Evolution of Marketing in

Bollywood
MC II | Report
Submitted to : Dr. Neera Jain

SUBMITTED BY
15P15
2
15P15
6
15P16
1
15P16
6

Manish Maharaj
Nitish Gupta
Rahul Malani
Sambhav Jain

15P16 Sankalp Madaan

8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Neera Jain for
her continued guidance and advice during the course of the
project. Her classroom teachings and case studies have been
instrumental in execution of this project. We thank her for her
ideas, guidance and encouragement at various stages of the
project. We would also like to thank our parents and classmates
for their support in the project.

Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................... 3
Methodology............................................................................................................. 4
Film Promotions Before 1990s................................................................................... 6
Film promotions after 1991..................................................................................... 11
Marketing in Bollywood in the 21st Century.............................................................17
Limitations of the Study:......................................................................................... 30
Conclusion............................................................................................................... 31
Reference................................................................................................................ 33

Introduction
This report deals with the evolution of Advertising of movies in the Hindi Film
Industry. With a very humble beginning with a first silent feature film Raja
Harishchandra directed by Dadasaheb Phalke in 1913, the Mumbai based
Film Industry has evolved to become a $1.6 Billion industry in 2012. Now
days, Bollywood movies are marketed on various platforms of Advertising like
Television, Newspapers, Radio, Social Networking websites, blogs and also
through stalls or various displays in malls and various strategic locations.
To understand this evolution in detail, the history has been divided into 4
phrases since 1896. An in-depth analysis has been done by selecting a few
movies from each era. In earlier times, colourful posters were used to
promote movies. Legendary movies of 1970s like Anand, Mera naam joker,
Zanjeer were promoted through this medium. Then came the Television era
of 1980s.This saw some decline in the Indian Film Industry revenue.
Television acted as another source of entertainment for Indians. But, it also
acted as a medium of advertising films to a greater number of the Indian
population. The remarkable films of this era included Dilwale Dulhania Le
Jayange, Roja, Raja Hindustani, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, Jeet, Saajan Chale
Sasural etc.
In the current era, films are promoted through a lot of mediums. Apart from
the conventional mediums like Newspapers, Television and posters, a lot of
Internet based mediums like social networking websites, movie promotion
websites, blogs etc are widely used. Movie makers also collaborate with
gaming companies to coproduce games based on the movie themes to
create a buzz around the movie. Mobile phone mediums like SMSs, caller
tunes etc are also widely being used. Movie stars are often seen on various
reality shows to promote their films. This is complemented with visits to
various malls and shopping centres in numerous cities to create awareness
about the movie. The marketing campaigns of movies like Ghajini, Raw One,
3 idiots, Dabangg, Om Shanti Om, Dev D and Mary Kom are worth
mentioning.
Through this study we have concluded that advertising forms a very big part
of film making. Producers spend crores of rupees to create a buzz around
their movies. In this process they use all sorts of mediums available at their
disposal, hire special marketing companies and involve their cast into it.

Moving forward we see that the focus of advertising the movie is going to
increase. With the large number of releases every Friday, its very important
for the promoters to create attraction for the movie. Moreover, with the
decreasing shelf life of movies on the screen, its very important to advertise
the movie for getting maximum returns within a short time span.
Our research has been limited to the famous movies. We have not included
the nuances of marketing a movie within a small budget. Moreover, because
of the long divisions in the timeline, we have also not been able to
understand the shift in the movie marketing within a particular era.
The future scope of this report would be to get into a detailed analysis of the
way movie advertising has transformed within a particular era. This can be
done by further segregating the eras into small parts and then
understanding the shift in that specific time period.

Methodology
Primary research is defined as factual, firsthand accounts of the study
written by a person who was part of the study. The methods vary on how
researchers run an experiment or study, but it typically follows the scientific
method. One way you can think of primary research is that it is typically
original research.
Secondary research is defined as an analysis and interpretation of primary
research. The method of writing secondary research is to collect primary
research that is relevant to a writing topic and interpret what the primary
research found. For instance, secondary research often takes the form of the
results from two or more primary research articles and explains what the two
separate findings are telling us.
Primary Reserch:
We conducted a survey having 107 respondents from varying age groups.
We used digital marketing, social marketing and E-mails to collate data. We
also did field study by getting research questionnaire filled by respondents in
Gurgaon.
The purpose of primary research was to understand how marketing has
touched the lives of the citizens. It aimed at understanding how marketing
has evolved over time, how this evolution took place, how effective are
current marketing techniques followed by companies.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

13.

What is your age group?

What is your Gender?
What do you do?
How often do you watch movies?
Does the presence of famous actors affect your choice of watching
movies?
6. Does the presence of famous actresses affect your choice of watching
movies?
7. Does the presence of famous directors affect your choice of watching
movies?
8. Though which medium do you know about latest movie releases?
9. Do you watch documentaries?
10.
Do you follow stars on twitter?
11.
Is your choice of movies affected by advertisement on social
media?
12.
Do television ratings affect your choice of watching the movies?
Does the pre movie publicity done by stars affect your decision?

What we concluded:
1. From questions one, two and three we do the the profiling of our
candidates. We take information about their age, gender and job. It
helps us build a database. Also, as there is a subjective bias always
involved in any response, the profiling would help us identify the
reasons for any incoherence in results.
2. Question 4 helps us identify whether the respondent is a regular movie
fan or not. The respondents might be a movie buff or can be an
occassional movie watcher. In order to help us qualitatively sort our
response it is essential that we learn about the movie watching habits
of our respondent.
3. Questions five, six and seven help us understand how much the
popularity of stars and directors affect the choice of the movie
watching public. Media houses and directors sign up famous actors
based on their popularity. It is the same reason that old actors are paid
crores because their popularity has market value. Salman Khan is paid
crores as his movies are guaranteed to bring in much more. Same goes
for famous actresses like Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma.
Directors like Anurag Kashyap and Christopher Nolan are known for
creating masterpieces. It is just the name of these celebrities that
bring in crowd. It was our goal to analyse to what extent does name
affect marketing and public perceptions.

