
Teaser: Is known as a short clip that consists of a
series of vague events that happen within the actual
film, it usually includes at least one of the main events
that happens in the film but lasts seconds. A teaser
trailer for an upcoming film or similar is normally
released long in advance of the product. Film teasers are
usually only made for big-budget and popularly themed
films. Their purpose is to tell the audience about a
film's content vaguely and to simply let them know that
the film is releasing in the near future; it is also to
add hype to the upcoming release. Teaser trailers are
often made while the film is still being edited and in
the middle of production as a result they may feature
scenes or alternate versions of scenes that are not in
the final finished film. They usually contain no
dialogue. Teaser and Trailer are two kinds of footage of
a movie that shows difference between them when it comes
to the duration, nature and characteristics. It is
important to know that a teaser is shorter than a
trailer. In other words, it can be said that a trailer
runs approximately for three minutes. On the other hand,
a teaser should run for a maximum of one minute only.
This is the main difference between teaser and trailer.
3.3 TV Ads
(Television advertisements are simply the movie trailer.
Therefore, the cost is only for the air time. This is
often the bulk of the cost of publicity for a motion
picture.) Television and radio- Movie trailers on
televisions are considered as first line of costs for the
big budget films. Regional films trailers are launched on
regional TV channels. E.g. Trailer of Marathi movie
‘Dunitadari’ on Zee Marathi. Recently, film promoters
have also started to advertise the film via daily soaps
or reality shows. E.g. Recently, Amitabh Bachchan
recently attended the grand finale of Indian Idol Junior
for the promotion of his upcoming movie ‘Satyagraha’.
Interviews with the cast and crew of films, short
question answer sessions, entertainment programs etc. are
organized on radio. On ground activation events are also
covered live on local radio channels to create buzz about
the movie. Along with this extended promotions through
behind the scene footage, documentaries, talk shows etc.
are also covered on radio and TV.
3.4 Posters
The goal of a poster essentially is to "sell" the movie
to make you want to see it. The poster may have the movie
title in a big and bold font. Images of the movie's
attractive actors are usually featured. In addition, the
actors' names are probably included somewhere on the
poster to remind you that the movie has big-name stars.
Designs, colors, and fonts are used to appropriately
reflect the mood and tone of the film. And the poster
probably includes a catchy sentence or slogan that piques
your interest and makes the plot seem intriguing.
The visual elements on a movie poster can convey powerful
messages. The best posters may make you anxiously
anticipate an upcoming release. The worst ones may not
have a persuasive effect at all. By analyzing movie
posters, you can gain a better understanding of the
elements that effectively grab the attention of movie-
goers and sell the movie's story even before viewers see
it for themselves.
Film posters are distributed inside of cinemas and also
out of them on buses, telephone boxes large billboards to
raise awareness to large target audiences. Smaller
advertisements are also used to support these posters and
promote the film such as press boxes, websites, flyers
etc. The "billing block" is the "list of names that adorn
the bottom portion of the official poster (or 'one
sheet', as it is called in the movie industry) of the
movie". Film posters are displayed inside and on the
outside of movie theaters, and elsewhere on the street or
in shops. The same images appear in the film exhibitor's
press book and may also be used on websites, DVD (and
historically VHS) packaging, flyers, advertisements in
newspapers and magazines, etc.
3.4.1 Types of film posters
Lobby cards : Lobby cards are similar to posters but
smaller, usually 11 in × 14 in (28 cm × 36 cm), also 8 in
× 10 in (20 cm × 25 cm) before 1930. Lobby cards are
collected and their value depends on their age, quality,
and popularity. Typically issued in sets of eight, each
featuring a different scene from the film. In unusual
circumstances, some releases were promoted with larger
(12 cards) or smaller sets (6 cards).
Teaser poster: A teaser poster or advance poster is an
early promotional film poster, containing a basic image
or design without revealing too much information such as
the plot, theme, and characters. The purpose is to incite
awareness and generate hype for the film. A tagline may
be included. There are some instances when teaser posters
are issued long in advance before the film goes into
production (teasers for cancelled projects are
historically informative), although they are issued
during the film development. Notable styles for teaser
poster include:
Bearing only a symbol associated with the film, or
simply just the title.
A main character, looking away from the screen but
looking at something in the distance.
Character posters: For a film with an ensemble cast there
may be a set of character posters, each featuring an
individual character from the film. Usually it contains
the name of the actor or the name of the character
played. It may also include a tagline that reflects the
quality of the character.
Standee: standee is a large self-standing display
promoting a movie, product or event. They are typically
made of cardboard, and may range from large self-standing
posters to three-dimensional devices with moving parts
and lights. Standees are typically displayed in theater
lobbies or music stores in advance of film or music
releases. While standees have previously been available
only in large quantities, recent advances in digital
photography and print-on-demand technology have made them
widely available to the public. Several companies now
offer these items as party decorations, gag gifts and
memorial items for the deceased. Standees can now be
purchased as one-off custom products, bringing them to
the average consumer as well as large corporations and
venues. As the release date of the film draws closer,
movie marketers try to get early favorable press coverage
in newspapers, magazines and on entertainment TV shows. OOH- Creative Banners: are used to remind the audience
about the release date of upcoming films. These banners
not only include bill boards but also include ads on bus
shelters, bus benches, in flight, aerials, in-store,
hotels, schools, taxis, auto rickshaws etc. to recall the
consumer about the movie.
3.5 Press junket.
A press junket is material used in a public awareness
campaign aimed at promoting a product such as a feature
film. It takes various forms such as press releases,
media advertising campaigns, merchandising and media
interviews with the producers and stars of the film. The
film distributors and publicist are usually given this
task. Press-junket is the promotion of a product, i.e. a
feature film. As such the distributors and the publicists
generally handle this. This can take the form of press
releases (popular press and magazines), TV and Radio
campaigns, chat shows, web-releases and viral
advertising, merchandising and product campaigns to
promote a feature or product. Recent Blog pages and ‘chat
room’ forums have proved popular. The most common tool is
interviews with the makers and stars of a film. The
Marathon run of booking a suitable space and inviting a
stream of people from the advertising world to interview
the Director, Producers and talent to promote the
feature/product is what many regard as the pinnacle of a
press junket. This is often a countywide or even
worldwide campaign for larger productions and is one of
the most exhausting but important parts of releasing a
feature and thus a large percentage of a film's budget is
designated to the task.
