Kuch Marketing Common Sense
If you are one of those people who believes it is solely the duty of audiences to get into Hindi cinema crusade mode to save the fate of a low-budget film at the box office, then, umm…it might not be such a good idea to click on this post.
A few months back a handful of PFC authors and readers took an initiative called the Cinema Support & Research Group, which functioned in the form of a Google Group for people passionate about films to join forces and knowledge to put together a marketing template for low-budget filmmakers. Of course, as happens with most initiatives, folks started off with baddi baddi baatein…and well…only baatein. Okay, okay, will not turn this into a “With Malice Towards One” rant. Time for kaam ki baat!
A lot of us have expressed disdain at how crappy films like Kambakkht Ishq, Singh Is Kinng, Welcome, Race, etc. do so well at the box office while well-made films (hmmm…although I suppose everyone’s definition of a “well-made” film varies) such as Tahaan, Sankat City, Barah Aanaa, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Via Darjeeling, Siddharth-The Prisoner, etc. don’t work wonders in terms of ticket sales.
Now, I’m sure that there are a bunch of you out there who think it is solely up to us audience members to get into film crusade mode and educate ourselves about well-made films out there, educate others about these films, and get as many people as we can into the theater to watch the films we are passionate about. And, yes, to a certain extent this is quite true that one should stand up for what they believe in…
However, the number of such passionate film audiences is not that large to make a strong enough impact on generating sufficient word-of-mouth buzz surrounding a film which has not been marketed sufficiently.
While it may sound clichéd, it is true that marketing, PR, and advertising is extremely important for the success of a low-budget, off-beat film, especially more so when the film does not have a big star attached to the project. As Raja Menon correctly points out, “a small film needs more marketing than a big film.”
I absolutely do not understand why on earth someone would spend money making a film and then neglect promoting the film. I just don’t get it. Enlighten me guys. Please.
Is it safe to assume that someone investing in making a film wants to make a profit? Charity business toh nahin hai naa filmmaking? So, if the goal is to earn as much profit as possible through ticket sales, isn’t it common sense to actually bother to inform audiences about the film and then after informing them about the film to try to lure them into the theater through sufficient advertisements, marketing and PR? Yes or no?
Haan, haan, haan! I understand that if a film is a low-budget film that means billions of dollars are not at disposal for marketing and advertising efforts. Duh, that’s why it’s called “small-budget film.”
Nonetheless, one still needs to spend enough money on getting word out about a film, otherwise how the hell are you going to have enough ticket sales? And, if the film doesn’t do well at the box office, then how are you going to find enough investors next time for similar projects? So, shouldn’t marketing efforts be pumped up a notch or two than it has been in most cases for low-budget films? Jitnaa shakar daaloge, utnaa meethaa hogaa, right? Many people who hated Singh Is Kinng still ended up seeing the film at the theater, whereas many people who saw Tahaan loved the film but saw it on DVD (if not online). Why is it that the crappier films do better off in terms of ticket-sales than films of substance? Well, sometimes the distribution of the film is so poor that due to laziness one opts to see the film on DVD. But, in many other instances, it is because the majority of audiences are not even aware of the film, and, if they have briefly heard of the film they really haven’t been “sold” the film through the glitzy marketing which sells shit like Kambakkht Ishq to audiences.
So, what are some ways of promoting a film? Well, let’s brainstorm right here…
a) Advertisements: ads on television, radio, Web sites, newspapers, magazines, billboards
b) Posters in theaters
c) Music videos (if the film has any songs) running on channels like MTV and Channel V
d) PR—blitzkrieg of news releases and interviews and previews on TV, Radio, print media, Web sites (Blogging is also a PR strategy)
e) Creating (and regularly updating) pages on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Orkut, etc.
f) YouTube videos (music videos, trailers, scenes, deleted scenes)
g) Official Web site for a film
h) Wikipedia page with abundant content
i) Remember to link content from Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Orkut, Wikipedia, YouTube, Official Web site, etc. to each other!
j) Koi aur ideas ho toh bataao ji :-)
Duration of marketing efforts varies from film to film based on budget…But, I suppose at least a minimum 3 weeks prior to the film’s release should have an outpour of marketing efforts.
Quick side note: Why don’t marketing teams think outside of the box? They limit their marketing efforts to the young, urban audiences in India. Some of the well-made low-budget films would easily appeal to non-Indian audiences also…Why not tap into new markets?
Specificities of marketing a film varies depending on film genre…For example, a marketing strategy such as the lust line which worked for Dev D wouldn’t really work for a film like Tahaan. So, based on a film’s genre one can put together a specific marketing plan, but it is important to penetrate various platforms—i.e. print, broadcast, online media. Promoting a film through online media doesn’t even cost that much—setting up a FaceBook page, a Twitter page, Wikipedia page and posting videos on YouTube isn’t rocket science nor does it cost anything except time.
Here is some research PFC Author Sethumadhavan did—
a) Krrish:
-merchandise was available (masks, key chains, posters, etc.)
-Tie-up with HUL for Lifebuoy soap targeting children
-Singapore tourism board promoted exclusive sight seeing tours including visits to locations of the film’s shooting
b) Dhoom-2:
-merchandise was available
-PC based game version launched on PlayStation
-Coke-Dhoom 2 campaign with Hrithik Roshan (Coke Uthaale, Dhoom Machaale)
c) Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna:
-tie-up with HP running a promotion that offered buyers of Compaq Presario laptops a chance to win merchandise and SRK posters
-Airtel offered exclusive content of KANK on mobile phones
d) Namastey London:
-association with BharatMatrimony.com
-special Christmas-time ads (remember the Jingle Balle ads? lol!)
e) Ghajini:
-outdoor publicity (hoardings, bus shelters etc),
-when viewers went to watch SRK’s RNBDJ which released a couple of weeks prior to Ghajini, the ushers and other staff in some multiplexes were sporting the “Ghajini” hair cut.
-multiplex chains like Inox had tie-ups done with some special hair saloons/beauty clinics which allowed the viewer to go and get a free Ghajini hair cut done.
And, here is some quick research I did—
a) Sankat City:
-very limited promotion in print and broadcast media
-many theaters did not even have posters of the film weeks prior to the release
-a few days prior to the film’s release the Facebook Page only had 45 fans, and now the FB page for SC currently has 69 fans
-the Wikipedia page was very basic
-The most popular Sankat City video on YouTube only had about 1800 views a few days prior to the film’s release.
-Google News: Between July 2009 and August 28, 2009, the keywords “Sankat City” yield only 61 search results
b) Dev D:
-Official Web site: Lustline got PR buzz
-Facebook had lots of fans around the release date of the film—currently the FB page has 14,484 fans
-YouTube videos had tens of thousands of views before film’s release; currently one of the deleted scenes from the films has 291,933 views!!!