4. Question eight helps us understand the channel which connects the

most with the public. With the age of digital media it is likely he
consumers learn about movies online. Also we get to understand the
ratio of effectiveness of online & offline techniques.
5. Question nine helps us understand the popularity of movies which are
not so heavily marketed. Thus, we learn the how the public reacts to
products although high on substance but low on marketing
6. Question ten helps us understand the role of online marketing medium
like Twitter which have recently become very popular. Twitter can help
media houses engage lifelong fans.
7. Question eleven aims to understand the role of social media in todays
era. Social media has evolved from a social networking tool to a
marketing tool nowadays.
8. Question twelve helps understand the behaviour of consumers
regarding another marketing technique - Ratings. Before watching
movies we are deeply affected by others opinion about the movie. The
ratings given by critics deeply affect consumer choice. We seek to
understand the depth of the importance of ratings.
9. Stars nowadays do a plethora of publicity stunts before launcing a
movie. Question 12 aims to find out the public opinion of the
effectiveness of such a pre-planned marketing gimmick.

Based on our primary research we came to the following conclusion:

1. Majority of our younger respondents are deeply affected by social
marketing techniques. From movie reviews shared by friends on
facebook to opinion of Friday night show watchers, everything shapes
the opinion of these respondents.
2. In terms of choice of actors/actresses, respondents belonging to the
age group 18-25 are far more comfortable with experimenting with
new actors/actresses. People from higher age groups have developed
liking to certain stars and follow the trends.
3. Regarding the medium after crowd perceptions we came to realise that
its not a single medium that is very effective but a combinations of
various mediums which give a multiplier results. The first ad be it on
television/online helps in inception of interest of movie in the minds of
the consumer. If they come across more advertisements over time they
are more likely to be influenced towards watching the movie.

4. On segregating our respondents based on age we came to know that

people from older age groups are affected by more by traditional
marketing methods showing that modern marketing techniques are
more effective for younger generations. Thus, marketing has evolved
from with time but some principles are still sound.
Secondary Reserch:
To study the marketing strategist of Indian movies in detail and the way they
have reached such great heights, we have divided our report into different
phases. These phases are based on the changes which have taken place in
technology, cinema making, its advertising etc collected through different
sources. Following are the divisions according to the era:
1) 1896 to 1960
2) 1960 to 1980
3) 1980 to 2000, and
4) 2000 to current

Film Promotions Before 1990s

The first Indian film show occurred in July 7, 1896, a few months after the
Lumiere brothers introduced the art of cinematography in Paris in 1895.
Filmmakers in the west soon started using India, its scenery and exotic
culture in their films like Coconut Fair (1897), Our Indian empire (1897), A
Panaroma of Indian Scenes and Procession (1898), and Poona Races 98
(1898). The very first Indian film by an Indian Filmmaker was Wrestlers in
1899 by Harischandra S. Bhatvadekhar, popularly known as Save Dada. He
was a stills photographer, an equipment dealer and a cinema exhibitor. This
was followed in 1900 by Splendid New View of Bombay and Taboot
Procession, both by F.B Thanawala.
In 1905 J.F Madan established the Elphinstone Bioscope Company, which
showed mainly showed Western movies. Madan was the first businessman
who envisaged the great business opportunities for Indian filmmaking. The
first Indian feature film, Pundalik, was made in 1912 as a result of growing
demand for audiences to see Indian characters and experiences on screen.
However, it was shot by an Englishman and never really received the acclaim

of being an independent feature film. Instead, the honour of making the first
indigenous feature film goes to Dhundiraj Goving Phalke for Raja
Harishchandra released in 1913. It was a completely Indian production and
was shown as a self-contained work in its own right. Between 1917 and 1931
several more Indian silent films were shot. They were in Hindi as well as
other regional languages. Their content was inspired by the Ramayana and
Mahabharata, two of Indias most well-known epics.
In 1931 Alam Ara, the first Indian talkie, was made. It was a costume drama
full of fantasy and melodious songs and was a stunning success (Gokulsing &
Dissanayake, 1998). Subsequently, music and fantasy came to be seen as
vital elements of filmic experience. Sometimes the use of music was
overdone. For example Indrasabha in 1932 contained 70 songs. Since this
era, music became the defining element of Indian cinema.
The popularity of a new medium for mass entertainment encouraged
filmmakers to explore new ideas for filmmaking. The 1930s saw a fascination
for social themes and, subsequently, interplay of tradition with modernism
that included questioning aspects of the feudal patriarchy. By 1940s
cinematography played an important role in Indian movies. There remained a
great deal of western influence on Indian popular cinema along with the
song, dance, and fantasy staples. The economic and political environment
around this time was also undergoing changes - India was moving towards
capitalism and modernism amidst political unrest and religious diversions. It
was against this background that film directors and actors like Bimal Roy, Raj
Kapoor, Guru Dutt, V Santaram, Mehboob Khan made films which became
popular (legends) both in Indian and abroad. By the 1950s Indian popular
cinema had established itself as a form of art, entertainment and industry.
Film historians call this period the golden age of Indian cinema. During this
era, movies like Awara (1951), Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Shree
420 (1955), Mother India (1957), The Apu Trilogy by Satjyajit Ray consisting
of Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apu Sansar (1959), were
made. The international popularity for many of these movies and film actors
like Raj Kapoor made the Indian government recognize the revenue-earning
capacity of the film industry. The subsequent government intervention
resulted in censorships and heavy taxation, which made life difficult for
filmmakers.
Talking about the first Indian Sound film Alam Ara:

Alam Ara (The Ornament of the World) is a 1931 film directed by Ardeshir
Irani. The first Indian talkie was so popular that police aid had to be
summoned to control the crowds.
It was not just a talkie. It was a talking and singing film with more singing
and less talking. It had a number of songs and that actually set the template
for the kind of films that were made later". In fact, the 1932 film Indar
sabha had an overwhelming 71 songs in it.