3.6 Product placement
Product placement is an investment for brands trying to
reach a niche audience, and there are strong reasons for
investors to expect that film product placement will
increase consumer awareness of a particular brand. A big-
budget feature film that has expectations of grossing
millions may attract many commercial interests; however,
the film studio must also analyze if a product fits with
the image of the film. A high-profile star may draw more
attention to a product, and therefore, in many cases,
this becomes a separate point of negotiation within his
or her contract. Product placement works best when it is
made inherent and important to a film’s plot what is
worse is that often in such situations, marketers demand
that the film show zoom-ins and close-ups of their
product and logo. These don’t fit into the visual
narrative of the film and the result is an embarrassingly
obvious and therefore counterproductive plug for the
brand, putting the viewer off.
3.6 Extended Placement Promotion
Extended Placement Promotion is a type of promotion where
one full episode of a TV program is allotted for a movie
promotion i.e. movies stars or action figures are invited
to the shows. These TV programs can be an entertainment
news program,
Network news program, talk shows and all type of reality
shows programs that attract major crowd are mainly
targeted in this type of promotion. The most important is
that, huge amount is paid to these reality shows for one
complete episode and this also helps these shows to
prosper.
The film industry opted for this type of promotion to
create awareness among viewers about this upcoming movie.
They target realty shows because these shows attract
majorly youth crowd of the nation and to some extent
crowd between 35-50 age group. Audience can come to know
somewhat interesting things about the movie which they
can’t imagine by seeing the promo. To make them know
about the action figures. Now a days, mostly viewers
don’t visit to movie talkies because major time movies
become available on internet as soon as they are released
and also they don’t pay attention to trailers between
movies, so this type of promotion is must to be done. In
INDIA, TRAI is going to declare a policy that an
advertisement can be shown after every 15 minutes. This
will help “extended placement” promotion to boom. Most
importantly, even though viewer is attracted towards a
particular reality show, but as soon as there is an
advertisement they switch to different program.
3.7 Audio Launch
A promotion technique especially in Indian films, where
the audio tracks of the films often accompanied by a
video is released before the official release of a film.
Indian films are special for their musical element.
Songs, audio tracks etc. are part of our film culture.
Until recently almost all Indian films had 3-4 songs in a
single film. These audio tracks along with a video is
released on the audio launch program where the press, the
crew, actors etc. are invited. After the audio launch the
Audio can be specially brought from the audio shops even
before the release of the film. These audio tracks will
be uploaded on to media sharing websites such as YouTube,
Sound cloud or purchased in the form of cds or on the
internet (apple ITunes).Films like ‘Meesha Madhavan’ and
‘Yeh Jawani hai Deewani’ were already popular due to the
success and the popularity of the music. Nowadays
Independent artists like ‘YO YO Honey Singh’ and Atif
Aslam officially signs up for the promotion of the film
by adding a track of theirs into the film which ads as a
promotion to the film as well as their own image. E.g.
the band ‘Avial’ surged into popularity in the Malayalam
film industry after releasing a track in the film Salt
and pepper. The "chammak Challo" sung by ‘Akon’.
3.8 Radio Promotion
Currently, a large number of movie producers are opting
for radio as an active means of promotion. Radio has been
largely recognized as a personal medium because of the
personal touch and connect it forms with the masses.
Recently, movies like ‘Rowdy Rathore’, ‘Teri Meri
Kahaani’ and ‘Bol Bachchan’ have exploited the medium for
promotion. What is the future of this trend, how is radio
increasingly becoming the hotspot for movie promotions.
Radio has a penetration of 30% and reaches out to almost
135 million listeners across the country. This reach
advantage makes radio an inseparable part of movie or
television show launches. Specifically for films, music
can get popular much before the movie release. Radio
plays a significant role in both familiarizing &
popularizing the song. Hence, radio play outs is an
extremely critical component as it’s the single biggest
source of listening to music in the country today. Almost
every film gets promoted in one form the other depending
on the stars, but approximately there is around 20 – 25%
films spend on radio. Both Bollywood and regional movies
are promoted on radio. Emphasizing on the way the
promotions are executed a majority of movies look at
spending on radio or they essentially look at building
partnerships with radio stations. Radio promotions help
them to reach the audiences in a better manner and most
importantly it helps to create publicity for the movie.
Radio stations do a lot of engagement based contests for
movies, wherein celebrities visit radio stations,
interact with listeners and many a times listeners also
get to meet the stars personally. What is interesting to
note, is that this also helps radio stations provide
exclusive content to their listeners. Radio promotions
provide a direct access to the kind of audiences who will
ultimately go and watch the movie. This is precisely why
most of the producers today go in for promotions on radio
stations because of the direct access that the medium
provides. It is the best possible medium to talk about
either the music or the movie or the content. The same is
applicable to television shows because listeners
ultimately become television viewers and movie goers.
3.9 Film Promotion in News Paper & magazines
Newspaper Ads are almost always created by the
distributor. Publicity tours are paid for by the
distributor and the actor's contract usually specifies
the amount of pay that the actor will receive for doing
the tour. This is particularly useful for film festivals
where the movie has won an award.
Newspapers have been a major advertising media since its
development in the ancient Chinese history. There are
many forms of newspaper promotion according to the time
of release of a film. There is a separate set of
promotion technique before the release and after the
release. The promotion techniques include Poster
advertisements. Interviews. Profile previews. Upcoming
celebrity news, rumors, look back into prequels. Etc.
