In this era of marketing, cinema is just another goodie that is sold through unique ways. It has been like that always, however, tools of marketing have evolved with time. From different kinds of advertisements, the marketing world of cinema has upgraded to social media posts, stories and even trolls! In a nutshell, almost everything you come across on your social media feed is a promotion!
Gone are the days when film promotions concluded with the release of a movie. Now, it extends to days after the release, and success celebrations have turned out to be an integral part of it. In fact, promotion and marketing is an emerging field in the industry.
Film promotion and marketing:
As Jishu Laxman, a PR and marketing professional says, marketing is an important factor in making a film success. “When I started my career, the trend was that the makers would allocate an amount for pre-production, production, post production and distribution, but not for promotion. Now, the scenario has changed. They take promotions seriously,” he says.
Sumeran, a film PR professional points to another factor. According to him, actors don’t shy away from self marketing these days. “That is a good sign. They know their mettle and take the effort to sell it. They make sure that their name gets attention. They ask for it and do follow-ups. It was not like that before” he opines.
World of ‘likes and shares’:
The new PR and marketing style is not just confined to press releases and advertisements. They exploit the biggest platform of the era — social media. “Trolls, stories on Instagram and Facebook, games and products like T-shirts related to the content of the film are in vogue,” says Jishnu. “Even discussions happening in film groups on social media can be turned into promotion,” he says.
Even likes and shares, to some extent, can be generated. “There are groups that work towards getting your content liked and shared. The current generation is well aware of using the platform for their better. They sell the matter in a creative manner so that it gets noticed,” he says.
Striking the right chord:
According to Ahaana Krishna, who uses her social media handles creatively to promote her films, it is all about forming a bond with the audience. “For any product that needs attention, social media is the ideal platform to get that,” she says. “Social media let us reach our audience quickly. Also, we can immediately see the reach. Earlier, when we give an advertisement on television, we had to wait for the rating. But, in social media, everything happens right in front of us. It is a good platform if we use it wisely. We have witnessed adverse effects of social media, too,” she says.
Whenever she creates post, she presents it creatively. “I like it that way,” says Ahaana. In her opinion, there is no point in everyone sharing the same content. “We (Luca team) have a WhatsApp group where they share content for social media. When I share it, I add something personal in it. So, it will be different from posts of other members from the team,” says Ahaana, adding, “I like writing small anecdotes along with a post. That gives a personal feeling. The story part will stay in minds,” she says sharing an example from her life. “Some time ago, I saw a jewellery advertisement which had gender equality as its theme. I still remember that attitude. I find such kind of attitudes interesting, and try to give an attitude to my posts. That will bring a connection with the audience,” she says.
Post-release promotion:
The promotional activities do not end with release. Sometimes, after-promotion can save a film. Sleeper hits like Happy Wedding, Joseph and Thamasha have proved that. They garnered audience’s attention a few days after the release. Thanks to the promotion. “There are cases where a film with good content fails to fetch footfalls due to lack of proper publicity. In such cases, if producers and distributors are patient enough to hold the theatre space for a few days, then we can bring viewers to theatres through unique promotions,” says Jishu. “It is all about reaching the right audience through the correct way.”
Ahaana, too, agrees with the idea of post-release marketing. “The market is heavy dynamic. It is our responsibility to promote our movie through tools like fun videos and all at least till 50 days,” says Ahaana, who shared poetic reviews of Luca from viewers on her Instagram stories.
Think out of the box:
Being open to new ideas is the key of success here. “Don’t follow formats. Cinema is a creative medium and be open to ideas. The music fest by Dear Comrade team was one such thought,” says Ahaana. “When I listened to the script of Luca, I knew that it would be a visually appealing movie. I wanted its posters to look and feel like a painting. It turned out as expected and inspired many creative minds. That also helps,” she says.
Negative PR:
It has been proven that even negative campaign can sell a cinema. The recent release Oru Adaar Love is an example. One of its songs received a rain of dislikes. However, director Omar Lulu cleverly used that as a marketing tool. The winking story part too, though not disliked, he wisely used to mint money. It has played a crucial role in bringing audience to the theatre on the first day.
Content is still the king:
No matter how hard you promote a film, quality of content matters. One cannot fool audience after the first day. Even creating misconception too will fail at the end. “If the content is good, we can sell it to the right audience,” says Jishnu, while Ahaana adds, “If you come with a stupid film, nobody is going to watch it thinking they have promoted it so well. If the content is good, even with minimum marketing we can take the content to viewers.”