In 1935 we witnessed Devdas which had many adaptations in the upcoming

times. Devdas is a Bengali film directed by Pramathesh Barua and based on
the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaynovella, Devdas. It stars Barua himself as
Devdas. This was Barua's first of three language versions of the story, the
second being in Hindi and the third in Assamese. This classic masterpiece
sensitively criticises the feudalistic society that prevailed. The film has been
made in multiple languages including Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Telugu,
Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam.

1950s witnessed many of the blockbuster and legendary movies like 1955:
Do Bigha Zameen (B/W-indi) 1956: Shree 420 (B/W-Hindi) 1957: Mother India
(B/W-Hindi) 1957: Pyassa (B/W-Hindi), 1959: Kaagaz Ke Phool (B/W-Hindi).
These films are talked about even these days and they set an altogether
different level of the Bollywood industry.

In 1960, the Film Finance Corporation, which later formed the National Film
Development Corporation, for financing and exporting films, was established
and in 1961, the Film Institute of Pune was started. Around this time Indian
state television, Doordarshan, became a daily service programming for an

hour. The broadcast was restricted to Delhi (Rajadhyaksha & Willemen,

1999). In 1973, the Directorate of Film Festivals was started which organized
annual International Film Festivals in India, opening doors for the common
people to see world cinema. In 1976, Doordarshan, still the only television
station in India, separated itself from All India Radio and later, in 1985,
became fully commercial selling prime slots to private sponsors and TV
soaps. Some of the box-office hits during this time include Aradhana (1969),
Bobby (1973) and Sholay (1975). While movies of the 70s were influenced
by the political and social trends, the 80s saw an emergence of violence in
cinema. The audience was also changing the introduction of colour
television in 1982, the availability of VCRs and the numerous soaps on kept
more middle-class people at home (Dwyer & Patel, 2002) (Rajadhyaksha &
Willemen, 1999). The theatres became more decrepit, being more a refuge
for the lower-middle class than the middle class. In order to cater better to
their audience, filmmakers increased the level of violence in their films with
revenge dramas becoming more popular. Some of the popular movies of this
period included Naseeb, Coolie, Hero, Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Sagar.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Indian cinema was making really good stuff, but in
the late 1960s and 1970s there was a gradual decline and the late 1970s
and 1980s, things could hardly have been worse. Finally, in the late 1980s,
some better films started being made again, using music, but using it with
some sensibility.
The legendary movies of 1970s:
1970: Anand (color-hindi)
1971: Dastak (B/W- Hindi)
1971: Mera Naam Joker (Hindi)
1972: Zanjeer
Mera Naam Joker (translation: My Name is Joker) is a 1970 Hindi drama film
directed by Raj Kapoor. The screenplay was written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas.
This film was the debut of Rishi Kapoor. Mera Naam Joker is a film about a
clown who must make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. The
film is considered to be one of the lengthiest films of Indian cinema.
After Sangam became a blockbuster, Mera Naam Joker was highly anticipated
as it was six years in the making and was heavily publicized to be loosely
based on Raj Kapoor's own life.

From marketing point of view we see more colourful posters and pamphlets
being printed as compared to 1930s. The use of media and newspaper was
more prominent for the awareness about the film. The movie was released at
various international levels. These steps were taken to globalize the reach of
Bollywood movies and the effect of globalisation and liberalization was
prominant. By this time many award functions were also in the scene which
helped the other films of this era for a better marketing and have a better
exposure to the audience.

1970s was also a phase where the trend of action movies was on a rise and
the rise of the angry young man Mr. Amitabh Bachchan was very evident. In
1969, he debuted in Saat Hindustani. His role in 1972's Zanjeer made him
an action movie star. The shift from the love story and sentimental movies to
action movies was evident in 1970s. In 1975 we see the movie Sholay by
Ramesh Sippy which is hailed as the best movie ever even today. It was
ranked first in the British Film Institute's 2002 poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of
all time. In 2005, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare Awards named it
theBest Film of 50 Years. The film drew heavily from the conventions
of Westerns, and is a defining example of the masala film, which mixes several
genres in one work. Scholars have noted several themes in the film, such as
glorification of violence, conformation to feudal ethos, debate between social
order and mobilised usurpers, homosocial bonding, and the film's role as a
national allegory.

LANDMARKS IN BOLLOYWOOD INDUSTRY (1910-onwards)

1910: Dadasaheb Phalke attends a screening of the The Life of Christ at P.B.
Mehta's America India Cinema.
1911: The Durbar of George V in Delhi is the first film extensively filmed in
India. .
1912: Pundalik, directed by Tipnis and probably India's first feature film, is
shot.
1914: Phalke shows his first three features, Raja Harishchandra, Mohini
Bhasmasur and Satyavan Savitri in London
1917: Baburao Painter starts the Maharashtra Film Co. in Kolhapur.
1917: Dadasaheb Phalke makes How Films are Made, a short on the
filmmaking process
1918: Phalke's Hindustan Cinema Films Co. is founded.

First talking film Alam ara launched in 1931.

1940: Film Advisory Board is set up by the Government of India
1948: Raj Kapur founds R.K. Studios.
1952: First International Film Festival of India held in Bombay
1952: Filmfare is launched as a fortnightly.
1958: The Indian Copyright Act comes into force.
1959: Kagaz ke Phool, the first Indian cinemascope film, is made by Guru
Dutt and shot by V.K. Murthy.
1961: Second International Film Festival of India in Delhi.
1964: The National Film Archive of India is founded in Pune.
1971: India becomes the largest producer of films in the world with 433 films.
1976: Doordarshan is separated from All India Road and is allowed to take
advertising.
1979: Malayalam cinema overtakes Hindi Cinema in volume of production.