-Google News: Between September 2008 and August 28, 2009, the keywords “Dev D” yields 7,840 results!!
c) Love Aaj Kal:
-Facebook page had over 2,600 fans around the time of Sankat City’s release. Currently, the FB page has 4,571 members
-Google News: Between January 2009 and August, 28, 2009 Google News search results for the keywords “Love Aaj Kal” throws out 371 results
-YouTube: The most popular video for LAK on YouTube (The Twist Promo) has 828,510 views
d) Barah Aanaa:
-Facebook: has 1,425 members
-Google News: 55 results between December 2008 and August 28, 2009
-YouTube: 59,826 views Aamir Khan speaks on BA; teaser has 11,071 views
e) Tahaan:
-Google News: 174 results between May 2008 to August 28, 2009
-YouTube: 87,917 views for a video about Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra at Tahaan Premier; the film’s trailer has 11,247 views
f) Kaminey:
-Facebook: 4,608 fans
-Google News: 424 results between February 2009 to Aug 28, 2009
-YouTube: Dhan Te Nan video has 554,983 views
g) Kambakkht Ishq:
-Facebook: 1,552 fans
-Google News: 360 results between February 2009 to August 28, 2009
-YouTube: Om Mangalam video has 958,562 views!!
h) Singh Is Kinng:
-Facebook: 3,022 members
-Google News: 1,990 results between April 2008 to August 28, 2009
-YouTube: Teri Ore has 1,407,802 views!!
i) Wake Up Sid:
-Facebook: 916 fans
-Google News: 115 results between September 2008 and August 28, 2009
-YouTube: trailer has 25,597 views
j) Sikandar:
-Facebook: 538 fans
-Google News: 91 results between September 2008 to August 28, 2009
-YouTube: trailer has 13,940 views
k) The Stoneman Murders:
-Facebook: 113 fans
-Google News: 50 results between January 2009 to August 28, 2009
-YouTube: trailer has 7,275 views
l) What’s Your Raashee?:
-Facebook: 740 fans
-Google News: 95 results between April 2009 to August 28, 2009
-YouTube: Promo has 12,026 views
Feel free to draw whatever conclusions you want from the quick stats provided above…I’ve come to the conclusion that more marketing efforts online helps a film do better at the box office than a film with very minimal marketing.
Yeah, I know, I’ve pretty much just vomited out some thoughts and research. What I really hope happens is that the Cinema Support & Research Group is revived soon and that committed people from the media, people with experience in marketing/PR, and, of course, filmmakers decide to join forces to come up with a more tailored marketing guide for low-budget filmmakers.
Anyone interested in joining the Cinema Support & Research Group, please feel free to shoot me an email at amandasodhi@gmail.com and we’ll add you to the Google Group ASAP.
Of course, watching films belonging to the type of cinema we support is important. But, it’s also just as important to market such films properly, so the audience for quality low-budget films grows…
Jai Cinema! :-)
Tags: marketing, Movie Marketing
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
One more way to promote a small-budget movie is to show its trailer with other movies.. Thats a very effective way to connect with ur target audience..
I agree. channelized effort helps more than being everywhere without knowing ur target audience.
I wanna research why people watch films like love aaj kal.
Let’s see what you recommend.
I recommend a trip to the himalayas, without the logic of course.
LAK…thanks for bringing back bad memories, grr!
Point well made, i’d like to add that different products require different permutations of marketing strategies and each film is unique ‘product’. Just about every film will have an audience of some sort and the trick would be to reach that audience and make money out of it. Also, it is a tad unfair to assume that all films will have the same volume to viewers, some films by their very nature will have limited viewers but there is scope i think for making the most of those.
yes, of course every film is unique therefore the specific marketing strategy will vary from film to film. but, for example, ideas for online marketing through FB, twitter, blogging, online PR, etc. are methods all films can use.
Amanda- good to see this write-up.I’m sure this is a very small step in a long journey.But if atleast a few like minded people like us and from the industry come together to take some concrete steps in this direction- it would be great.
thanks, sethu. here’s hoping for the best, lol.
What do I get for becoming member of those Facebook pages or Orkut communities? Am I getting something that I would not get from anywhere else? Will I get it before the market? Will I get it easier than people who are not members of FB page?
well, it depends on the film. some films have FB pages which are regularly updated with links, videos, photos, contest info, etc. in fact, if i remember correctly, imitaz asked FB members for ideas on brainstorming the title for LAK…
While I can appreciate the good intentions behind this write-up, I must say it only preaches to the choir. While the statistics added a nice touch, the arguments made have been beaten to death on PFC more times than I can count since its inception.
In my opinion, when most independent producers or companies finance a small film, by the time the film is complete they get cold feet. “Ok, so I have invested 3 crores in this film. Let me just sell the audio rights, the DVD rights, the satellite rights etc and try to recover as much as I can. Why should I risk investing more money into it?”
The solution to this fundamental attitude problem I feel is shaping up slowly through this example that was brought to my attention by Sethumadhavan himself. I am surprised he has not brought this up:
A company called Midas Experiences that is looking to invest in films by funding marketing & publicity only. This is a brilliant idea wherein a company or a producer needs to only invest in the making of the film, and can subsequently call on such companies to fund the marketing without risking their own money:
http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=13944
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Media-Entertainment-/Entertainment/Special-funds-for-film-promotion-in-vogue-Midas-joins-queue/articleshow/4926176.cms
Nope, I had not heard of the Midas Experiences initiative when I had written this post. But thanks for sharing the links!!
Regarding preaching to the choir…lol, well, when the choir is sitting idle, what exactly do you suggest one does?
The problem is most production homes seem to underestimate the power of marketing when it comes to low-budget films. Another problem is that sometimes they are content with the film flopping as if they were expecting it…was talking to someone associated with Sikandar who said the film hasn’t done too well. i said, well, you obviously didn’t really market it that well and he was like yeah, ummm, it was meant to be a really small release, etc. etc.
Vijay- thanks for bringing this up- Amanda’s post was written a few days before I discovered the example of Midas Experiences.This is a great initiative indeed.
Also for all those interested, apart from Midas Experiences there’s also Vistaar Religare who’s doing the same work.I certainly hope companies like these bring out a new trend in the industry.
One more problem in case of the smaller independent films is that if the producer happens to be a big corporate ( like Sankat City- Moser Baer,7 Entertainment ) or the producer in turn sells the movie to a corporate or a bigger producer, from then on it becomes the corporate/big producer’s responsibility to do the marketing- filmmakers I’m sure find it difficult to influence these people as they feel they know what is right.Would request experts to elaborate on this or correct me if I’m wrong.
Marketing decisions are made by the producer/distributor. Filmmaker takes part in marketing but as you rightly said, cannot call any shots.
I think the Midas Experiences model calls for more structuring. I would imagine that the producer would first have to submit a solid marketing plan in order to be able to pitch for the funds.
A lot of producers may be clueless about marketing. At this point, perhaps even the small films can afford the marketing and publicity agencies. They can take the project to the agencies, have the agencies formulate a marketing plan and perhaps even have them pitch it to Midas directly.
Lot of options. Good idea. Lets see how well it is executed and how long it sustains.
I think Oz owns a company that does similar kind of work. It might be different from Midas in some ways, but damn you for promoting a competitor. :P
One of the cheapest and safe mode of campaigning is EMAIL campaign. Get the email’s from third party database marketing companies and shoot email with lots of interesting content about movie. Its more personalized and reaches a vast number of audience.
I get such emails all the time. They go straight into my junk mail folder automatically.
The idea of marketing is to create awareness of the product, not sell, if am not mistaken. If it goes to junk its fine…you ain’t interested in it.
I believe one of the best ways to target the individual consumer is through the Satellite TV(Dish ,Tata Sky etc), there is little threat of piracy, and people can enjoy movies with their family right at home, it also takes out the multiplex/theater owners out of the picture, I dunno why it’s not targeted as a medium.
school’s out for summer, school’s out forever, we ain’t got no principals, we ain’t got no class…
aaah! the snorability is immense..
kindly close the curtains..
snore
‘Welcome’ should’ve gone for the goddamn oscars.. i would actually counterpoint everything in this post but te thingsnorrrrrreeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
hmmm, thanks for the insight mr. sarcastic.
thanks for the dose. I was getting worried about my sleeping habits. My mom became a buncle of nerves. I actually tried hitting myself with an anvil but it didn;t really work out. But a minute into this vicco vajradanthi article.. counting sheep seemed positively kinetic
Theek hai naa, if nothing else positive comes out of this post, at least people will have an alternative to inducing yawns and zzz’s.