Poster advertisements are paid advertisements in the
newspaper, magazines, Weekly newspapers etc. that the
studio finances as advertisement to the film. Sometimes
these posters are way before even the production of the
films so as to receive. Like the upcoming movie with a
multiple start casting.
Interviews with the stars and crew; prior to, and after
the release happens often in weekly newspapers, tabloid
news and mostly in magazines. This helps to gain an
overview of the film and add insight to why we should
watch the film directly from the stars or the filmmakers.
Along with this there are the profile previews and look
backs into the earlier versions of the film if it has
any. So, as to understand the status of the film and how
much to expect from it by evaluating the skills and
expertise of the directors and the stars. E.g. the New
Aashiq abu film Gangster got many fans before the release
of the film due to the earlier hits of the director.
Celebrity news and rumours usually happen without the
intent of the crew, but news that are sniffed out by the
paparazzi that sometimes add to the overall promotion of
the film.
Reviews usually happen after the release of the film in
separate columns for film and movie news usually on
weekends. The reviews rate the film and provide a basic
overview of which movies are good to watch and which
should be avoided. Mostly there are multiple reviews of
the films released at that point of time.
3.10 Websites, Internet, Digital Media.
Digital media is the fastest, most innovative and most
recent way for film promotions. Before movie trailers
reach theatres, they are launched on YouTube and social
media. Facebook apps have created interactive sessions
between audience and movie promoters. Long before the
shooting of the movie starts, the news of upcoming movie,
its name, cast selection, shoot locations etc. reach to
the audience through internet and social media. Social
media like Facebook, twitter etc. have helped film
promoters to create a huge fan base before releasing the
movie. Interacting is made possible by games using
Facebook apps and exact number of followers and tweets
give larger reach of consumers despite region boundaries.
Social media is an exponential way of communication where
messages spread faster and hence many film marketing
agencies have taken it really seriously. With the advance
technical changes in the digital arena, website has taken
the place of old press release book where all the
information about the movie is available. Recently, with
the techniques and 3D images, creating an attractive
website is a core part of film marketing. Regional films
have also started to make attractive websites to get the
attention of urban consumers. Considering the growing
mobile penetration in Indian consumers, use of mobiles in
film promotion is obvious. Many mobile games and apps are
created targeting the movie going audience who are mobile
consumers.
3.11 Merchandising
The major studios realize that not only can the sale of
movie-related products generate substantial revenue, but
the presales of merchandising rights can sometimes
contribute to a film's production budget, as in the case
of Lord of the Rings, when 10 percent of the budget for
the trilogy was apparently raised by selling rights to
video games, toys, and merchandise companies. In
addition, these products can be useful in promoting films
and thus movie-based merchandise is often part of the
massive, coordinated promotional campaigns often started
months before a film's release. Typically, 40 percent of
movie merchandise is sold before a film is released.
Although movie-related merchandise often is common,
products based on films are sometimes considered risky
for merchandisers, as they ultimately may not be
successful and often have short life-spans. Licensees may
have to take further risks initially by sinking money
into a film that is not completed (or sometimes not even
started). On the other hand, a studio may need to change
a release date, especially to coincide with the lucrative
Christmas season or to avoid other competing films.
In addition, studios and licensees have been cautious
after some significant losses in the past. Licensing is
all about wanting a piece of something. You've got to
have the time and place for that property to be nurtured
evidently; the success of the merchandise is tied
directly to the success of the film. Marketing and
merchandising is never the major driving force behind a
film. If a film's no good, no one will buy the product It
might be noted as well, that many, if not most, movies do
not translate well into merchandise and thus have limited
merchandising potential.
Thus, for many films, licensing represents a potential
source of income to film companies and merchandisers. The
potential merchandising bonanza represents sizable
profits as sales of merchandise licensed from movies
continue to grow.
Since the dawn of the film industry, producers and
studios have sought new and innovative methods to draw
people into theaters to see their projects. As filmmaking
has evolved, so has the means to promote the movie-going
experience to prospective ticket buyers. An effective
film promotion campaign combines numerous methods to
attract an audience.
3.12 Conventional Media
For more than a century, film producers have promoted
their wares through the media available at the time.
Colorful posters for "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard
of Oz" showed images of what the film would look like to
potential viewers. TV commercials for the 1979 "Superman"
film made viewers believe a man could fly. In 1998,
movie-goers bought tickets to films such as "Monsters,
Inc." and "Meet Joe Black" just to see the trailers for
"Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace."
3.13 Direct marketing
Personal level promotions of the films are done here in
direct marketing category. e.g. Promotion of Hindi movie
‘Tezz’ during the bus travel by cast and crew. The same
story was heard of was about one of the Marathi movies
where promotion crew began talking in the bus about the
movie in rural Maharashtra. This phenomenon does not only
exist in Bollywood. ‘American Pie’ cast reunited on an
open top bus to promote the comeback movie in the UK in
2012.
3.14 Street and Guerilla Marketing
Guerilla marketing was used by Disney for the promotion
of film ‘Oz’. Hot air balloons soared over New York City
landmarks to promote movie “Chronicle”. In India,
Guerilla marketing is hardly used for film promotions. On
Ground Activations- Film promoters also conduct on ground
activations in malls and theatres to generate buzz among
the audience. They conduct games, quizzes in the stores
and create aspirations to meet the actors of upcoming
movie.
3.15 Partnerships
Brands have been doing film partnership for some time in
film industry. Brands pay for the production of TV
commercials with movie actors or music rights or product
placements in the film. Partnership with brands for movie
promotions is the great idea to create buzz without
investing large amount of money into it. I still remember
‘Hey Ya’ ad of Asian paints with ‘Farhan Akhtar’ and
‘Deepika Padukone’. It was the best example of subtle
product placement in the movie and creation of TV
commercial simultaneously. Aston martin and James bond
film advertising are examples of such co-advertising.
Some movie promoters also partner with food chains and
provide discount coupons for food combinations.
