Showbiz What Marketing Has Done For Movies Published on Monday, December 18, 2017
Published in Impact Magazine
With just 52 Fridays in a year and over a thousand film releases across languages, there is a clear-cut need gap staring the film marketing industry in its face when it comes to exploiting conditions conducive to growth. GroupM'sESP Properties has taken cognisance of this need gap and provided solutions through its report Showbiz - the Indian Superpower' on the fundamentals of the entertainment business comprising Digital Marketing in films, Celebrities as Influencers and Content Licensing. It has also captured marketing trends in Bollywood, Hollywood and regional cinema over the last 10 years, and called upon the industry to set its goals higher.
While the total co-branded marketing media spends for Hindi films has reached approximately Rs 100 crore a year, Vinit Karnik, Business Head, ESP Properties emphasises the need to up the ante on film marketing and taking the entertainment business to greater heights: The world's biggest film-churning machine is an intriguing beast, and it is the most visible and effective superpower we can wield. The frenetic pace at which we have seen stars, films and studios rise (and sometimes fall) is worthy of many reports, not just one. We are talking about the industry that's consistently growing at 10% year on year. This industry has seen a growth spurt in the share of wallet of customers and if future estimates are of any reckoning, this growth rate is going to be maintained as creativity coupled with technology breaks new barriers.
BUILDING BRAND ALLIANCE
The practice of brand associations with Hindi films goes way back to before a certain Munni promised to soothe her beloved's aches with a popular ointment. If Sharmila Tagore sipped from a cola bottle in An Evening in Paris, 1967, the 1973 opus Bobby, besides launching Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, also launched the Rajdoot GTS bike, which went on to be as popular as its two actors. For brands, whether it's talking to a niche segment or a wide market, films have always been an attractive partner for in-film or co-branded marketing. With time, the number of releases and stars increased-so did the number of brands and opportunities for association. With popular Bollywood movies clocking the highest brand alliances, regional cinema has done exceedingly well to catch up with its bigger English and Hindi counterparts. In 2017 alone, over 15% of the films released in South India had brands associated with them, while almost 16% Marathi films had brand integrations. FMCG, Apparel and E-commerce are categories that are most active in in-film integrations and cobranded associations. If feature films provide the brand a vehicle and an emotional connect, the brands too in turn lend their personalities and eventually, their monies to films.
THE FILM MARKETING MIX
While all B-schools harp on the four Ps of marketing, it actually takes six Ps to put film marketing in perspective. Product, People, Placement, Public Relations, Positioning and Partners is what gets the right mix. A film's marketing budget is usually 10% to 15% of the film's production budget. Housefull 3 and Raees are examples of good film marketing where the former tied up with Dainik Bhaskar to simultaneously launch its trailer in 100 cities with real time audience and Raees tied up with UFO films to make the trailer launch an immersive and fan-led campaign with Shah Rukh Khan video-conferencing with his fans.
A typical, full-fledged marketing campaign begins with a teaser and takes the next five to eight weeks to position its stars, music etc. to the target audience. Commenting on the perfect marketing mix for films, Preeti Mascarenhas, Principal Partner- Strategy, Mindshare, says, Production houses and distributors who spend large amounts in producing a film must market it well to expect returns. The game isn't just about the bus shelter or the TV promotions any more, film marketing has seeped through all that you see (and don't) - OOH avenues, standees, live activations, interactive ads . just recall the last big SRK release, Jab Harry Met Sejal and you will know.
Film marketing, just like processes in other industries, begins at the product development stage and continues through the formation, distribution and exhibition of it. Talking about the current trends in Indian film marketing, Prerna Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Eros International Media says, The big trend in film marketing has been intelligent and focused content' marketing, which goes beyond trailer launches and film integrations with GEC shows. While the latter remains a critical part of the marketing mix, the film marketer who is thinking on his or her feet and constantly reinventing has a better strike-rate at success.
MAPPING MEDIA EFFECTIVENESS
Beginning 2008, the industry witnessed mega releases such as Jodha Akbar, 3 Idiots, Chennai Express, Happy New Year, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Dangal, Judwaa 2 which were promoted on every possible medium as early as eight to 10 weeks prior to release. On TV and digital, the song and dialogue promotion dispersion is seen at 70:30. It is an open secret that most Hindi films depend on music as a vehicle for promotion, and look for opportunities in innovative spaces such as train exteriors and installations at malls to showcase films to a select audience.
The average split of the promotion budget pie has been lower on Print and higher on TV with digital making the big headway. While TV clocked around 45-50%, Activations took the second biggest share at 20-25%. While Digital has been catching up rapidly to carve out 10-15% media share, Print hasn't been doing very well in recent times with a little over 10%. Commenting on media effectiveness for films, Karan Sabde,