Film promotions after 1991

India launched its market-oriented economic reforms in 1991. The economic
reforms of 1991 have been evolutionary and incremental in nature.
Indubitably, since its beginning with the film Raja Harish Chandra (1913),
the cinema has remained the most powerful media for mass communication
in India. Cinema in fact, presents an image of the society in which it is born
and the hopes, aspirations, frustration and contradictions present in any
given social order. In a single word, cinema is the mirror of the society.
Hence, the effect of it is enormous.
A cinema may become a topic of debate and sometimes even riots as
had happened in the case of 1995 film Bombay by noted filmmaker Mani
Rathnam (caused considerable controversy upon release in India and
abroad for its depiction of inter-religious relations and religious riots. The
film was banned in Singapore and Malaysia upon release). After the
release of the film Shiv-sena not only vehemently protested against the
screening of it but also vandalised few theatres for screening of it, or how

can we forget about the ban of the 1975 film Aandhi by Indira Gandhi and it
only released after the fall of Congress Govt during 1977 elections.Cinema
is not just mere showcase of coeval society; it also depicts hope,
aspirations of human life.However, generally, the concept often identified
with the recognition of concepts like total quality management, just-in-time,
process re-engineering etc. The birth of new marketing strategies often
betoken the emergence of new tiger nations from the Pacific Rim in the
1970s, scholars of buyer-seller behavior started to identify alternative
marketing models based on achievement of performance goals by
confrontational competition and instead adopting a philosophy of building
collaborative relationships within industrial sector.
Like any product in the market, a film is also a product which makers of it
generally want to sell and make profit from it. Now, a very pertinent
question will come, whether and how much does it make sense
economically to make films for urban viewership which constitute only 28%
of the population of India.
Now, it has become necessary to find out answer of the question, what
are the reasons behind growth of films, made for urban viewership?
Before moving onto any further discussion, lets discuss about this urban
viewership that made this stark division among viewership of films.
Generally, by urban audience we mean people:
1.

Are not very good at disassociating farm animals from pets.

2. Idealize animal agricultural practices of the past and the rural

lifestyle
3.

3-4 generations removed from the farm

4.

Less motivated by scientific reasoning than ethical/ moral reasoning

In India, films made for urban viewership is not at all new. If anything is
new, it is the inclusion of viewership of others.
Films that have been
made during golden era of Indian Cinema i.e. 1950s,
1960s and 1970s primarily made in accordance with urban taste. The
villages of India, on that time neither had any theatre or any chance to see
every film released on Friday. Once in a while or perhaps on every month,
they did have a chance to see a film through movie projector, which

perhaps released months ago in cities. Viewership of films on that time,

primarily constrained within urban and township people and films made
during this period had a strong script mostly adapted from literature , like,
Bandini, Amar Prem, Bimol Roys Parineeta, or Kabuliwala, Charulota,
Jotugriho etc.

In fact, people in villages of that time, did not have any choice regarding
films. They had to see the film which came to their village whether they
liked it or not. Indeed musical theatres based primarily on epics like
Mahabharata and Ramayana or other folklores about God and Goddesses
were far more popular than films in villages of the then India. But with the
arrival of video parlour, in India, they gradually got the choice and the
whole scenario of films of both Hindi and regional films has started to
change rapidly since mid 1980s.
The 1970s and 1980s witnessed a decline in the fortunes of the industry.
In 1982, colour television was launched in India, giving millions of Indians
the choice of popular entertainment at home. TV was soon followed by
video, and over a 100,000 video libraries mushroomed across the country.
Not only did these libraries circulated pirated video copies but they also
spawned illegal video parlours- small holes at a nominal fee, one could
watch the latest release on TV hooked to a video recorder. Rampant video
piracy led to a fall in cinema-hall attendance without a corresponding rise
in income from video rentals.
There was no longer a set formula that would guarantee success. Stories of
social interest, love, family life and fantasies- all tumbled out of the filmmaking machine. Social evils like rape- the trauma and the humiliation, the
callousness- were the subject of many films notably. In fact, the whole
transition of films in India could have been easily the subject of a whole
separate research paper because the first division among viewership of
films was created on that time. While on the one hand, film makers like
Govind Nihalini, Mahesh Bhatt, Ketan Mehta were making films like Ardh
Satya, Arth, Saransh, Mirch Masala , on the other hand, film makers like
Subhash Ghai, N.Chandra were making what we often term as out and out
commercial flicks like Karz, Tezaab etc. Although, it is true that the journey
of modern Indian cinema had began even four decades ago with none
other than Satyajit Ray and thereafter, with Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen,
Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan but the division between realistic

parallel movies or later termed as art films and commercial films had
never been reached its acme before 1980s.
The set rules of 1950s and 60s, the strong story with good music
accompanying with Star cast completely transformed in 1980s. Most of the
stories during this period came up from stories with doze of emotions;
execution of films songs had become more important than music. Words
like Star Power or Star Aura had become obsolete. Instead the formula to
make a film hit had become a rainy songs featuring the main heroine or
leading lady of the film with skimpy raiment, the hero of the film had to
have a sister who would be raped by the villain and hero later sought for
villain inorder to finish him.
As a result, urban middle class people gradually stopped to go to movie
theatre and instead would prefer to watch television. Occasionally, they
would borrow the VCR from nearby video parlour only to watch some
Hollywood movies or some good movies made by Yash Chopra or art films
of noted film makers. National Award in this time almost became only
source of middle class people to know about good movies. In fact National
Award winning films only released theatrically after winning the award.

The discerning audience virtually stopped going to cinema halls. These

cinema houses were ill kept and had outdated technology.

But scenario gradually began to change since the 1990s with the advent of
another bunch of maverick film makers like Mani Rathnam who
successfully brought back urban middle class to the theatres. Roja, a Tamil
film released in 1992 again re-opened the market of urban viewership.
The Hindi dubbed version of the film became one of the highest grossing
films of 1992. It was a perfect blend of political drama and romance with
soulful music of A.R.Rahman. The movie got rave reviews, fetched three
national awards, made instantly the lead actors star and most importantly,
re-discovered the old blend making successful films. But the
transformation was not at all smooth. Roja soon became an exception, a
Mani Rathnam film which would come just like other noted directors (Yash
Chopra or Gulzar) once in a year or biennially.