3.16 Events
Various events are arranged to personally communicate to
target audience like tours to different colleges and
schools to create buzz. E.g. recently cast and crew of
‘Shudh Desi’ Romance visited MICA for its promotion.
Flash mobs are arranged by independent filmmakers in the
crowded places like railway stations, malls, schools,
colleges etc. to create buzz about the movie.
3.17 Novelties & other techniques
Production and paid broadcast of behind-the-scenes
documentary-style shows, the type of which are
mainly produced for HBO, Showtime, and Starz
Online digital film screeners: These digital film
screeners have the benefit of letting you send
individual copies of your film or a promo to the
press, sales agents, distributors etc. Using them
it’s simple to send individually controlled copies
of your film to various recipients with different
expiry dates. Along with the security of individual
expiry dates, you can see reports of who viewed your
film and track their viewing of the film.
Cross-promotion of original book or novelization,
including special printings or new cover jackets
("Now a major motion picture.")
Theatrical promotions are the central part of any
film marketing plan as they actually target
moviegoers directly. It is observed as theatrical
promotions create most conversions towards the
decision of watching the films.
Below the line promotions are useful when marketing
budget is low and focus is on niche audience with
whom it’s easy to deliver personal message.
The film marketing strategy for any good film can be best
described based on the 6 Ps of marketing, namely:
Product: The base for a well-defined film marketing
strategy starts with the film itself. A well-researched
script with a well-woven screenplay is where the core of
the film-marketing strategy for a film should be
invested. It is not about who sees the film only, it is
also about catering to a definitive audience who watches
your film in theatres, and more often than not, more than
once. While other elements of marketing focus on
attracting these audiences it is this aspect of marketing
i.e. ‘the product’ that aims at satisfying these
audiences.
Placement: It is true that an audience will be satisfied
only when they are attracted to go into the theatre to
watch the film. It is ‘placement’ that accounts for
attracting the audience into crowding the theatre.
‘Placement’ as a term is used to describe the modus-
operandi of placing the communication and promotion
strategy of the film on to media and non-media platforms
available in the industry today. There is a complete
media-mix that should be put into place usually 15% to
25% of the production cost of the film is invested into
the marketing of the film in Bollywood. But then there
are films like ‘Lagaan’, ‘Boom’, ‘Out of Control’, ‘Khel’
and others who have spent as much as 40% of their
production cost on marketing. But only ‘Lagaan’ out of
all these films became a superhit and needles to point
out that that had a lot to do with the central theme of
the film. Today it makes perfect sense to collaborate
with one or more media partners in order to ensure
maximum focused publicity of your film through certain
guided platforms.
Positioning: The entire media, marketing and
communication strategy of the film depends on the
positioning of the film. Positioning is that particular
slot in the mind of the audience that the film positions
itself in. This kind of positioning has a lot to do with
how well defined your target-audience is. The time-
consuming and highly complex ordeal of pin-pointing the
target- audience is something that a good film marketer
should take care of in the conceptualization stage. The
film by and large should appeal to the sensibilities of
all kinds of audience but prominently should be
positioned for a well-defined audience. Based on the
projected associations with your target-audience you must
formulate the ‘positioning elements’. These ‘positioning
elements’ should highlight and reflect in all the
promotions for the film.
People: The positioning of the film has a lot to do with
the personification of the film. Personification finally
is the key to creating a brand out of the film. ‘Lagaan’
is brand India and ‘Cricket’ .It is the central
characters (not the actors) of the film that should
enable the making of a brand out of your film. There
should be a well-defined promotion plan that has to be
put-into place for promoting the people of the film (both
on-screen and the technical team). The build-up should be
such that without over-exposing the team there should be
enough flurry of activity that will catapult the
audiences into the character of the film even before they
see the film.
Public Relations: Besides the advertising and promotion
of the film there should be a strategic focus on public
relations for the film, both media and non-media public
relations play an important role in the success of the
film.
Partners Brands and Bollywood: There is evidence of
shortened attention spans and a greater effort to break
through the clutter of multitudinous brands and media
vehicles. The best way to deliver the message is to catch
the customer off-guard when the rational defenses are
down. The best way to do so is to use the emotional gate
rather than the rational gate. The rational gate examines
the advantages, benefits, features and seeks value for
money; the emotional gate is all about trust, love,
identification and belief. It has been noticed that films
operate at the emotional level. These aspects have been
leveraged by brands such as Coke, Pepsi, Lux, Airtel,
Hyundai, Bagpiper, Lux wherein movies and brands flash
discreet (and sometimes indiscreet) messages at their
target audiences.
Then there is also the need to examine synergies between
the brands and films. The successful integration of
product placement within the film’s storyline has a long
history: the first example being the yellow ‘Rajdoot’
bike used in Raj Kapoor’s ‘Bobby’. However, at this point
it might be crucial to point out that what is important
is that there is complete transparency in the agreement
that the film-marketer and brand-marketer get themselves
into. Rakesh and Hrithik Roshan of ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ with
Killer Jeans and Emami.
Every Bollywood film has phases in which all marketing
content is released. This is standard for every film.
Some films might skip a few of the below phases but
mostly, this is what is followed in the industry:
1. Finding a Distributor
Probably 99% of all the motion picture which are
distributed uses a distributor. If a filmmaker cannot
find a distributor, the movie will probably never be
distributed. Probably 40% of all movies made never find a
distributor. The distributor uses the economics of volume
to market motion pictures as cheaply as possible. Even
so, the successful motion picture will cost 33% of the
final gross just for marketing and distribution.
In "star driven" film industry like that of ours, a good
film star will do the work of getting a comfortably
generous Producer.
If a film is already produced then a campaign or film
festivals screening can attract distributors
2. Delivery of the Film to the Distributor
After the film is complete it is delivered to a
distributor. Before approaching the distributor the
filmmakers are supposed to arrange for them a collection
of "finished products" required to release a film also
known as deliverables.