@ Amanda, you raised a very valid point… it is very important to let people know about your good work. Time has changed and its not like what we had 10 years before when a serious and good film was termed as art film and it is not for mango people. Today people are ready to spend to watch a good movie, even though they are few but they are… and for this you need to spent 50 crore for your film because one should know the target people and make according to it. We have production houses to back them also…but one needs a right approach to do this…
ALl your points and research come up to nought if you forget to figure in the one true fact about Indian cinema -
In India people go to theatres to watch STARS.
Go to a producer with a terrific script and no star, you get a no. Go to a producer with a star and no script, you will get a red carpet welcome. Same holds for the audience.
That’s not entirely true Nitin (or at least I hope it isn’t). There are umpteen number of films with no stars which have been seen by enough people to make them successful. And anyway the thought of not having a star in your film should not be a reason to stop you from making a film that deserves to be made. Having said that I think it’s not necessarily the people or the viewers, but producers and distributors who want stars. The people are just happy seeing a film they’ve enjoyed.
Films without stars succeeding are always an exception, and films with stars not recovering costs are also mostly exceptions. I was not stating a rule, just something that governs our industry.
“Films without stars succeeding are always an exception”…so does that mean the film shouldn’t be marketed at all? if that is the case, why even bother making the film in the first place? bound script par dhool padte hue dekh kar hi jashnn manaao.
Hahaha! ‘bound script par dhool padte hue dekh kar hi jashnn manaao.’ LOL!
But seriously, I feel sad when a well promoted well made film with no stars just flops because no one wants to go to see it. Im not talking of my personal opinion, but of my friends – ‘its good but who’ll spend money on that. I will get it off a torrent and you can grab it on your thumbdrive. We’ll watch Wanted and Blue in theatres instead’.
How do you convince someone like that with any marketing strategy? Or are we targetting the wrong segment of movie goers?
Haan, it is sad :-( And, the majority of the audience is like that. Which is why marketing becomes even MORE important–to sort of trick audiences into wanting to catch the film at theaters. I know that sounds unethical, but all is fair in love, war and films :-)
You know, it’s been the opposite in my case–I’ll mention a film to friends, cousins, and people I know who like watching Hindi films and they’ll be like, huh? yeh kaunsi film hai? and then they’ll finally see it on DVD or online and end up really enjoying it. Had they been exposed to constant media messaging about the film prior and immediately after the film’s release they might have actually bothered to see the film at a theater…
BTW, cool Web site you’ve got.
that’s not true, nitin. otherwise we wouldn’t have films like KKG, Bheja Fry, Dasvidanya, Mithya, etc. being made at all. There is an audience for films without a big star like SRK. But that audience isn’t large enough which is why more marketing is needed to get that audience number, that market segment to increase…
@ amanda, the key factor in making a movie is to understand what an audience wants… its cannot always be that “I want to tell a story”… it also has to be that “this is what the audience wants to hear”… once you get the pulse of saying “you are ugly” by saying “you are not conventionally beautiful” .. scripts will be a success” … there are quite a lot of small budget movies, which expect the audience to understand the nerve of the movie which shouldn’t be the case.. apart from that, its not fair to say the small budget movies dont work, the ratio of small budget movies that succeeded against the ones made is almost the same as number of big budget star movies that work against the number of movies made… hardly 15 big budget star wale movies rule the rooster compared to the number made, we forget all the ones that flop.. yuvraaj, god tussi great ho, asoka, Chandni Chowk to China, Salaam e Ishq, Aaja Nachle, Thoda pyar thoda magic, Plan, Luck, Musafir are examples of these, and similarly in the ratio of small budgets, success of Mr and Mrs Iyer, Mithya, Bheja Fry, Iqbal, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Chandni Bar, aamir, Mumbai Meri Jaan, A wednesday… are HITS!!!
The real success of Aamir Khan movies in the last 10 years remain that he understood what the Audience wants to see, create the excitement and interest in audience to watch a movie, along with a strong content, than ever promote a movie showing up that “STAR” aamir khan is playing the lead… the last movie which did that was “Mangal Pandey” … from trailers to posters, it was all about an Aamir with huge moustache, and facing the gallows, than anything else.. and we saw what happened.. every other movie was about the script, story, what interests the audience and how aamir is a part of it.. all the trailers and promotions have always been about, flashes of what the movie has to offer, with the right mix of music, scenes, screenplays, and also aamir….
I think my statement should have been -
In India people go to theatres to watch ‘entertaining movies’ with STARS.
We are a very picky lot with little money to waste. We want our stars, and those too in good packagings.
Now plenty of great movies with good marketing flop just because they had no ’stars’. I think you can list them better than me. Imagine the same movies with Hritik, Salman, Shuhrukh, Akshay or Aamir and see if you can imagine them flopping.
And plenty of movies with Stars flop because they did not cater to the audience’s tastes or are just badly made (Billu Barber, Tasveer 9×10, Yuvraaj, LOC, Umrao Jaan, God Tussi Great Ho etc)
wow, those are very interesting thoughts.
marketing isn’t the only factor in a film doing well or not. ideally, a strong script should be the foundation. but marketing can sometimes help sell crap–recent example would be Kambakkht Ishq.
you’re right that it is important to understand what the audience wants. but it is also important to actually communicate to the audience you have a film you want to share with them. there are so many films which go totally unnoticed because no attempt was made to get the word out. all i’m saying is that more marketing efforts for small-budget films would help the film do much better off at the box office. if nothing else, it’ll at least result in more awareness about the film…
Amanda, with a budget of seventy five crores or more, KI didn’t make money. Eros will lose money from it, from what I have read. With such a gigantic budget, the stakes are much higher.
Aarti- Eros wouldnt lose money.They’ve probably already made their money.Its the poor smaller distributors and the theatres which will suffer who would paid huge amounts as advances or MG ( Minimum Guarantee ) for this movie.
Sethu, I read an article on the film street journal saying that Eros will land up losing around 25 crores on this. Of course, there was much debate about the actual figures of this movie.
Amanda- “you’re right that it is important to understand what the audience wants.” please don’t go by that line(always).
once a friend of mine asked javed akhtar sir, sir you have have given so many hits, so can you tell us the secret to write a successful script. he said “i don’t know, but i surely know two ways for a failure.
1. if you are making a film for them, they want it so i am making it.
2. i am making the greatest film ever , bigger than sholy..”
@ satish … I should be more elaborate… when I say Understand the audience, its not about talking to them and getting to know of their opinions but more of to pay attention to what they say and what they do… every man would say he would like to see the Indian roads being clean, but in action would maybe cough and spit at whichever point he is standing at… would like driving rules, but applicable to everybody apart from them while driving… thats what i mean when I say understand the audience and then market accoridngly… even on PFC, there would rarely be a 100% attendance to a movie being spoken about here… its very human, similarly going on FBs and Twitters and everyday media printing of cinemas are not going to be the right marketing ever… maybe being on internet helps, but you have to generate curiosity that people click on internet to find more info than you falling on to their feets … (I AM PRETTY SURE THATS WHAT JAVED AKHTAR MEANT)
…marketing always needs to understand what is the audience like.. and what they want…
….”the customer does not know what to buy unless shown”…
saying that works in my organisation… however that does not also mean that we throw anything and everything at them … you understand if a mercedes is what they want, or is it a maruti for now, and then gradually an upgraded maruti and then you move up …
the “show” of cards needs to be done real well, as done by all the late movies of Aamir Khan… 4 steps – introduce, settle it in, generate curiosity, deliver the goods…
The audience wants to be thrilled, entertained, that remains basic, now how you do build around that is where marketing needs to be worked….