Roja was indubitably a milestone movie in the history of Indian cinema

not only because of its content,
execution which vehemently attacked
the division of art house and comerical
cinema but also because it convinced
producers to finance on good films
again. Machis, 1996 film on sikh
insurgency by poet, lyricist Gulzar also
became a phenomenal hit and also
received
rave
reviews
with
two
National Awards.

The situation began to change since mid 1990s with films like Dilwale
Dulhania Le Jainge or popularly known as DDLJ, Border, Rangeela,
Virasaat, Satya and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. In fact, since DDLG and
Rangeela, directors became the significant brand to promote a film. Films
began to promote as directors picture or film like Satya A Ram Gopal
Verma Picture or Viraasat filmed by Priyadarshan.

But
if
from
the
above
discussion, anybody would
begin to believe that films like
Roja or Machis suddenly came
to market and started to make

profit more than films like Beta or Raja Hindustani, I must that was not at
all the scenario. In fact these films were successful but if we would see
the figures of Box-office collection, we would see that films like Raja
Hindustani or Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi or Jeet or Saajan Chale Sasural did
greater business than those films. Then, what was the reason behind
gradual augmentation of making such films?
If Roja reinstated predominance of the urban viewership, DDLJ clearly
showed the way of making phenomenal profit from such films by
acknowledging the urban Indian viewership of the world not just within
India. Earning over 2.72 million US dollar in the overseas the film became
an epitome of expression of British South Asian culture on celluloid.

In 1998, Dil Se another film of Mani Rathnam flopped at box office of

India but became a major success overseas, made it first Indian Film to
enter the top 10 in the United Kingdom box office charts. In fact after two
months of its release, the film was still screened on five screens, five
times per day with an average of 3000 spectators a day for each screen
alone in the 14-screen Cineworld complex in Feltham, West London

Within a year in 1999, Subhash Ghais Taal repeats the same history of Dil
Se. Despite its below average performance at the box-office of India
(because it distributed on three crores per territory and it recovered only
4.5 crores per territory.), it became the first Indian Film to reach the top 20
on Varietys box office list. It also made the list of top ten grossing films
in the United Kingdom that year.

Film makers have found a new market which is profitable and would easily
fetch recognition too. For instance the 2002 movie Devdas, by Sanjay
Leela Banshali which screened at the Cannes Film Festival marked for
several reasons not only because it was the most Bollywood movie ever
produced but, because it released in six alternative languages like English,
French, German, Mandarin, Thai and Punjabi. It was the perfect Bollywood
musical which made Aishwariya Rai an international star and fetched
several awards including ten Filmfare awards, five National Awards and an
esteemed BAFTA nomination in the category of best foreign language film.

With Generation Next taking over the reins in showbiz, a new professional
approach is visible. To cater to a largely young, urban audience across the
world, winds change are blowing fast and furious through musty studios of
Mumbai. Bollywood has discovered new mantra of success: multiplexes,
merchandising,
marketing,
multinational
audiences,
insurance,
institutional fnance, corporatization and listed companies.
In fact, not only Bollywood, other regional film industries too soon found
the greater market for their films which is even more profitable than
domestic market. The only requirement is to change the 80s and early 90s
film making style. Moreover, with the rising number of multiplexes in
cities, the domestic market would also have become more profitable than
previously because of the higher rates of tickets.
Now, Bollywood movies not watched in south Asian regions but also in
Africa, other parts of Asia, Europe especially in Germany and United
Kingdom, Northern America, Australia and in parts of Latin America.

Similarly, now for instance Bengali movies are distributed in Northern

America and United Kingdom but when we talking of regional films in
overseas market, it is imperative to talk about Tamil films. Tamil films are
not only very much popular in Sri Lanka and Malaysia but immensely
popular in Japan and North America.
Therefore, the whole reason to cater to urban viewership got
the meaning and reason.
Today, all that has changed. Govinda, Anil, Mahesh and a host of other
actors and directors of the nineties have almost faded out.
In 1990, the pace of globalization in India suddenly accelerated as the
Indian economy opened. Within a decade, satellite television and
Hollywood movies became widely available. The notion of designer cinema
became very much clear to the urban viewers of India. They gradually
wanted to see something more than a good story telling and actors. What
they could not say was that they indeed wanted to have something like
Hollywood production and sometimes better than that.
Most importantly, the whole notion of sudh culture of Bharat changed
instantly into Asudh culture of India. The new urban gen x culture has
become a potpourri of western and eastern culture. In a global village the

uniqueness of culture soon vanished with a trend of embracing everything

whichever and whatever is being liked and loved.
The advent of globalization has introduced new cultural celebrations of
autonomy and individual choice. The idea that young peoples love for
each other should be the basis for marriage is reasserted by cable
televisions American serials e.g. Santa Barbara that show young people in
pursuit of the right one.
As a result hindi rom coms also dared to depict the hero had slept with
several women but stills searching for his true love (Hum Tum), or live in
relationship (Salam Namaste),or a married heroine slept with a married
man and broke his home or Heroine too slept with several men before
understood her true feeling for any particular one (Cocktail) or in Dev D,
the modern adaptation of Sarot Chandra Chattopadyays Devdas where
modern adaptation of Paro did not feel ashamed to satiate her sexual urge
by her butler or what about Cheeni Kum, Amitabh Bacchan fell in love
with a woman thirty years younger to him and in shop he was buying
condoms? The examples are interminable. And I do not think we should be
surprised to find out that all these films became super hit.
The whole concept of holding your chastity before marriage (1950s and
1960s) or even before finding the true love (1970s) has completely
changed. Now, such depiction on film has become quite normal and media
also did not find the urge to make any hue and cry on it because people
are accepting it. In fact, the word accepting might be little bit of
underrated; rather I should say did not even notice such trivial issues.
In fact, in here, it is imperative to mention about Dil Chahta Hai, a 2001
film directed by Farhan Akhter. The urban audience for the very first
time got the taste of true designer film in this remarkably fresh,
marvellously vivacious film. It is about a set of rich, young, urban
characters, but the film does not succumb to escapist temptations. The
three love stories that the narrative revolves around involve real people
and tangible emotions. It is the global Indian- he dons imported clothing,
flies to foreign lands at will, drives higher-end foreign cars and sports
designer haircuts-who holds centrestage in Dil Chahta Ha; while a section
of Hindi film wacthers, especially in the big metropolitan cities, related
instinctively to the worldview propounded by DCH, audiences in the smaller
towns remained cold to its style and panache.