Deliverables can be divided into three categories:
Print materials: The actual film in the form of
negatives and/or video transfer. Used to create
prints for release to theaters, plus versions for
different media, trailers, etc. Digital technologies
are making this a changeable process
Publicity materials: Still images, press releases,
synopses, profiles of main actors & crew, etc. This
can also include production information, especially
if there is a good story to tell about how the film
was made.
Legal documentation: Paperwork required proving all
the appropriate rights to make and distribute the
film. This can include release forms and contracts
for cast and crew, music licenses,
resource/environmental consent and "Chain of Title"
(a record of ownership for different aspects of the
film).
3 Developing the Campaign
To sell a motion picture (with its huge advertising
budget), a campaign must be created to introduce the
movie to the public. A campaign is planned with two basic
questions
"What is this movie about?"
"Who will want to see this movie?" KYU (Know your
Customers)
Segmentation and Targeting After segmenting the
market generally by gender, age and region,
portraying the image of common moviegoer would be
helpful to decide the target market. Targeted
segment should be identifiable, measurable and it
should be accessible for marketing communication and
distribution. E.g. ‘Inkaar’ was targeting audiences
only from metros and cosmopolitan cities. Target
audience can be categorized as core audience and
wider audience. E.g. the core target audience of
movie ‘Gippy’ was school going teenagers but it must
have attracted their families too.
Positioning which genre does movie belong to? The
marketability of the film with regards to the
consumer’s lifestyle, social networks, media
consumption, behavioral pattern etc. has to be
considered while positioning the movie to target
audience.
Marketing plan to make effective, creative,
economically viable and yet successful marketing
promotions, planning the most important work of
promoters and distributors as generally most of the
audiences know which movie they want to watch before
going to the movie. The marketing plan includes
objectives, timeline, budgets and promotional
activities. Promotional activities start much
earlier than the release of the movie. E.g. Shahrukh
Khan released the teaser trailer of his film
‘Ra.One’ during 2011 Cricket World Cup, 9 months
before the film’s release. Promotional activities
can be divided in pre-launch, Launch and post-launch
plans. Theatrical exposure is done 4-8 weeks ahead
of the film release to generate positive interest in
the movie genre and topic. The marketing budget
depends on the national or regional release of the
film.
4. Teaser
This is the very first time that a movie’s content is
released to the world. This is normally a teaser for the
film’s marketing, meant to generate buzz and excitement
for the fans.
5.5 First Look
This is normally an image which will eventually become
the Key Art Image of the film. This image will be the
truest representation of the film and will normally tell
you what the film is about and the lead roles. It will
also contain the logos of the production house involved
and credits.
.6. Theatrical Trailer Release
This is the phase where the main trailer of the film
releases. For TV viewing, production houses cut the
theatrical trailer into various lengths of 30 seconds, 60
seconds, 90 seconds and 120 seconds. On the internet
however, the 120 second trailer is directly uploaded.
.7 Music Launch
A film’s music launch is one of the main events in its
build-up to the release. This event ensures a lot of
publicity for the film and your social media plan needs
to ensure that there is enough activity planned for this
phase. You can run a contest, live-tweet from the event
to give fans access to behind-the-scenes content, like
candid images of the cast and short videos. Video-
streaming the event on the website is another
possibility. From this stage on, a movie’s song are
released for playing on TV and Radio.
.8 Promotional tours
To publicize a movie, its cast, director and producer
conduct a citywide tour of the important cities in India.
Apart from the obvious Tier-I cities like Delhi, Mumbai,
and Kolkata, of-late city tours are also conducted in
smaller cities such as Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and
Lucknow. Candid photos, guessing the details of the
location and much more can be done online to keep the
buzz going for a film.
.9 Producer/Director’s Interview
After the city tours are done, there is a quiet lull
before the movie releases. To compensate for this,
interviews of the Producer & Director are generally
released. These could talk of the challenges in making
the film, the fun that was had, some quirky moments
during the shoot and some behind the scenes incidents
that have not been spoken of before. These interviews can
then be released to online properties and media partners
to further stoke fan interest.
.10. Movie Premiere
A movie premiere is a special event. It is the very first
time that the film is being shown to a select group of
masses. This is the last chance to create buzz around a
film. Marketers can take a Vox Populi from the audience
present there and can also quote famous journalists and
film reviews. Earlier contest winners can be invited to
watch the film too.
. 11 Marketing the Movie to Exhibitors
The distributor interests the theater owners to exhibit
the movie in their theaters.
. 12.Movie Release
Most people believe that the release weekend begins from
Friday onwards, however they are incorrect. The weekend
in Dubai starts on Thursday and therefore, most Bollywood
movies that are slated to release worldwide, are first
released in Dubai and then in rest of the world. This is
when the chatter around your film increases dramatically
and you need to reply to all the positive and negative
comments around the movie across websites and social
media. International fans are usually asking for the list
of theatres where the movie is playing in their region,
so make sure you have a comprehensive list already put-up
on all your Social Media properties.
. 13 Marketing the Movie to Tape Distributors
The film's distributor does not normally sell the tape or
disk of the movie directly to the Mom & Pop video store.
Rather, the distributor must get a specialized
distributor to put this in their catalog.
.14 Publicity
There are many ways to publicize a motion picture or a
television drama. The most common are a movie trailer and
a behind-the-scenes documentary. The movie trailer is the
least expensive and the behind-the-scenes movie can be
very time consuming if not expensive. Publicity is done
by both the production company and by the distributor.
The still photographs (called appropriately, "stills")
and the behind-the-scenes documentary are paid for by the
production company. But the movie trailer and movie
posters are normally paid for by the distributor. Some
production companies in search of a distributor will
create their own trailers and posters but once the movie
is picked up by a distributor and the advertising
campaign is determined, the distributor might still hire
one of the many companies which produce trailers for most
motion pictures today. In most cases, the distributor
pays the production company a small fee up front for the
right to distribute the movie. Then the production
company receives a royalty after sales reach a certain
amount. Therefore, it is beneficial for the production
company to help in the publicity. Also, the cost of the
distributor's advertising can often be charged against
the income due the production company. So is it better
for the production company to do as much of this as they
can. But once the distributor creates a marketing
campaign, they don't want the production company creating
a different image for the movie. And worst of all, all of
the rights to most of the publicity material created by
the production company is now owned by the film's
distributor so the production company can no longer use
this material in many cases.