maybe just an example… the all so famous “Digen Varma ad” … it captured the fancy of TV watching folks… and right when they should have “show-ed” the card they spoilt it by allowing all kinds of other advertisements to be base off this one (the Indiatimes Matrimonial ad screwed it up BIG TIME) that Frooti never got to get its due…
Satish, I only said it is important to understand what the audience wants—I didn’t say I think a writer and/or filmmaker should always be a slave of the demands of the audience. What I meant is that it IS indeed important to understand what the audience wants—the first step of a good marketing campaign is audience analysis—identifying and understanding your target markets/audiences. Furthermore, if you know from the very start that your film is something audiences are not going to automatically be interested in, that gives you even more reason to work harder on the promotion of the film to lure the audiences into the theater…
I completely agree with your points Amanda.. I am trying to add on it … Marketing efforts will again be a success, if you put across the idea more like “there is this thing that you got that the audience would want” instead of bland flashes of trailers and posters… as much as I appriciate Sikandar and Hulla, why would I go for it when they seem to offer me nothing but a story that I know… While say an Iqbal or Mumbai meri Jaan, I know what the movie has to say again start to end, but the marketing made sure that there was this appeal that struck to me, more as I would like to see and analyze, and slowly root for a small cause (underdog/peace in the city) … these were simple marketing, but they had the same difference as … “Gulab Jamun me do piece jamun ke aayenge” vs, “Gulab jamun taaze bane hai, hum fresh banate rehte hai, we keep updating them, khatam hota rehta hai, paneer k hai, chashni bahut meetha nahi, pet bhar jaaye jee na bhare” and BANG, the customer wants to eat one…
Kambakth Ishq, as much as people suggest is an example of marketing success, some small cinema producer should have taken the chance and released a small budget movie, in the 2nd week of KI release.. KI is the kind of movie which got everybody to theaters, and when people hated it, they would ve gone for the other movie… not an aggresive campaign like Ghajini did vs, RBNDJ, but more like what Aamir gained, people gathered with half minds of whether they want to watch Sarkar Raj, and ended going for Aamir..
PS, yes, that is true—as my marketing professors always told us, the marketing messaging should create a need in the audience’s mind and the solution to satisfying that need should be the film/product.
Kyaa yaar, gulaab jaamun mention karnaa zaroori thaa? Lol.
@ Amanda,,,, Gulab Jamun was still a decent example yaar
… let me throw in a another one, which will leave soem sour taste (at least in my mind) … my initial days in US, I walk into this shop which has the menu board showing up “Mango Lassi” oh wow, you should have seen me waiting and cursing all the guys in the line ahead of me… and after being told $5 is a lil too much for it, I was still ready to pay a tip also … only to get a PROBIOTIC LASSI, … Nyquil (corex in india) tastes so much better than it… thats my comparison to Kambakth Ishq… a starved audience, waiting for multiplex strike to end, loads of hype, colors, prints, banners, TVs, songs.. to land up and get this miserable movie… just the way I wait till somebody tells me that the lassi is good, till then I somehow dont feel like having em at all.. thats how I feel about ‘BLUE’ now..
@Amanda-It is true.Which world do you live in?
Have you ever tried writing/conceptualizing a film & approaching producers with the idea of a LIVE project? I have.
Here’s what a few insiders have point blank told me. First you write a rough-script, then you approach a Star with it. If the star likes it and says yes, then you approach a producer with the Star’s word of approval.
Apropos the much lauded Bheja Fry, please note that its a scene by scene lift from a French film.One of the reasons why the indie movement hasn’t quite taken off is the second-tier mafia that rules the roost there.While big studios keep recycling the mughal-e-azam scale formula ad-nauseum, the indie-log are busy making un-credited small scale remakes of hitherto undiscovered european cinema.
Hurrah Bollywood!!!
“Which world do I live in?” Jee, humaari alag hi duniyaa hai. Aap apni duniyaa ke baare mei sunaaiye.
Whether I’ve tried writing/conceptualizing a film idea?–this isn’t the time for me to blabber on about that.
About having a star in order to get a film made–how do you explain Hindi films without big Stars involved ever getting made?
Anyway, I really do wish you the best with your project–and, no, I’m not being sarcastic. Making films requires a lot of persistence despite being told “no.”
@Amanda – What exactly do I suggest one does? I already suggested it in my comment. Alternatives to producers’ investment in marketing. One option is a company like Midas.
Ok, so there aren’t so many companies out there that invest solely in the marketing of the film. Heck Midas’ isn’t even a proven example yet.
In such a scenario, I put the onus on the director…not after he has made the film, but BEFORE he has made his film. As a director, if you find a producer or financier, prior to signing the deal, insist on a marketing budget, and work it into the contract.
So if you feel you need 3 crores to make your film, add 25, 30, 50 lakhs to that. Raise whatever extra you can. If you can only raise 3, try to make your film in 2.75. Insist in your contract that this is the amount set aside for marketing. If you do not have confidence that your financier can market, or if your financier is clueless about marketing, insist that you will appoint someone to supervise the marketing.
If someone is bankrolling your film, he sure as hell aint doing charity. He is doing it because he sees potential returns. And anyone who is looking to make money out of a film knows it needs to be marketed. Work it into the contract before-hand, so that if and when the guy does develop cold feet, your film is not denied its chance.
If a financier refuses to include a marketing budget, well, that is when you know you need to move on and find someone else. Because there is nothing more painful than putting all that blood and sweat into making a film, and then finding out nobody even heard about it.
Haan, yeh baat toh sach hai. The director should insist on a marketing budget. I dunno, I guess in some cases the director is so damn excited his/her film is even getting made in the first place that they decide to ignore demanding a marketing budget.
I think it was Ronnie Screwvala who said something to the effect of, “If you’re not going to market your film, don’t bother making it.”
Exactly!! What is the point of making a film if no one even knows about it?
On talking to a couple of people in the industry I concur with Vijay here.What is emerging these days is that in case of smaller films its better if the filmmaker can along with the concept note/script keep a tentaive business plan ready which will capture marketing costs ( and if possible an ideal break up too )also.that would certainly enable the producer to take the call a lot easier.This method will prove handy for a lot of filmmakers I guess.
enjoying the discussion thoroughly. the points and the counter points.
hey! this is a pleasant surprise :-)
sarthak, it would be interesting to hear your insight about film marketing, more specifically about the marketing for TGIB.
Despite their own phenomenal popularity, despite being in a situation where people will go watch a movie just because their names are associated with it, look at what lengths SRK and Aamir Khan go to promote their films.
If they find it important to market their films, that importance doubles, triples, quadruples for the small films and filmmakers.
Not marketing the film is the same as saying I’m spending all this money to shoot it, but I wont edit it. Would anyone do that? Would the filmmaker not raise money for post production? Or will he be happy with just enough money to get the film into the can and rest his ass on it? Treat marketing as the final step of the filmmaking process and INSIST on funds for it.
Indie projects are born in the writer/director. It is his/her property before he hands legal ownership of it to a producer/financier/studio. So the writer/director needs to stand firm on the marketing terms prior to handing it over.
Vijay, are you in any way related to the film industry? Just curious. What you said sounds very ‘propah’ and ‘by the book’ but the reality is far away from it.
Yes Aarti, I work as a film editor in the Tamil film industry and run my own post production house, before which I have worked extensively doing pitching, festival and marketing campaigns for various independent films in Los Angeles. What I’m talking about is what the scenario should be, not what it is. If it is “by the book”, then by what book is that? I am here before you, willing to be enlightened and educated. So go ahead, and somewhere in there, do let me know what you connection to the film industry is based on which you are offering me that enlightenment and education.
Vijay, I think the answer lies somewhere in between
> getting hold of a good producer who market your film aggressively regardless of the budget in which the film has been made..
> Making a reasonably big budget film so that the producer has no other choice but to market it well in order to recover the money and run into profits.
Marketing is not something which is laid out in contracts. I am sure that you are aware of the impediments a director faces on every nook and cranny. It’s a struggle for them to keep their heads above the water every single step of the way. So the ideal situation would be to choose sensibly and leave a WHOLE LOT of the rest to luck. A films fate at the box office is a mixture of several things. Good content, reasonable budget, the backing of a supportive producer, in your face marketing, audience response and luck and then some. I may be wrong though but that’s what I have figured out. My husband is from the film industry. And I learn all about it from him and from PFC!!
