Any Movie Marketing Strategy

Overview of Indian Film Industry and Market

India

is the world's largest producer of films by volume producing almost a thousand films annually. However, revenuewise, it accounts for only 1 percent of global film industry revenues.
The

Indian film industry comprises of a cluster of regional film industries, like Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, etc. This makes it one of the most complex and fragmented national film industries in the world. The most popular among them is the Hindi film industry located in Mumbai, popularly referred to as Bollywood.

Boooolllllyyyyywoooooood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Out of the 200 Hindi films made in India each year, around 150 are made in Bollywood. These Bollywood films are released throughout India on both big and small screen formats, with several of them being screened overseas as well. Though there have been sporadic instances of regional films, enjoying a national release or even an overseas release, virtually all films having a national audience, are made in Bollywood. It accounts for over 40 percent of the total revenues of the overall Indian film industry, which is currently estimated at INR 59 billion. It is estimated that only INR 50 billion finds its way to the industry coffers, with the balance INR 9 billion being cornered by pirates.

The Role of 4 ps in Movie Marketing

PRODUCT

For a movie to selected by the audience on the basis of the content, it needs to be clearly identifiable in its marketing genre, stars, story, special effects, style all need to be presented aptly
A movie product is the intellectual property that can be ported to a variety of deliverables: theatrical exhibit, non-theatrical exhibit, video tapes, DVDs, CDs of the soundtrack, collectible editions, television and cable broadcast, Internet-served etc Then there is merchandising such as clothing, toys, games, posters. Another product dimension is that of franchise rights, endorsements, product placements and a host of offshoots that are bought and sold, leased and rented

The Role of 4 ps in Movie Marketing

PRICE At any multiplex is cinema hall, a movie ticket costs the same for all movies, doesnt it? But if we look into the broader definition of the movie product just defined, then the prices fluctuate widely. A distribution contract can be structured in many ways that result in very different returns for the producer, the key creative talent, and even the distributor. Elements that are negotiated include: ? Theatrical release schedules ? Territories and market segments ? Revenue splits, percentages and order of payment ? Promotion budgets (P&A) Pricing has become a global issue. The release of a DVD has always been timed to protect the theatrical revenue model. But with piracy at record levels globally, a variety of pricing -- and timing -- strategies are being tested, like pricing the DVDs very cheaply.

The Role of 4 ps in Movie Marketing

PLACE

With the ever-inventive entrepreneurial energy in the entertainment world, people find venues for entertainment sales not only through traditional theatres and broadcast, but on street corners, in homes, over the Internet, over phones (caller tunes), through clubs etc. Options for delivery of the movie product are exploding: movies, games, music, news, and educational content
Distribution takes place through theatres, rental stores, sell-through stores, catalogues, non-theatrical groups, the Internet, even cell phones and the latest new media gadget.

The Role of 4 ps in Movie Marketing

PROMOTION Promotion is a powerful marketing tool, not only during the premier of a new product, but throughout its lifecycle. Producers create the end-product for the consumer, but they seldom market that product directly to the consumer. They market their story to investors and distributors. Distributors market to exhibitors, retailers and sub-distributors The theatre exhibitors, retailers, store clerks, and Internet strategists market to the end consumers. And then, to top off this complex stew, some consumers even market to other consumers their family, friends and co-workers.

Publicity Of Movies
The publicity of a movie takes place at two levels: ? At producer level. ? At distributor level. At producer level the publicity of movies is done at a large scale with a national or international scenario in consideration. The budgets at this level are very big and the media used are teaser on TV channels and cinema halls, radio, national magazines etc. The star cast of the movie is also associated with publicity at this level. This publicity is aimed at all the target audience in the country for creating a buzz about the movie At distributor level the publicity is mainly for making the target audience aware about the theatres where the movie is playing and the timings of the movies. Also, this publicity tries to reach the audience who may not have access to cable TV or radio. But the scope of this is publicity is limited to the distributors territory. The budgets allocated for such publicity are comprehensive but smaller than the budgets at producer level. The media used at this level are posters, hoardings, local newspapers etc.

Different Channels Used For Movie Marketing

Gone are those days when plastering a few posters on the walls and handpainted Billboard signs were the only means available for a films publicity; Actors barely promoted their films, film-makers never ventured in-front of the camera and our main stream media couldnt care less. Todays Bollywood presents a very different scenario. With over 1000 films releasing in a given year, all of them fighting for a common goal i.e. the boxoffice success, the multiplex domination it has become a necessity for those involved, to do whatever it takes to enforce that must-watch feeling among the masses in order to win this very competitive rat-race. And yes, the Indian media plays a vital role in this process.