In conclusion, marketers just have to remember that
movies are not common “products”. They deserve best
marketing plans to showcase their qualities to the right
audience.
With limited budgets for advertising, marketers are
increasingly relying on the internet and a small team of
social media managers that create a strategy for the
movie content to be released in a staged manner right
until the point of release. This ensures that fans are
continually fed information about a film via various
online touch-points and the buzz for a film reaches a
crescendo by the time a movie is set to release.
CHAPTER 6
FILM PROMOTION IN INDIA
6.1 How it all began
Motion pictures came to India in 1896, when the Lumiere
Brothers' Cinematographe unveiled six soundless short
films in Bombay. This was just one year after the Lumiere
brothers (inventors of cinematography) had set up their
company in Paris.
The first Indian on record to make a movie was
‘Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatwadekar’ . He made one short
film on a wrestling match at the Hanging Gardens in
Bombay, and another on the playfulness of monkeys. Both
these shorts were made in 1897 and were publicly
exhibited for the first time in 1899 using Edison's
projecting kinetoscope inside a tent which the filmmaker
had himself erected.
India's first feature film named "King Harishchandra" –
was released in 1913. It was made by Dhundiraj Govind
Phalke (nickname: Dadasaheb Phalke, 1817-1944). This was
a silent movie.
By 1920, film making had almost taken the shape of an
industry.
The first talkie made in India was "Alam Ara" (produced
by Imperial Film Company) released in 1931.
Until the 1960s, film-making companies, many of whom
owned studios, dominated the film industry. Artistes and
technicians were either their employees or were
contracted on long-term basis. Since the 1960s, however,
most performers went the freelance way, resulting in the
star system and huge escalations in film production
costs. Financing deals in the industry also started
becoming murkier and murkier since then.
Until the late 1990s, it was not even recognized as an
industry. Even though it has since been recognized as an
industry, banks and other financial institutions continue
to avoid the industry due to the enormous risks involved
in the business. Two banks, Canara Bank and Indian Bank,
have reportedly lost heavily by financing films. However,
the prospects of bank financing and risk insurance are
becoming brighter, albeit at a slow rate. As a result,
the financing of films in India often remains shrouded in
mystery.
(There are exceptions, however. India's most celebrated
film-maker, the late Satyajit Ray, is known to have
pawned his wife's jewellery to part-finance his first
film).
Star System: The financing pattern, centered on
distributors, is suspected to have changed since the
1960s when the studio system collapsed and 'freelance'
performers emerged. This gave rise to the 'star system'
in which actors and actresses ceased to have long-term
contractual obligations towards any studio or film
production firm (such as the now defunct Bombay Talkies,
New Theatres and Prabhat Studios). Rather, they began to
operate as freelancers commanding fees in proportion to
the box office performance of their recent films. This
increased costs of film production since the more
successful actors and actresses hogged major proportions
of the producers' budget.
6.2 India NOW
Now, India has the world's biggest movie industry in
terms of the number of movies produced (around 800 movies
annually, mostly in the Hindi language. Tamil, Telugu,
Bengali and Malayalam are the languages in which most of
the non-Hindi films are made).
Today, the technology of filmmaking in India is perhaps
the best among all developing countries though the films
themselves remain mostly repetitive in storyline and
content. Superior movies, in thematic and creative terms,
are made in many developing countries with less
sophisticated technologies.
According to unofficial estimates available in January
2001, the Indian film industry has an annual turnover of
Rs. 60 billion (approximately US$1.33 billion). It
employs more than 6 million people, most of whom are
contract workers as opposed to regular employees.
The above statistics cannot however be used to calculate
the movie industry's share in the GDP or employment
generation. This is because a vast proportion of the
turnover takes place outside the legal economy.
Film production thus became a risky business and the
relationship with usurious money-lenders strengthened
over the years.
As at the start of 2001, a reasonable budget film in
Hindi could cost US$1.75 million. A low budget Hindi film
can be made for even as low as Rs. 15 million.
A big budget Hindi movie can cost in excess of US$30
million. The 'bigness' of the budget is attributable
mainly to the high fees paid to 'stars', celebrated music
directors, high-end technologies and expensive travel
costs to shoot in exotic locations worldwide.
At the time of writing, it is believed that 'stars' like
Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are paid Rs. 20 million
(US$440,000) per film. In contrast, script writers and
film editors remain poorly paid. In an interview, India's
so-called 'superstar' Amitabh Bachchan attributed the
lack of strong storylines to the poor money paid to
writers. The film industry is currently losing
unestimated volumes of revenue due to competition from
local cable operators who illegally beam newly released
movies into the drawing rooms of their subscribers.
However, the entertainment industry in India is slated to
increase to a whopping Rs 250 billion by the end of 2005.
The elation is, in part, perhaps due to current trends in
the average cinema-goer life. The viewers’ overt
fascination with home viewing of movies on pirated VCDs
and DVDs is almost breathing its last, thanks partly due
to the burgeoning trend of multiplexes. Apart from
multiplexes ruling the roost, the market share of cinema
as a medium has shot up due to improved infrastructure in
the existing theatres. Audiences are returning to
theatres, more so in the big cities. In turn, investors
in Bollywood are either getting set to or already raking
up.
However, there is another more valid reason for Bollywood
to cheer. As is apparent to most Bollywood aficionados,
the latest trends in the industry include
corporatization, multinational studios, enhanced
production values due to higher production costs, films
making a sustained impact in the international arena,
increased investments in promotions as well as marketing
entertainment properties, and more and more brands
jumping onto the entertainment bandwagon.