Marketing in Bollywood in the 21st Century

Marketing of movies has come a long way from the era of Raja
Harishchandra and Alam Ara. Traditionally, marketing and publicity
represented only 5 to 10 percent of a films success at the box office but
today it determines up to 50 percent of a films success (Mazumdar, 2003).
Now every release has an improved marketing strategy in place. An industry
like Hollywood has already mastered the art of movie making and marketing
but Bollywood is catching up at a rapid pace (Gill, 2009). Raja Harishchandra
used newspaper advertisements, handbills and publicity booklets to market
the movie. Early years after Raja Harishchandra saw the emergence of
posters as the main source of marketing a movie. Posters were usually hand
painted on canvas and then used as the design source for printing on cheap
paper (Mazumdar, 2003). Since then, the emergence of television, the
transformation of urban space, the expansion of Internet and the arrival of
newer technologies have made their mark on Bollywood, determining both
its aesthetic impulse as well as the marketing strategies (Mazumdar, 2003).
Here on we will see how Bollywood has marketed movies through different
new media tools.

Promotion through Internet

1. Movie promotion websites
Movie promotion on the internet has come up as the most important tool of
marketing as the consumer here has more control over exposure to material
than they do over television. They can actively choose which website they
wish to visit and when, while off-web audience members are at the mercy of
media schedules (Gallagher, 2001). Zufryden (2000) conducted research
focusing on the development and empirical testing of a variable
mathematical model approach for predicting a films box-office performance
as a function of film website activity, as well as other relevant explanatory
variables. The study results support the idea that a film website may provide
an effective means to promote and maintain film awareness as well as
influence site visitors intention to see a new film.
The movie promotion websites are designed to spark interest in two kinds of
audience
(i) Regular movie goers who want basic information regarding the show
timings, theatre locations and ticket prices.

(ii) Hard core movie fans who are on the lookout for behind the camera
information.
Almost every movie today has an official website launched much before its
release. The cost involved in creating these websites is negligible and when
we compare its usage to television, newspaper, and magazine ads we realise
that websites, once launched, continue to stay forever, even after the movie
is out of the market and serve as a continual promotion ground. These
websites have attractions like games, downloadable wallpapers,
screensavers, ringtones, trailers, interviews, trivia and online merchandize
sale. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008) a small budget musical romantic comedy
targeted at the youth was a major success online. The homepage
www.jaanetu.com was very appealing in appearance with youthful graphics.
The movie tied up with MSN India and came up with Bollywoods first eyeblaster technology based advertisement. It used a concept where the male
lead comes alive to interact with the user. He walks on the website while
you work, he looks around then knocks on your screen (asks for attention),
dances to the tune of one of the songs from the movie and then walks back
into the advertisement. This advertisement ended up having click-throughrate (CTR) of 2.8% when the average CTR of banner advertisements is 0.8%
(Mulchandani, 2008). Such innovative techniques are being used to make the
promotion websites more interesting.
2. Blogs
Blogs offer the ability to connect with the audience in a unique and personalized
manner where everything from brand promotions to new product ideas can be
effectively communicated (Singh, Jackson & Cullinane, 2008). In recent times
Bollywood celebrities have turned towards blogging to promote their movies. Aamir
Khan, one of Bollywoods biggest superstars, is credited to start this fad, when he
launched his blog www. aamirkhan.com in the year 2007 which became an instant
hit. Aamir Khan regularly updates his blog with the mention of his daily incidents
and experiences but more subtly, he utilises it to promote and market his movies.
Taare Zameen Par (2007) was his first directorial venture and he used his blog to
publicize the movie. In one of his pre-release posts, he writes TZP is a film about
children, NOT a childrens film. In my opinion it is THE most important film on
children to come out of India. I mean in its content. How you all will like it I have no
idea, but what I can say is that it has changed the way that I looked at my kids. And
mind you; I think that I am a good father. (Khan, 2007, Dec 11). Bollywood stars
feel the need to connect with their audience to promote their film, which is why
blogs are becoming increasingly popular with celebrities.

3. SNSs

The audience is no longer content to be merely viewers and consumers of

information provided by the Web; rather they are increasingly taking an
active part in creating their lives online (Hof, 2006. A way by which users
accomplish this is by participating in SNSs such as MySpace.com,
Facebook.com, and Orkut.com. A survey was done by AC Nielson to find out
the internet usage habits of Indians between the ages of 13 to 35. The study
revealed that users spend an average of nine hours per week on the internet
for personal purposes, out of which; approximately 25% to 75% of time was
spent on SNSs (Shah, 2008). It has become a major trend in Bollywood to
ride the waves of SNSs. Most of the production houses set up official
communities for a movie before its release. These communities have promo
clippings, song previews, wallpapers and other downloadable materials. SNSs
are the best platform for users to exchange opinions and discuss the movie,
thereby increasing the awareness. Whats Your Rashee (2009) came up with
a very creative application in Facebook that drew a lot of attention. The lead
actress in the movie plays twelve different characters depicting twelve
different zodiac signs. Hence a horoscope application with twelve zodiac
signs was launched in Facebook. The application required the user to answer
a set of questions about their personal preferences and choices. On
submitting the answers, it showed a list of people who are not in their friends
list but had similar preferences. The user could add them if he or she
wanted. The application smartly used the theme of the movie to promote it
in a widely-used SNS.
4. Mobile Phones
How big an idiot are you? Log on to www.idiotsacademy.com and register.
You stand a chance to meet the Three Idiots for an idiotic dinner. (A
promotional SMS for 3 Idiots (2009)) With the number of mobile subscribers
rising each day, mobile service providers are fledging the market with their
offerings. Until more recently, the primary ways to market a movie through
mobile phones would have involved offering songs, wallpapers or ringtones
download but with the rising competition in the market, the consumer is now
even provided with movie based applications, games, videos and news
alerts. Since, a mobile marketing campaign is directly relevant to consumers,
timely, track-able and is a direct response tool; it is proving to be an effective
tool in promoting and marketing a film (Dushinski, 2008). When Veer Zaara
(2004) released in India, one of the service providers had an application
where the automated voices of the stars of the movie were answering calls if
you missed it. This created quite a buzz and was generating 400,000 hits a
day (Garikaparthi, 2008).