The mainstream advertising for movies, targeted at the end users is done via TV. Trailers, songs, star appearances on TV shows, interviews, "making of", reviews and movie news, all forms a part of the promotion strategies adopted by film makers.

Different Channels Used For Movie Marketing

Movie trailers form the conventional part of advertising movies via television. Over the years trailers have been transformed into teasers, that give little info about the movie while buzz amongst the audience about the movie. Songs have long been used to generate interest in the movie. The recent years have seen use of a special category of songs called "item songs", songs which are shot and included in the movie especially for the purpose of advertising the movie and pulling in crowds. Nowadays, these item songs are shown on TV in full length just for advertisement purpose. They have no relation whatsoever with the movie's storyline. There is "special appearances" made by the actors, actresses and even the people behind the scenes producers and directors on various TV shows, like talk shows, reality shows etc. This provides for a free publicity channel for the film makers.

Some Other Major Marketing Channels

Marketing Strategy Of Ghajini: Bollywood's Biggest Blockbuster

The Release Of Gajini:

On December 25, 2008, the much-awaited Hindi film, 'Ghajini' (a revenge drama) was released and it went on to become an instant hit.

The success of the film was widely attributed to aggressive promotional strategies adopted by the film maker (Geetha Arts) in conjunction with the lead actor of the film, Aamir Khan(Aamir), one of the top actors in the Hindi film industry, who played a vital role in the promotion of the film.

Promotional Strategies
The promotional strategies included viral marketing, ambush marketing, television advertising, multiplex promotion, tie-ups with several well-known brands, and merchandising. In addition to this, a 3D PC game based on the film was also launched. The distribution strategy was also unique. Experts felt that the makers of Ghajini had raised the bar for film promotion in India. They felt that the rules of film promotion have changed as filmmakers were becoming more and more aggressive in their marketing strategies in their bid to ensure that the movie was viewed by the maximum number of people

Ghajini has been marketed as Indias first event film, one that has the potential to become a successful business venture rather than just the box office success of the movie.

The Famous Haircut!!!!

It all started with the buzz created around Aamir Khans haircut. The haircut attracted 18 hours of television coverage, translating into publicity worth Rs 129.6 lakh. Further TV news channels showed 31 hours of coverage translating into Rs. 423 lakh worth of publicity.

Ghajini was released on 1,400 screens in India and 300 theatres outside India, inorder to have maximum revenue in initial weeks of curiosity.

The multichannel revenue includes Indian theatre and satellite rights to Studio 18 for Rs.60crore. Music and home video rights were given to T-Series for Rs.8.5 crore and overseas distribution rights to Big Pictures for Rs.10 crore.

In branding, tieups were done with Van Heusen, Big Cinemas, Tata Sky, Tata Indicom, UTV and Samung mobiles, who together have spent Rs.14 crore in promoting the movie. Incidentally Aamir Khan is the brand ambassador of Tata Sky and Samsung Mobile, while Tata Sky aired making of Ghajini, Samsung Mobile went for a repositioning and launched special Ghajini edition L700 and M200 models which had preloaded Ghajini ringtones, pictures and songs. Van Heusen launched Ghajini apparels in their stores along with in-store campaigns and giant posters of Khan dressed in formal attire. Tata Indicom also played prerecorded message to all its 1 crore outbound callers advertising Ghajini in Aamir Khans voice.

Big Cinemas promoted the movie by getting its 105 members of staff sporting Aamirs hairstyle, life size models and tattoo stickers for distribution. Many Ghajini games have been developed to take advantage of films craze. FX Labs has developed a 3-D PC console game, while UTV owned Indiagames has developed five mobile based games.

Ghajini was released on 1,400 screens in India and 300 theatres outside India, inorder to have maximum revenue in initial weeks of curiosity.

The multichannel revenue includes Indian theatre and satellite rights to Studio 18 for Rs.60crore. Music and home video rights were given to T-Series for Rs.8.5 crore and overseas distribution rights to Big Pictures for Rs.10 crore.

10 Tips to Market and Promote your Film

. Understand Your Target Audience . Analyze Your Hooks . Create a Concise Logline . Utilize Free Media . Stage a Publicity Stunt . Hold a Premiere . Work with Sponsors . Enter Appropriate Film Festivals . Solicit Reviews . Use the Internet