You said: “getting hold of a good producer who market your film aggressively regardless of the budget in which the film has been made”
I said: “If a financier refuses to include a marketing budget, well, that is when you know you need to move on and find someone else”
Both essentially refer to the same thing. If by producer, you mean one that veers away from the “Indian” definition of the term and more towards the western definition, I have mentioned that too, where I talk about the director appointing someone to do the marketing.
You said: “Making a reasonably big budget film so that the producer has no other choice but to market it well in order to recover the money and run into profits.”
What are you trying to say here? That let’s not bother making small budget films at all? Let’s only make big budget films? This whole post is about how small films are not marketed. Small films are what PFC stands for! We are here trying to figure out how to encourage people to market small films, and here you are saying make big films. Come on! It’s like saying “Garibi hatana hai toh seedha gareebon ko hatao!”
Who told you marketing is not laid out in contracts? Do you know that production houses, even here in Chennai, where the film industry is supposedly far less structured than Bombay, insist on formulation of a marketing strategy by hiring marketing & publicity agencies before the launch of the film even? I myself am handling the marketing of my wife’s film “Kola Kolaya Mundhirika” which is now under production and I personally drew up legal contracts with our publicity agency prior to the start of the film, containing the marketing budget and plan, with the producer’s approval to spend a designated amount for marketing. That money has been contractually set aside.
Trust me, I know the impediments a director faces. Which is why it is doubly important for directors to buck up and stand for the right for their film to be marketed appropriately. And it wont happen till they take charge!
Your “ideal situation” is “choose sensibly and leave a WHOLE LOT of the rest to luck”! Are you kidding me??? If that was the ideal thing to do, every film out there would be flopping. UTV would not have become what it is if they chose luck over strategy and research.
You have just proven that you know absolutely NOTHING about film marketing. Dont question my credibility or say that my arguments are far from reality with the above “answer”. It’s a load of bullshit and you know it! Maybe have an extended chat with your husband, or if you are drawing your knowledge from PFC, take a look at how UTV promoted Oye Lucky Lucky Oye through this very site and others.
Vijay, I did not say anything which could be termed as assertive or final in any way. I didn’t say that small budget films shouldn’t be made. I support them as much as anyone else. I didn’t say that choosing sensibly was the only thing to do and then leave everything else to luck. What I listed out was a whole lot of permutations and combinations which work towards helping a movie find it’s rightful fate. And even if you get most of the things right, there still isn’t a guarantee that the movie will work at the box office. If you make a good, small budget movie and market it well, you give yourself a decent chance of hitting the bulls eye. But there are so many IF’s involved. Even if the marketing budget is laid out before hand, what will the director do if the film is not marketed as promised? Let the movie rot in cans? UTV is reputed for it’s marketing but not everyone gets to make a movie with them. Also, they presented movies like Hat Trick, Chup Chup Ke, Main meri patni aur woh, D etcetera which weren’t marketed at par with their other releases But that isn’t the argument. The argument is- what really works? Even if you market the movie well, will it work if the content is below the audience acceptance? It’s a mixture of so many things, right? If there was a mantra for success, everyone would be following that. But yes, marketing/advertising is a very important factor. Of course I know nothing about film marketing!! Else, that would be my profession. But I do have the right to discuss it, don’t I?
@ Arti
“Even if the marketing budget is laid out before hand, what will the director do if the film is not marketed as promised?”
- Hence the whole argument to make this contractual, so the producer is legally obliged to spend the marketing fund. At least if the producer does not live up to the agreement, the filmmaker has the choice of fighting it legally saying the money was not spent and the agreed marketing plan was not followed. At the very minimum, it will serve as a deterrent for producers from backing out at the marketing stage. It’s not fool proof but it could do its part in its own small way.
I am not stopping you from discussing the topic. You have every right to. But don’t tell me that that I am veering away from reality without knowing what the reality is. Know your stuff before you question or rebut the arguments of someone who does.
Vijay, when I said that the the marketing budget/plan is not laid out in a contract, I meant the contract between the director and the producer. The producer has one with the PR agency. But what happens if that budget is not satisfactory enough for the director? It isn’t the director’s privilege to dictate how to market it. Isn’t he then the puppet in the producers hands?
Amanda has laid out the importance of proper marketing. That brings us to another question -how do you, as a director, ensure that your movie gets the right publicity?
Aarti, READ what I have written! Inclusion of marketing budgets and plans in the contract between the director and producer is what I am talking about! It is being done. I have done it. When a director goes to a producer with a script and the producer agrees to pump money into the project, there has to be a legal agreement that grants the producer rights to that script. Usually the director will include a CONDITIONAL clause that says only he can direct that film/script and nobody else. Other clauses will include the director’s fees, money paid by the producer to the director for the value of the script etc. This is where another CONDITIONAL clause should exist where the marketing plan, budget is agreed upon mutually, included in the agreement/contract. Key being MUTUALLY agreed before the start of the shoot. If they cannot mutually agree at that point, that is the indication that they do not need to continue on the project together then and there itself. Trash the issues out and put the agreement on paper so at the time of release, there is no bullshit to deal with.
Phew. This is really tiring me!
Great! Since you know the issue inside out, I am sure you will use it all to great affect for your wife’s film. Is she the director? If she is, I hope she included this clause in the contract. You are silly in thinking that a small time director can dictate the contents of the contract to the producer. Not talking about the bigger fish here. I read contracts ever so often. Ask Sarthak, Sudipto, Mahesh or the others who interact in here. You can not enforce that upon the producer. By the way, Google news generates 0 result for “Kola Kolaya Mundhirika”. And seeing your patience meter, let’s end this right here.
A second attempt gives 3 results. Hmmm
Ik humble request hai to everyone: No need to get too personal here!
Perhaps today you cannot enforce it on the producer, but if every filmmaker stood firm on that, and said I will no longer get fucked at the final stage, then things will change. Read what I said earlier about the KKM contract.
And while I do not need to defend myself to you of all people, as for your search on KKM, for one, the marketing campaign is yet to begin because the shooting itself is yet to be completed. Secondly, ground work has to be laid out and marketing heats up from the time of the audio release. So wait till October 3rd week to form your opinion. Only a fool would exhaust marketing resources at this stage for a low budget film that has a planned release in December/January and has not even completed principal photography. Stop digging for dirt with such desperate attempts. You want to end it? My pleasure.
Vijay, there was no need for having taken it too personally or for the lash-out. I think when someone asks you about your credibility, it’s good to make them understand what you stand for.
One need not be a film marketing guru to understand or question it. It’s like a filmmaker lashing out at the audience because they don’t understand story structure like he/she does. Nobody has to know everything about something to question it.
In the same vein, you speak with a sense of authority as if you can’t be questioned. None can be granted that because even you say that ‘it’s not foolproof’ but how does that make you come to a conclusion that she knows absolutely nothing? I see nothing personal here if you are truly trying to understand a larger phenomenon.
I am no authority on this. I want to be proven wrong. I am here to learn. That is why I am having this discussion. Aarti told me I was wrong and far from reality. So I simply want to know where am I veering away from reality and what that reality is. I still have not received an answer. I dont have issues with people discussing without knowing everything about the subject. Heck I am in this discussion, and I don’t know even 1% of film marketing that the filmmakers blogging on PFC do.
But to aver that someone is incorrect without basis is problematic. I believe that in my rebuttals I have provided explanations for each pointer.
Anyway, this discussion is heading elsewhere. I think I have had enough. Time to move on to another post.
Vijay, I appreciate your contribution to the discussion.
@Others: Shaanti yaaron! Let’s have a calm and productive discussion.