5. Games
When Bollywood entered the gaming industry, it was a step in the direction
of making more money. Today, more and more movies are marketed with an
official game, mostly on mobile phones. Downloading Bollywood games on
mobile phones costs anywhere between Rs 50 ($1.05) to Rs 150 ($3.12) per
download. On an average a movie game registers 7,000 to 10,000
downloads with the more popular ones touching even 25,000 downloads
(Bollywood Mobile Game Industry, 2006, Mar 8). Bollywood stayed away
from games being launched on other platforms but when FX Labs Studios,
Indias largest game developer, launched a PC 3D game based on Ghajini,
new doors opened. The game generated a lot of buzz and provided the
additional publicity for the movie. With an even price of Rs 199 ($4.15) it
attracted a lot of buyers. To make the game playing experience as authentic
as possible, the developers recreated movie locations and scenes in the 3D
world and the players got a firsthand chance to play as the main protagonist.
With the success of games based on Om Shanti Om, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi,
and Ghajini, the marketers who brought this tool into play are already
gearing up for new frontiers. With the rural market still untouched by this
phenomenon, there is a positive market waiting to be tapped there. Though,
still at a very juvenile stage, experts think that this segment is all set to
expand in the coming days
One of the largest money churners in India is Bollywood: the business of
making movies. Marketing for Bollywood once meant putting up Eastman
Color posters across the streets of Mumbai, but since then it has evolved
dramatically. Bollywood producers and filmmakers have realised that their
movies are products that need to be branded, positioned and targeted at the
right audience. The recent Salman Khan starrer, Dabangg that was made on
a budget of 30 cr. had a marketing budget of 12 cr. That is a whopping 40%
of the movie budget. The high marketing budgets are not just the norm for
big budget films; Peepli Live a film made on a budget of Rs. 10 cr. had a
marketing budget of Rs. 4 cr.
While Bollywood scripts have far from evolved, with the same stale movies
being churned out day in and out, the way Bollywood is marketing its
movies, would make Kotler proud!

The 5 Ps of Bollywood Marketing

 Product: The entire cinema experience is the product that you as a

filmmaker are trying to sell. When a middle class worker spends Rs. 200 to
watch a movie, he is paying more for the experience than for the movie
itself. Bollywood marketers realise that marketing movies means selling the
entire experience of watching a movie to its end consumers. Moviemakers
need to understand which category their movie belongs to it and which
audience it aims at targeting. Hence, the marketing strategy for a Dabangg
and a Peepli Live would be poles apart. While Dabangg was targeted at the
masses and single theatre screens, Peepli Live was targeted at the multiplex
audience. Hence Dabanggs promos reflected the masala experience that the
masses will relate to while Peepli Lives promos had sarcasm and black
humor which would generate interest among the multiplex audience. UTV
Motion Pictures Marketing VP, Shikha Roy says, Most of the promos were
shot separately and not as a part of the movie, to generate a kind of viral
campaign and to have the people talking.
Marketing is all about catering to the needs of the consumers and making
profits by satisfying those needs. Who better to know this than filmmaker
Mahesh Bhatt, most of the recent films made under his banner Vishesh Films
revolve around recent controversies. Vishesh Filmss latest offering, Crook, is
centred around the racial attacks on Indian students in Australia. Such
subjects which the public relates to help gather enough interest and curiosity
amongst them.
Bollywood makers are also giving a lot of thought to the naming of their
products (movies). Like other products, movie names too should reflect the
spirit, genre and feel of the movie. Gone are the days when a name like
Vijay would sell, Innovative names are the order of the day. Dibankar
Banerjee is one filmmaker who gives a lot of thought and importance to the
naming of his films. His last offering Love, Sex And Dhoka, made on a
shoestring budget of 2 cr. caught the eye balls of the youth just on the power
of its unique name. The name of the movie was enough to generate curiosity
in the minds of the public and attract them towards the movie screens.

Placement: The timing of the launch of a product is a crucial factor in

determining its success. Similarly, the release date of a movie is a significant
factor in determining the success of the movie. Over the past few years, the
biggest blockbusters released during the Diwali season or during the
Christmas. What is the common link between Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and

Three Idiots? Apart from the fact that all these blockbusters star Aamir Khan,
the movies have their release date as 25th December. Filmmakers nowadays
invest a lot of thought in deciding the right time for releasing a movie. Even
a good movie released during the exam season of students or if it is clashing
with a major event such as IPL cricket extravaganza may get a dismal
opening. Film makers also watch out if any big banner movies are being
released during the same time as theirs and accordingly postpone or pre
pone their release. Karan Johar, on his show Coffee with Karan once asked
filmmaker Farah Khan what she would do if she realised that a Himesh
Reshammiya movie was releasing at the same time as hers. Farah replied
with a smile, I would postpone my movies release date. That was the time
when Himesh had the Midas touch.