The time is ripe for Indian Cinema to become an organized
industry where films are products that need to be
converted into competitive brands through good marketing.
6.3 Posters and magazines
Post-independence Indian film industry gained a momentum
and historians call the period of 1950s as the golden age
of Indian cinema. Movies like ‘Awara’, Mother India,
‘Pyaasa’, ‘Kaagaz ke Phool’ were released in the 1950’s.
The movies mainly relied on hand painted posters which
were used for Out of home publicity like billboards and
wall posters. These were a few simple marketing campaigns
used by producers to draw the attention of the movie-
goers. In those days the concept of PR (Public Relations)
did not existed and actors did not gave interviews to the
media, nor did they attend parties and thus the movies at
that time did not generate any hype or buzz. The 1970’s
saw the advent of radio where slots were sold for
commercial advertisement. Film festivals, premieres and
awards were covered by the media. The International film
festival of India became an annual event in 1974. This
became a huge grand affair to gain space in newspapers
and film magazines. VCR’s came in the market in 1970s
which provided an alternate source of entertainment from
the sole channel Doordarshan. This lead to increase in
the number of movie watchers who could see movies at home
rather than theatres.
6.4 Television & RADIO
Early 1990s opened the doors for cable and satellite
television in India post the Gulf War, no longer the
viewers were confined to only one channel ‘Doordarshan’.
Satellite channels like Zee TV and Sony changed exposed
viewers to new content. Mix genre movies like romantic,
thriller, action and comedy were released and the viewers
were spoilt for choices. The promos and songs of the
movie started playing on the TV channels and created
necessary hype prerelease. Technology evolution helped to
replace painted posters by modern digital ones. What is
great and unique about Bollywood is that though
television was and is its biggest competitor it looked at
it as a medium to reach its target audience. Today all
movie makers use reality shows like ‘Indian Idol’, ‘Sa re
ga ma pa’, and ‘Big Boss’ to promote their films. ‘Shah
Rukh Khan’ the producer of Ra-One visited each and every
reality show to promote his movie.
6.5 Alternate channels
Another new trend which is emerging today is advertising
and media are looking at a new medium to position their
product to the target audience. That led to product
placement in movies which was experimented where the
products were prominently displayed by the actors in the
movie. At home setting the attention span of the audience
is low, it’s the same while watching television where
viewers skip the advertisement. With digitization this
has become all the more easier as TV shows can be
recorded on the DTH and ads can forwarded. This is where
the role of product placement plays an important role in
movies where the message can be easily slipped in the
narration of the movie. The audience is extremely
receptive at a movie theatre; it also becomes more
effective when the movie star is endorsing the brand
itself e.g. Shahrukh Khan using a Santro car in the movie
‘Chalte Chalte’ or Aamir Khan wearing Van Heusen clothes
in the movie ‘Ghajini’.
6.6 Product placement
Though it is widely believed that the practice of using
movies to promote brands is a recent phenomenon, this
trend can be traced way back to the 1955 Raj Kapoor movie
‘Shree 420’, in which when the protagonist enters Bombay
for the first time, a large Coca-Cola banner is visible
right above his head. There are other instances as well.
In ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’ (1958), the story revolves
around three brothers who own an auto repair shop.
Several scenes in the film feature a poster depicting
Mobil brake-fluid along with at least one mention of it
by one of the primary characters. In An Evening in Paris
(1967), the hero and heroine of the movie carry a Coke
bottle everywhere they go, and an entire crate of Coke is
clearly visible in one of the scenes. Oh! And how can one
not mention the legendary association between the super-
hit ‘Bobby’ (1975) and Rajdoot Motorcycles. The
motorcycle brand also became famous as the ‘Bobby’
motorcycle for quite a while, thus riding on the goodwill
garnered by the movie and its lead characters. The
practice of placing products in Bollywood films really
took off in the 1990s. Yash Chopra’s ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’
(1997) featured several brands such as Pepsi, Levis, and
Killer Jeans. However, it was Subhash Ghai’s ‘Taal’
(1999) that became very famous (or rather infamous) for
being a tad too blatant with product placements. This
Aishwarya Rai - Akshaye Khanna starrer had an entire 10-
second song segment around a Coke bottle. The lack of
subtlety raised many an eyebrow. ‘Ghai’ carried forward
this trend of not-so-subtle product placements in his
next movie, ‘Yaadein’ (2001), though this time round he
took it to an altogether different level. In the movie,
Coke had the mouth-freshener brand, Pass Pass, for
company. Not only did he go for repeated Coke banners in
the background, he also had Jackie Shroff flaunt a key
chain with the Coke logo. This key chain was twiddled in
front of the camera in every other frame Jacky was in. To
add to our woes, everyone kept offering one another Pass
Pass throughout the film. Some other movies that come to
mind when one thinks of extremely blatant product
placements are Rakesh Roshan ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ (2003), Yash
Chopra’s ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum’ (2007) and Farhan Akhtar’s
‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ (2011). ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ had
Rekha trying to push Bournvita down a callow Hrithik’s
throat while it also promoted Coke and Hero Honda. ‘Ta Ra
Rum Pum,’ which revolved around the life of a car-racer
(Saif Ali Khan) pimped auto brands from Castrol to
Goodyear to Chevrolet, while ZNMD made its share by
selling Mountain Dew, Land Rover Discovery 4 and Spanish
Tourism. We can also add ‘Krrish’ (2006), ‘Don’ (2006)
and many more to this list. Also, ‘Dabangg 2; has added
another twist to the tale, what with Chulbul Pandey not
only using a certain mobile phone brand and a riding a
certain motorbike but also dancing with a raunchy Kareena
Kapoor to tell you that you've got to stick it Faavicol
se!
6.7 Multiplexes
Over the last decade phenomenal improvements were made in
the theater infrastructure in India. Multiplex culture
which started in India in 2002 has improved box -office
collection by 3 times. The large number of screens in
multiplexes has provided an excellent opportunity for
small movie makers to reach to their target audience. An
example of one such small budget film is Aamir Khan
Production’s ‘Peepli Live’ which was made with a budget
of 10 crores but grossed nearly 30 crores at the box
office.
