There was a time right upto say the early 90's where traditional marketing methods had very little effect on the success and failure of movies. Posters, banners, wall paintings , carpet bombing of the movie's songs on Chitrahaar and AM Radio were the marketing efforts that almost all Bollywood movies; however large or small, followed. Hence, the quality of the songs and the star value were pretty much the biggest draws for success. Very rarely did any movie with both these to its benefit fail (Roop Ki Rani, Saagar, Shaan, Lamhe were exceptions but these were few and far between)
Cut to today's scenario. The largest hits of 2007 have been movies like Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix, Spiderman 3, Pirates Of the Carribean: At World's End, 300, Sivaji. These are the truly pan India raking in anything above Rs. 50 cr upwards. Compared to these movies, the only Bollywood movie that has made any dent is Guru. All the other big ticket blockbusters with magnum opus starcasts have tanked (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Nishabd, Cheeni Kum, Awarapan).
Just a few years back, the market for Hollywood movies in India was considered niche. There were the flash in the pan hits like Titanic and Jurassic Park but these were extremely rare and followed the media hype that these blockbusters generated worldwide. Regional movies never really had the expertise or the scale to be marketed pan India (Roja again was an exception).
Its really been a ringer of a year for Hollywood. The top four hits have raked in Rs. 170 cr while the top four grossers in Bollywood have raked in about Rs. 120 cr. If we add the Rs.110 odd crores raked in by Sivaji, it would be safe to say that after a dream 2006 for Bollywood, its been a nightmare 2007 upto now.
So what is it that the so called "niche" movie marketers are doing right that Bollywood's not? Here are a few answers:
1. Media multiplication through strategic tie ups: Movies like Spiderman and Harry had more than 5 brand tie-ups each. Each of these marketers like Sony Ericsson, Compaq, etc conducted their own promotions (outdoor, television) around the film thus multiplying the media visibility leading to increased reach and larger interest. Compared to this, Bollywood movies this year have been relatively lower on tie ups (even Jhoom... had only one visible tie up of note, Slice). Movies like Krrish and Khosla last year successfully rode on brand tie ups but the feat hasn't been repeated this year in Bollywood
2. Overcoming the language barrier: Each of the Hollywood flicks this year have released in a minimum of six languages (Tamil, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Marathi, etc) so as to ensure greater acceptance. This strategy has alloweed them to have a print release of more than 400 prints thus ensuring a substantial increase in volume. Quite a phenomenal growth considering that just a few years back, a print run of 100 was considered massive for a Hollywood flick. This trend begun with "Casino Royale" last year that had a print run of 400 prints.
3. Embracing The Newer Media: Spiderman 3, Pirates... had inked tie ups with mobile2win, Mobile game makers, Playstation games, etc. In addition, the producers created blogs monitored by them to allow fans to share their views and also leak out information in a measured form. Games, websites, ringtones, mobile games, the works... ensured that out of the 200 odd million people that have access to these media were aware of each of these movies being released. Again, Krrish and to an extent Corporate are the only two movies to have embraced the newer media and used them effectively to market the movie.
4. Recognition Of A Marketing Role: Cos like Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox understand that the role of marketing (the whole gamut... PR, merchandising, cross promotions, buzz creation) are as integral to the success of the movie as much as the quality of the movie itself. They realise that for a $260 mn movie, at least 8% of the budgets must be allocated for marketing. In India, that figure has been close to 4 - 5%. There have been movies like Kkrish and Rang De.. which are known to have spent about 15 -20% of their budgets on marketing. For the smaller movies like Khosla and Corporate, this figure has been in the range of 50%. But by and large, production houses in India have not realised the potential of marketing movies as much as they possibly can
Clearly, in an age like today where the concept of matinees and jubilees does not exist, the onus on attracting larger audiences in the first 3 days to a week is very high. And hence, the need for marketing the movie whole heartedly before its release is a lot more than ever before. Hollywood movies know this, regional films have realised and we are all waiting for Bollywood to follow suit. Because we as avid moviegoers are vouching for movies like Akbar Jodha, Saanvariyan and Chak de to do well.
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