Vijay, as for your ‘mutually agreed conditional clause’, do you think the director (esplly if he’s a first time director), has any say in dictating terms to the producer? I ask because I don’t know.
Are producers so open in the Hindi and Tamil industries that they would let a new-comer dictate the ‘business’ aspects to them? Most of the directors, if they get a producer, would be glad enough to agree to any terms, wouldn’t they be? Maybe if they had at least 1 film to show maybe it won’t be so hard.
That is what I am getting at. Getting money for a film is tough! So when you go a producer and ask for that money, take marketing costs into account. A producer does not want the director dictating terms. You are 200% correct on that front.
But the whole problem of non-marketing is arising from the fact that fact that filmmakers are ending their efforts with raising money for post production and making their conditions clear till that point. There needs to be a harder push, because if producers will not change, you have to do something proactively and force that change instead of complaining about it.
The question is, can a filmmaker stand his ground and say, “Unless you agree to spend X amount of money to market this film, I dont want your money to make it?” Only our filmmakers here on PFC can answer that question.
And this is what I could come up with. I am looking forward to more solutions to ensure marketing of small films.
Tami, according to him, you can. His wife has. Read above ^^^…and this really turned out to be a rubbish argument with an edgy person. I’m out of here…
Yeah you do that girl! Where do these “Travis Bickles” (as the PFC authors have privately christened Aarti) come from???
Wiki on Travis Bickle (lead protagonist of Taxi Driver) -
“Travis Bickle (De Niro) is a lonely and depressed young man of 26. His origins are unknown. He occasionally sends his parents cards, lying about his life and saying he works for the government on a secret project”
Hmmm.. interesting..
@ Those of you who’ve asked to be added to the Google Group–Thank you for your interest. Will get back to you guys soon and add you to the group.
Ok, since there are a lot of factors(producers, budgets, filmmakers’ influence) we can’t control and because we were on the topic of online marketing and promotion, how about this?
Maybe we create a viral group of PFC volunteers, say numbering 100, who will each virally spread promotional materials of filmmakers in different sites/blogs/portals etc and cross reference to each other? of course, the 100 could be categorized into groups of five(20 groups) who will each take, say, one geographical area or one segment of target audience sensibilities and stage a blitzkrieg.
Maybe the group of volunteers could rotate or be replaced every few films or weeks or whatever. The filmmakers would sign up to be included in this viral campaign and may(in their discretion and power) grant some special incentives if they can to motivate the volunteers.
Maybe this is a temporary solution – may or may not work. Of course, this is all considering PFC members, viewers, writers, readers are so altruistic and selfless and are the ones who want to do something for the Indian New Wave. Now, don’t go all out on me. Be nice.
That is a very good idea, Tami. Keep ‘em ideas coming!
Tami, its a very noble thought. Maybe 100 volunteers is ambitious. I would start with something like 20. It’s something that can be offered to those filmmakers who do not have the backing of a big banner. The downside is, the big banners will get rid of their online marketing budget and hit up PFC for free promotions. Very good, constructive idea that can be implemented if structured correctly with a firm policy not to do any charity for the big banners.
Yeah, 100 is ambitious but considering there are a lot here who want to really do something about the Indian New Wave (INW), 20 would be less. But again, for practical purposes, 20 should be a start. Thing is, the more number of people, the less work they have to do. Not many can afford to spend too much time on this, at least initially.
As for the big banners getting on the free bandwagon, the ‘committee’ can control what comes in and goes out. They can decide democratically what is a big/small banner and what’s Indie and not, etc. and accordingly can support them.
Even otherwise, there are a lot of people here promoting big banners just by doing umpteen reviews – can’t help that.
- First, gotta do a survey or get a consensus as to whether PFC peeps would be interested in something like this. If so, we can create/send out regulations and policies and figure out how many are interested.
- Second, contact all these Indie filmmakers or small budget/banner filmmakers and see whether there’s interest from them. If so, ask their ideas about what they would like to do. That is, more interactions…or if they can offer incentives for volunteers. Incentives could be in various forms. We’ll get to it later.
- Third, if both the above are in place, we gotta determine the markets/audiences/websites/portals/forums etc where the volunteers can possibly virally affect. Maybe by a consensus, figure out the most appropriate places.
- Fourth, do a test run. One before virally infecting the markets and two after infecting the markets. Like google searches, etc. To test the effectiveness of the campaign.
- Fifth, call all ‘experts’ (marketing, business, art, cinema, media, whatever) to inject more thoughts into it. Review, analyze…
For now, this is what I got. I’ll be away for a week. But maybe we can see this goes. Someone would have to take the lead on this. Don’t know.
Tami, 100 is not an unattainable number. I guess starting out with 50 might be more reasonable…20 seems too little. But, yeah, you’re right, all of this does require interest from Indie filmmakers.
Thanks for brainstorming ideas here—all of this is very feasible and the intent was to accomplish all of this through the google group formed.
Amanda:
This was a nice initiative and I agree the fate of the film depends on the film promotion to an extent.
But your research seems limited to internet – facebook fans and google hits (including youtube). There are movies which have gone extra miles to promote the movies. I feel Ghajini is a classic example of a 360 D Movie Marketing (though they have spent a fortune in the promotion, which a low budget movie can not afford…still some inspiration can be taken)
A movie can’t be promoted just being on FaceBook or Orkut or MySpace. The best thing to promote a movie is to get tie up with various other brands and let the brand also do some promotion of the movie. And it cannot be done after the movie is made…it has to happen during the making (rather at the scripting level). Its not only the Google news results which makes your movie popular…how many links did you actually clicked of the results…am sure not more than 3-4. The result is based on the number of time that particular keyword is mentioned on the world wide web. Infact, one of the results will be your post, but it has nothing to do with the promotion of the film.
I agree that FB, twitter, Orkut and MS are good options to get in touch with the audience…but you can’t limit your promotion to that.
I understand that Its a low budget film and cant shell billions for the promotion…but there are some low budget things which can be done to promote the movie.
1. Tie up with brands (Cross promotion).
2. Partner with Media (outdoor, mobile content, press etc)
3. Uploading the progress of the movie on youtube…behind the scene, uncut scenes step by step, to generate Curiosity among the audience.
4. Run contest on the official website, and prize can simply be chance to watch the premier with the stars. (I would like to mention Sankat City band bajao contest and Tag line contest here). That was only for PFC..but Pankaj Advani has given a nice concept to promote small budget films…you can have similar contest on other websites, press, etc.
5. Ever wondered why a small budget film poster is not there in the Coming soon board of the Multiplexes…think about it and you will get the answer.
The list is endless…many such things can be thought upon. You may start a platform wherein you can ask suggestions from everybody and can be compiled as a guard book for Small Budget Movie Promotion.
Name the book as “UnCommon sense of Marketing”
Cheers
~Ashu Bhai MAPRM Wale
Are Ashu please read the post again.Amanda’s mentioned the web based research seperately because she focused on that.But then there’s all the other stuff which I had researched and that’s also included in the post ( including some of the things mentioned by you )
Ashu Bhai, please re-read the post. As Sethu, points out, many of the things you have mentioned have been touched upon in the write-up.
The reason I focused more on Internet is because that information was easily available to me. I don’t have access to information about how many TV spots run for any particular film in India nor do I have access to how many ads run in newspapers all over India.
You’re right—Online promotion is not the only way to market a film—successful marketing campaigns follow the integrated marketing communications approach.
Haan, I was hoping that this post would be the platform for people to pitch in suggestions…Let’s see how that goes, lol.
its indeed a nice initiative..and I am ready to be with you guys for this cause.
Ashu Bhai MAPRM Wale
Sethu has emailed you an invite. Check mail.
Hi Amanda. .
Thanks for this useful article. .
I have been trying to do some research myself. .esp on web .. .
Would like to join ur group. Will send an email.