Pre-Release Revenue Earning Model Today’s Filmmaker’s
have become very smart and they have developed new
revenue earning models. Most of the films today recover
their cost before release only by selling various Rights
of the movie which include
Theatrical Rights
Satellite Rights or Broadcasting Rights
Music Rights
The movie ‘Ra-One’ was also a pioneer in making full use
of this strategy and earned 132 crores before its release
which is the highest pre-release revenue earned by any
Hindi film leaving way behind its close competitor ‘3
idiots’ which managed a pre-release revenue figure of 85
crores. The worldwide distribution rights of Ra-One were
acquired by Eros Entertainment for 77 crores. The
broadcasting rights of the movie were sold to Star India
for 35 crores and the Music Rights of the movie were
bought by T-Series for 10 crores. SRK has truly taught us
how to market a movie and he is the only film personality
in India who can give a tough fight to any marketing
professor in the world
6.8 Internet, Social Media & Bollywood
A combination that has done wonders over the last few
years. We have seen Bollywood actors, actresses,
directors and even producers having an account in social
media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Besides this, many
Bollywood celebrities have grown a keen interest in
blogging as well. Even superstars like Amitabh Bachchan,
Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor
maintain accounts in Twitter to keep in touch with the
world and with their fans. Whether it’s the promotion of
a movie or publishing digital posters or hosting contests
related to a movie to be released, Bollywood stars,
producers and directors know the marketing strategy
through Social Media quite well. A recent trend among
Bollywood film-makers is that they ask for public opinion
on their movie through the social media and consider that
opinion as final judgment. This trend has been followed
by directors like Mahesh Bhatt and Prakash Jha. These two
directors got help from the audience regarding the
selection of the movie posters for their film's ‘Murder
2’ and ‘Aarakshan’ respectively. We have also seen that
Shirish Kunder literally made his Twitter followers
decide the cast and crew of his movie Joker’s. Starting
from the actress opposite Shreyas Talpade, the lyricist
and even the music director, all have been collectively
decided by Kunder's Twitter followers. Amitabh Bachchan's
blog is extremely famous and has a large number of
readers. He has used this medium to interact with his
die-hard fans and this has made him within the reach of
the ordinary. Social media has even taken over the need
for reading magazines related to Bollywood gossip. Right
from the conception of a film, we have seen celebrities
who are part of that movie, continuously posting
something or the other about the status of the movie.
This has made the audience aware even about the minute
developments taking place in a film's sets and that also
from the mouth of their favorite stars themselves.
Building hype and creating a buzz around a movie release
has been, and will remain the order of the day while
movies are made. However, pre-release promotions are
becoming more and more interactive and social. In a bid
to position ‘Dhoom 3’ differently, 99Games Online Pvt.
Ltd and Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd. launched the official
game for the ‘Dhoom 3’ movie on the Windows Phone. Join
the Chase a campaign hosted on a dedicated Facebook app
is another recent endeavor. What is common to both
endeavors is the spirit of reality and involvement. The
prizes on offer are something that make people sit up and
take notice, because the 1000 CC BMW bike from the film
is the grand prize for the Facebook based contest, while
participants are kept engaged with mini contests and the
opportunity to win points at every stage. The 3D racing
game is available exclusively on the Windows phone with
state of the art graphics. Micro blogging site Twitter
was the social media platform Bullet Raja used to host an
inter-city competition challenging fans from various
cities to show their love for ‘Bullett Raja’. As a result
of this initiative, the number of Twitter followers for
Bullet Raja rose to 1,227 by the end of the contest.
#wewantbulletraja trended on the 29th and 30th of
September, 2013 and a 40% increase in the number of
followers was seen within just two days of the contest.
Upcoming film ‘JAI HO’ is already making waves on social
media, way before its release.
CONCLUSION
Film making is a costly affair. It’s the most influential
art form of this era. For some, it is not just art; it is
business, entertainment; and also for some it is a path
to stardom. But the era is changing. There are many ways
an individual or a group of people can connect to the
world. The reach of a single individual into the whole
wide world is the longest ever. Conventional methods are
slowly degrading and almost all the main film promotion
is done with the help of the internet.
Ever since the term: Independent filmmaking emerged the
film promotion techniques started taking a new turn.
Independent filmmaking is a new movement in film making
where filmmakers experiment and use latest and cheapest
technology to create films that are primarily art and
then entertainment.
In Independent filmmaking there is no room for large
expenditures. “The less the money spent the better the
work of art” is the motto of this movement of filmmaking
and hence filmmakers now come up with innovative ways to
connect and reach the people keeping in mind the low
budget.
A drawback to all this new technology and innovative
technique is their influencing nature. Industry big shots
and stars can make any movie, include a larger than life
film promotion and star with a big fan base and there you
go! The biggest blockbuster. Anyone can make a movie.
All you need is good film promotion. ‘Dhoom 3’, the top
grosser of Indian cinema is a critical disaster. ‘Jilla’
with all its promotion turned out to be a flop with no
basic story structure. And yet they managed to make a
heavy profit. The art is missing here. The idea of a
researched, through script, Expert direction, quality
cinematography, parallel cinema etc is slowly degrading.
In comparison to the Hollywood film industry big budget
films with big budget film promotion, with big stars are
the same films that are sent to various awards like the
Oscars. ‘The wolf of wall street’ by legendary filmmaker
Martin Scorsese, was nominated for the academy award. It
was entertaining, a lot of money was spent on its
production and the same amount for promotion. But the art
remained. There was quality filmmaking. The script was
well researched and thoroughly gripping.
In India we have almost similar resources brilliant,
creative and skilled cinematographers, Post production
unit like Reliance media, skilled actors music composers
like the Academy award winning A.R Rahman. And yet we
fail to deliver quality in our big budget films. We donot
invest ourselves into thinking different we tend to
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