Marketing Machine in Bollywood

With movie audiences spoilt for choice, slick and sleek marketing is vital to capture mindshare


Considering the increasing importance of marketing in deciding the fate of a film, and in movie placements are one such aspect, in the recent times, marketing spends can account for almost half of the cost of production of a small movie. The spends are flexible, but they can be as much as the movie itself if the producer decides itself worth ploughing the money back. Marketing too has become very sophisticated. The earlier approach, the noisy marketing that assailed audiences with TV & Prints ads, is passé. In a fragmented environment, it is difficult to capture audiences’ mindshare for a film. It calls for marketing campaigns in which movies are treated as a consumer products; its marketing communication sets once audience profile and message has been fine tuned.

Today everyone understands the importance of owning their films. It can be illustrated by pointing the very media savvy stars today. These days they are willing to take part in media interactions, cast engagements and even road trips (stripping of Aamir Khan, the clinical documentation of flab to pectorals) his generous billboard appearances in the bizarre Ghajini haircut or the actor himself flying down to Delhi, and giving the haircut in a makeshift salon. And yes, it certainly paid off, of course with due respect to the contents of the movie; the movie was the biggest hit in recent months. The plans are entirely different for the highly awaited Delhi 6, which has a more berate Indian appeal. A caravan will carry the stars across different cities of the country, a mela recreating the gullies (lanes) of Old Delhi is being planned for Kolkata and Bangalore. For its latest release Luck by Chance, Big Pictures arranged programming alliances which is now a norm; stars made appearances on reality shows. Big Pictures is leveraging Reliance ADAG’s other entertainment businesses-Zapak, Big Adda and Big Flicks and also rolling out online promos on Yahoo! Google and even Rediff.

The entire process starts at the script level, where the TAs (target audiences), message and brands’ equations are researched on to find out the product / service fit. The movie Fashion tied up with Sunsilk and Kimaya, which launched a range after the film. Lead actresses Priyanka Chopra and Kangna Ranaut sauntered the ramp for Sunsilk at Lakme fashion week---thus, the buzz reaching to the peak at the time of launch. A Vogue photo shoot was roped into the storyline; svelte and sultry Priyanka Chopra had already featured on the magazine’s cover by the time the film released. Therefore, it is not farfetched to expect two versions of King Khan’s next release—where in one he would play a Tag Heuer sporting NASA scientist, meet a babe, woo her over Diet Pepsis, flex a few muscles and also sing few numbers and in the other, he would play a Dish TV dealer, meet the babe, woo her with Pepsis and Sunfeast biscuits, flex the same muscles and sing the same numbers.

Indian R&D :The 3 Imperatives

The three imperatives of the Indian R&D are Packaging, Marketing & Selling. The rule of the hour is Market or Perish. Increased competition & sophistication of customers' requirement followed closely by technological advancement, have forced the R&D organizations in the country to rethink their approach. Moreoever, it has been rightly said "If you are not market savvy these days, you are out of the market."

Despite the best technology on vaccines, drugs or polymers, to name a few, Indian R&D organizations' efforts have been botched on an international scale. Undoubtedly they are rich in scientific expertise,and possess sufficient potential for knowledge creation, but they need orientation for market savoir-faire and competitiveness. These organizations are yet to create a high brand equity in the global scenario. As Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPOs) flourish, it is essential for our desiR&D organizations to realize that even the best of the ideas need to be attractively packaged and sold.Simply creation of knowledge is not the end...marketing of knowledge is equally important.

The modern market forces have changed the role of R&D from a isolated function to a more integrated one in the product development process. This facelift changed the emphasis from technology push to market pull and makes R&D a strategic issue that demands apposite alignment with all other components of corporate strategy. Post liberalized India has witnessed free foreign entries and investments resulting in superior quality of products (automobiles /electronics, etc). Therefore, there is an urgent need to take more initiative and increase brand value of Indian R&D institutions.Scientists should make wider use of ICTs, create suitable websites and modernize the technology itself. Despite the strong presence in NASA and renowned companies like Microsoft / IBM, India continues to lag behind in the field of inventions. Knowledge needs to be treated as an intellectual property or a marketable product and it has to be strategically sold. The R&D organization must not only invent but market it too.

Marketing : The changed paradigm

In the words of Philip Kotler, the Marketing Guru, ‘Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.’ Now let us post mortem the concept keeping in mind the modern products/ services….say Bachhna Aay Haseeno starring the most wanted bachelor of Bollywood- Ranvir Kapoor, sizzling Deepika, sultry Minisha and of course the bong bombshell Bipasha; every now and then we log on to any TV channel, or surf the pages of print media we see the 3+1 “selling their product”, trying to reach their target audience which is offered to us on the 61st Independence Day of the nation. In fact, this has become a practice…any Bollywood blockbuster ready for release, we find the filmy celebs, taking advantage of their status pull crowds not only to the multiplexes, but also in reality shows/news channels and also by visiting the shopping carnivals taking place very frequently in malls. Well… B2B marketing, you know. We may refer SRK’s efforts to promote OSO during a cricket match, which later helped him to land on certain controversy. Flaunting emotional tie ups/ break offs are the promotional strategy, these days. Well that’s modern marketing and the marketing communication tactics…oops (the social and managerial process to satisfy needs and wants of the viewers / readers, i.e., the target audience) these days. Even the ruling UPA Govt have hired a private agency to promote their party, highlighting their (USPs) i.e. activities performed in the recent past. Well …we can say that a beginning of the political marketing has taken place. Earlier too, if we remember the previous election campaigns, BJP and their counterparts had benefited immensely from the celebrity appeal at least to gather crowd, if not impinge on the ultimate output These days it is no more the monopoly of the FMCGs / Electronics / Apparels to draw on the celeb appeal to bring to light their USPs, occupy the media space and create value in the mindset of the prospective customers in order to earn desirable brand position.The stage is set for the non conventional products/services to parade in the ground of marketing-creating value in the minds of prospective customers, be it the audience or the voters, exhibiting their flamboyant traits.

Lets wait and watch what more MARKETING has in store for us.