Thanks
Hemant, received your mail. Will add you to the Google group soon.
Love the marketing thats being done for QGM- superb.The promos are all over the place and they’ve actually increased their presence on T.V after the release.I think Aarti has mentioned that there’s a fusion cuisine tie-up @ Taj Deccan ( Hyderabad? ) thats on.And @ Satyam Cinemas-Chennai I saw ushers and the canteen staff all wearing QGM cowboy hats.There’s also a brand tie-up with Cox & Kings ( contest going on ).I’m sure there’s many more such things @ their end- I’m loving it,mind it!!!
2 points on marketing which seem to be missing in your analysis:
1. An advertisement should catch the attention of audience. Example: DEVD, Ishqiya, Kaminey, Kambakht Ishq, Ghajini. On the flip side, watch trailers for “Siddharth”, “Via Darjeeling”, “Barah Anna”
2. Irrespective of the quality of your product, you should have stars who can get the audience.
Sadly for films like Tahaan both these points were missing
I for some reason (of course apart from the fact that I am half too optimistic and half too crack) will never belive that make a movie hit you need stars…. Stars evolve and come out big .. but thats all there is to it.. so essentially stars are created…. you just have to keep holding on to what you do and one day you will know enough what needs to be done to become the star… this is true for every person in the industry… including ADs, Music Directors, Writers… everybody.. but the movies dont need stars…
In one of my earlier “replies” I had mentioned of how the Khan Trio was always together and thats why they lived on … but being totally honest, Aamir Khan pre Lagaan was not quite the STAR, but what he did in the last 10 years, with remarkable movies, scripts, and improving benchmark of every aspect of his movie, went on to throw up hits after hits becoming the HUGE STAR that he is today … same thing with Akshay Kumar, agree during the young days of the KHAN Trio, when SEK was still tipped to be the next best thing, AK was the only direct competitor he had (the divided “kinds of movies” between the the 3 Khans vs AK, Saif Ali Khan, Ajay Devgan and Suniel Shetty)… but then again AK, improved his acting, scripts, editions, right movies, co-stars, and bang last 10 years have been phenomenal for him as well….SRK on the other hand has been MONOTONOUS in his PROMOTIONS for last 10 years…. his movies did have a great mix of scripts (paheli, ashoka, Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani, Veer Zaara, Josh, Chalte Chalte, Kabhi Alvida na Kehna) the basic promotions ALWAYS AND ALWAYS made sure they all look the same, have the same scenes, actions every single thing… the same Farah Khan moves, same SRK swooning his way thru the heroine’s neck… these scenes/songs were created for the film to be marketed and Marketing here failed big time… pre ten years pre 10 years, he was the guy who gave the difference (different scripts, say same hero different situations, finally somebody acted/faught/sang not the AB way, more than just acting, throwing in raw passion), thats why he moved to the top spot, but MARKETING GIMMICKS that he thought is good for him, made sure that he never went up…
What SRK and 3 years back Ajay Devgan, and now AKSKmr have done is, they have NOT given us anything new to watch … while people after a period would like to see their “STARS” do something different, show something new.. these guys stuck on to their seats now… they nothing new to offer, and thats the reason that though SRK cinemas though gross huge sums of money, his position as the “ONLY SUPERSTAR” is over, CC2C, and the 2-3rd week of KI collections suggest the same thing for AKSKmr…
A great script and complete cinema package along with a STAR (upcoming or existing) is always the best combo, but a bad script and a huge star is always an opportunity for smaller movies to have the right promotion and convert the “Story/Entertainment Buyers” have a “category/brand swtiching” to a smaller movie… because the customer has already walked into the store… and this is where STARs are created, evolved, move up, stagnate or start falling… this is where it counts, a good pitched in marketing to understand what the audience wants and lead them by throwing in the idea, that I got what you looking for, see for yourself if this is what you want … with a wink…
Pehle gulab jaamun, now mango lassi? Baap re. Bhook lag gayi, lol.
BTW, no, that’s not what Javed Akhtar meant. That quote of his refers to filmmaking/storytelling, not marketing. He used that quote in a few interviews, too.
the same ya… ultimately they are all completely related… the angry young man … all that was ultimately a marketing concept that JA used, they never spiced up a Jeetender or a Naveen Nishchol movie… if Story writing was left to only story writing, the any producer can pick up 32 stories from sinhan bateesi, another 1000 from ALif Laila, and maybe break mahabharat into a 1000 pieces… ultimately any story being told in a manner that can arouse audience and evoke response is made with that intention… the same needs to be applied while marketing… as I said earlier once, its not about, I have story .. listen … its more like … OKAYYYYY I GOT TERRIFIC STORY, THATS GONNA BLOW YOU AWAY… even if not interested the person will hear the story, even to just dismiss it away ..
N hey … in case trying a mango lassi.. ask them if they are going to make it, or if its a bottled one… the probiotic thing can kill ur appetite for Lassi forever… Kamb”yuck”th Lassi
Just a small question, isn’t SRK still the biggest thing around? His marketing hasn’t failed. He still works because he sells. That is my point!
Well, some stars like SRK and Aamir Khan are “brands”…
Absolutely SRK is the biggest brand in the country … th only difference being earlier he was a brand who was excellant in selling himself and nobody could touch him.. he was the guy with Midas touch and du to his work and actions thre was no attention paid to others .. and now he is the biggest brand which folks have started to use as a podium to come into prominence, and because SRK has become a sterotype, he is unable to do anything about it.. cuz he has nothing new of novel to him now… but with all pointers, Aamir Khan came into limelight majorly by showing himself one up on SRK, Salman who is everywhere now, also is started off asking about his fight with SRK, Akshay talks of Lobbys that people think he is talking about SRK, news channels mak sure to include him for every tid bit conversations with anybody to spice things up for themselves.. th Airport episode was blown out of proportion, otherwise any celebrity is asked something about him.. flop movies are givn a ‘justice’ giving his name (Drona the flop is now Drona the tribute to SRK’s son .. ) and to top all this, due to this consistent SRKism going on and on with everybody, fans and non fans are getting irked with SRK … so who do you think is at the LOSING END? who has lost the sheen and value proposition that he carried and nobody even bothered to look at other options… SHAHRUKH KHAN.. anybody can talk shit about him today and can get some coverage, panning him is the easiest thing to do some of them are justifiable from fans and some of them are just unreasonable.. however everybody gets their milage, with media and others taking him for granted, making him feel like he is on “channe ka jhaad” by asking him to get back with his “witty” answers, which are not doing any good to him… and his movies .. none of them have done any special business when compared only with his star value…
only a good script or a good marketing can get him back to the top now.. just the way AB has done.. reclusive from media, diplomatic answers, varied range of roles, 3-4 social cause ads, making sure that qustions are no longer raised against him at all … and he was the guy who was at the same position in 90s… when you became a celebrity from nobody to an ex celebrity whn you commented on AB… LAL BAADSHAH, was the pinnacle when “anonymous” top actresses of past mocked him … got their seats in parliament…
Ultimately it is about how these guys have marketed themseleves… that keeps them on top…
I have a feeling you are confused between publicity and marketing.
SRK in a movie – Only SRK on the posters, many interviews — marketing
SRK on the streets eating panipoori, the next day pani pooriwala putting SRK’s picture on his cart – Publicity
Aamir considered a ‘good’ actor – Successful use of media in creating a brand
Salman the ‘benevolent’ bad boy – Creation of brand.
These brands are the ones that sell their movies, look at how Ghajini was received and how Wanted will be received. Movie marketing is not different from selling soaps.
One is called Above the line activity (ATL) and the other is called Below the line activity (BTL) All marketing is divided in these two spheres.
Well Shailesh, It depends on how much would you like to disect things… agreed about panipuri wala guy doing publicity for himself, however in all broad terms he is marketing himself… however when it is about SRK, Aamir, and the other ’stars’ marketing is done to create publicity, for themselevs or the movie, or the show, whatever it is… a good marketing creates a good publicity, and vice versa(even for the ‘plotted bad’ publicity to gain attention, it has to have a good marketing going behind or else things fall flat similar to what happened to ponds-arbaaz-malaika)… perfect when you say cinema is like FMCG, and as Ghaywan says, these are married concepts that purits seperated to analyse or talk about them further….so Titan is creating publicity (as you said) by putting up Aamir Khan as their face, while marketing their watches, Aamir on the other hand is building up his brand equity, by marketing these watches, and carving publicity for himself as the simple thinking man …. these 2 are inadverent things…. similarly while rakhi sawant is creating publicity for herself, she is actually marketing herself to sell to the public… but on a larger pictue, when thijngs are supposed to fall in place, both these activities finally make up to the success of the brand…
Shailesh, thanks for bringing up those two points. While I do agree with the first point (an advertisement should grab the attention of the audience), I don’t agree with point two that it is essential for a film to have a big star. JTYJN consisted mainly of fresh and/or relatively unknown faces, yet it still did well. Of course, one could argue, it at least had the backing of Aamir Khan… And, then there is Dev D in which the only really well-known actor was Abhay Deol…the film still did quite well.
For films like JTYJN both my points hold true. Money was spent to make people know about the movie.
DEV-D was all about spending enough money at the right places.
When i say stars are needed i mean there should be something about the movie that people should notice instantaneously. Story etc. cannot really be the USP of a product that is not out in the market. Trailers don’t really give any idea to a commoner about a movie. Director is not a very big brand in India yet.
The other thing that needs to be looked into is targeted advertising, i am not sure if it works in a country like India, where KI becomes a big hit in mutliplexes too, when they are meant for niche audience and smaller movies.
I make these points as someone who looks at films just like any other FMCG. The principle i guess wouldn’t change a lot
Woah. That’s a long thread of comments.
My POV. Some of which (actually most of which) has already been mentioned earlier:
It’s difficult for a director to ask for a substantial chunk of marketing money to be added to the contract. Specially since often directors don’t sign directly with the entity that will end up distributing the final film.
In any case, what’s a good amount of money for a small film? (Say a 3 Cr film) 30 lakhs? 60? That’s still peanuts compared to the kind of double digit Crs the big guys spend. And you’ll never achieve that kind of visibility.
Ultimately, small films rely on good word of mouth and that’s true anywhere in the world.
Navdeep this is where I think world over people are going wrong… keeping the same numbers of 3Cr, 30 Lacs and 60 Lacs, what is important is that world over, a lot of makers, despite knowing that this form of marketing does not work (E.g. TV) they still go on with the same… once you know this form did not work out, try evalating what was missing, or everything was fine, is there a better way to market the movie with the same budget? … Marketing as spoken over and over is a part of the movies.. they need as much time, and thought as much as the movie making did … you gotto know what suits your cinema than what worked for somebody else… nobody .. and NOBODY does it better than Aamir… the Dhobi Ghat’s notes, releasing everyday… Kiran not taking Aamir, Aamir 2 minute role, Aamir in full fledged role and then all the talks about Aamir auditioning… all the last part just when the movie was about to be completed, which unfortuantely has been stalled due to Kiran’s miscarriage… otherwise Aamir had played his cards extremely well all over again … STAR talking to Junta in Junta language than raising his arms from the terrace of his building kinds..
I dunno, I think the concept of “word of mouth” is overrated. Word of Mouth takes time and only happens AFTER a film has released, which means in most instances it is too late to save the fate of a low-budget film.
Of course a small film won’t achieve the same amount of visibility as a big budget film. So does that mean because the filmmakers and production homes involved with a low-budget film shouldn’t bother to achieve any visibility at all?
Promotion doesn’t always require tens of crores of rupees. Most PR companies specializing in film/entertainment PR don’t charge more than 50,000 rupees a month. So, let’s say you decide to have an intense PR campaign that lasts 60 days–you wouldn’t be spending more than 1-2 Lakh Rupees on PR.
As far as Ads/Media buys/placements, if anyone here has any information about how much it would roughly cost to run TV spots do share that info. here.
The concept of “word of mouth” is overrated.Correct bola.. Till the word reaches to jantaa, the indie or experimental film is out of theater.
PS- you got me wrong, what ever discussion is going on, with the marketing of the film is fine with me, i was picking up the thread from -
“the key factor in making a movie is to understand what an audience wants…
from there on i was talking about making movies for the people, understanding what they want..
Satish, I am not getting you wrong … I was just putting up my points, as an addition to the discussion .. it wasn’t like trying to say you were wrong…
, it was more like this is dimension I can see kinds… agree or disagree is what will make a the discussion … hope you didnt catch me wrong…
@shailesh, as an example of how movies work without stars, with good scripts and good publicity/marketing, and also ends up creating stars, launching, making sure they are there, slowly making them perform in different scenarios till they get accepted… with the 4 steps Introduce… settle…. create excitement.. deliver goods… watch all the Bhatt Camp movies.. they are your perfect example of how movies are made without stars … how to make movies with even Aftab and Lisa Ray and make it a hit.. Emraan, Bipasha, John, Dino, Kangna, Shiney, Kunal Khemu, none of them would have been STARS (bipasha maaaaybeeee) if not for the bhatt movies…
for movies ruined by marketing and stars, examples are all the late movies of RGV, where the stars were either getting bigger than scripts, or were not suiting the scripts, or just meek inacceptance to view the actor in the specific script made sure that the movie bombed…
RGV is aag is an example of too much marketing killed the birdy… I still belive RGV is the only guy who can re create sholay amongst the current set of established directors … with the adequates chills and works… however allow him to do his work, with AAG, publicity started from first day of launch … Stars walking in walking out, media hounding, legal cases, judicial problems, name change, too many egos and challenges.. work suffered…
When announced, the film generated positive buzz, and it was awaited, by the time it got made it looked more like RGV just wanted to pus hthe movie out release it and get done with it, cuz he had invested too much money , had roped in STARS and given too many ego related press statements… , like some Tiger which went out to hunt, and expected with success, walked back after months, totally starved, weakened and with a mouse in its mouth…
Again, we are getting confused between publicity and marketing. Publicity is an involuntary act, whereas marketing is not. All the news about RGV was never related to the product/marketing the product. People had decided to make it go down any which way, absolutely no stone was left unturned to make sure it flopped.
Coming to the Bhatt camp and their Aftab-Lisa movies, what caught the attention of people was sleaze and songs. They sold/sell their movies on songs, a marketing gimmick. Story doesn’t even appear in the scenario. Sleaze and songs are the stars i am referring too.
A classic example of songs being the star of a movie, DEV-D, it was watched by many people i know who wouldn’t dare to enter the theatre for a movie with Abhay Deol in it (meant as a compliment to Abhay) just because of Emotional Atyachar!
@shailesh, I didnt realise you meant ’stars’ as selling concepts… if thats true then yes all your points are perfect.. every movie has to have a selling aspect… whatever it is, but the selling aspect has to be there
@PS,
Addendum, selling point can NEVER be the story!
A case study of a typical Yash raj or a Karan Johar film would be of great help. That apart a breakdown of costs and reach of each parameter of marketing would be a bible for any film maker. Which would go something like this:
Marketing
Posters:45000 nos: Cost Rs. 20,000
TV TrailerS: two every alternate day on 3 channels for 15 days. Cost: Rs. 2.1. crores
Hoardings: 5200 nos across India. Cost: Rs. 83000, etc etc
PR:Press interviews, TV interviews, etc
Something like that would help, because a film maker can then decide that he can advertise in so and so regions for the first week or cut down on posters in this region and so on and so forth.
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