Promotion: No longer are promotions restricted to showing trailers and

painting the city with posters of the movie. Bollywood movie promotions
have come a long way. The small budget movies try to get referential power
for their movies by participating in international film festivals. Winning
awards in the international circuit helps in increasing the brand equity for the
film, and the audience perceives that it will be a good product. Vikramaditya
Motwanes debut film Udaan created enough buzz and the multiplex crowd
was waiting anxiously for the movie to release long before its promos started
appearing. All thanks to the many awards and critical acclaim the movie
managed to get in the international film circuit.
When it comes to marketing, Aamir Khan is one of the most innovative
marketers out there. The way he promotes his movies is a lesson for all
budding marketers. During the promotion of Ghajini, Aamir donned the role
of a barber, giving Ghajini haircuts to his fans. For Three Idiots Aamir Khan
went step further and came out with his own collection of hand drawn
Doodle T Shirts, which reflected his own style and the soul of the movie. The
T-shirts became a rage among the youth. In addition, the rickshaws in
Mumbai were used as an effective way to market 3 Idiots. Aamir had painted
stickers of Capacity: 3 Idiots only on the back of the rickshaws. The unique
strategy created a lot of buzz for the movie at a very low cost.
Seeing the craze that youth of today have for playing games, Bollywood
marketers have taken the route of combining movies and games to help
promote their films. Yash Raj Films for their latest offering Lafangey Parindey
has come out with two games: One a boxing game that reflects the spirit of

Neil Nitin Mukesh and a skating game for Deepika Padukone fans. These
games help movie fans to relate to the characters of the movie more closely.
Bollywood does not want to be myopic in its view, instead of looking at the
television industry as a competition; they have taken it as a facilitator to
promote their films. Reality TV shows are used by filmmakers to promote
their movie. A few weeks before the release of a movie, you will have the
stars of the movie making appearances as judges, hosts, participants on TV
shows. John Abraham will be using the popular youth reality show MTV
Roadies to promote his upcoming film, Jhootha Hi Sahi. Similar to the
character he plays in the movie, John would lie to contestants but provide
them with clues to help them win Roadies

Personalisation: Todays film makers realise that while marketing a film,

they cannot follow a particular template for all films, but need to customise
the marketing strategies for each, treating each film as a separate brand
entity. So you had an Amitabh Bachchan poster telling you in theatres that,
Do not dirty the theatres or I will tell Paa to Switch of your mobiles or I will
tell Paa for the promotion of his film Paa where he played a 13 year old
progeria patient. While for Anurag Kashyaps Dev D you had customised
tattoos being done at select parlors and condom shaped passes being
distributed for the premiere of the movie. Ashutosh Gowarikers movie
Whats Your Rashee which had Priyanka Chopra play 12 different characters
had 12 different flavours of popcorn being sold in movie theatres each
corresponding to a different Rashee. The marketing team of Aladdin teamed
up with Baskin Robbins to launch three delectable flavours on the characters
of the movie: Ringmasters Whip, Princess Delite and Choco Aladdin. In
another smart marketing move, ticket counter boys, ushers, and the popcorn
boys sported the Ghajini haircut look during the release of Shah Rukh Khans
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Therefore, although cine-goers went to watch SRKs flick
the anxiety to watch Ghajini, which was releasing two weeks later, increased
manifold.

People: The filmmakers have now begun to use actors for promotion rather
than just using trailers and posters. They want the stars to be closer to the
people. So be it Salman riding a horse in the Mahalaxmi race course to
promote his action film Veer or Abhishek Bacchan creating a Guinness record
by travelling to 5 different cities in a span of 24 hours to promote Delhi 6, the

people connect is clearly visible. Bollywood marketers realise that people will
feel for the movie and relate to it only when they are able to relate to the
stars of the movie. Aamir Khan to promote Three Idiots, went on a disguise
marketing trip, in which he went to various parts of India, incognito and
understood the peoples problems, aspirations and dreams. The entire
campaign did not take long to become viral and created a lot of hype for 3
Idiots.
Actors have also taken to blogging and tweeting to promote their films and
to break barriers that exist between them and their audience. From Shahrukh
Khan to Genelia DSouza, you can find them all present on the social media
circuit trying to develop a connect with their audience.
Imtiaz Ali, director of the romantic comedy Jab We Met, who has done a
course in advertising and marketing from St. Xaviers, believes in the idea of
inclusive marketing. He believes that the opinion of the public is very
important for a filmmaker, as they are the final consumers. So when he was
confused on fixing a title for his Shahid-Kareena starrer, he held an all India
poll, asking people to vote from amongst 3 titles (Ishq via Bhatinda, Jab We
Met and Punjab Mail). Jab We Met got the most votes and was chosen as the
title for the film.
YouTube is also being effectively as a medium to connect to movie buffs.
Recently the critically acclaimed film, Udaan had the lead actor asking the
public to share with him their college moments on Udaans Facebook fan
page. Also, Udaan had a contest in which the audience was asked to share
their first adult film experience with the Udaan team on YouTube.
Anjaana Anjaani has a promotional campaign on YouTube in which movie fans
can directly ask questions to its stars Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra and
get them answered.

CASE STUDIES
1. Om Shanti Om
Om Shanti Om, a blockbuster directed by Farah Khan and starring Shah Rukh
Khan was set in the 1970s Bollywood. In keeping with the Bollywood
tradition, this film was a typical family entertainer with action, drama,
romance and songs. Shah Rukh Khan is known for his marketing strategies;

therefore, the marketing strategy for Om Shanti Om was extremely unique in

its approach and successfully used various new media tools.
1. Online marketing:
Om Shanti Om launched a website-www.omshantiom.erosentertainment.com
- with story details and cast and crew information. In addition, there were
several wallpapers and screensavers to be downloaded and quite a few
trailers
to
be
seen.
Various
other
viral
websites,
such
as
www.omshantiomfilm.com and www.omshantiom.org were also launched.
Though the release date of the film was Nov 9th, 2007, trailers and videos of
the film were uploaded in YouTube as early as August, 2007. The hype had
undoubtedly made the film the most awaited release of the year. It was
also for the first time when the music album of a Bollywood movie was
available for full downloads in mobile handsets and digital media, including
iTunes across 23 countries (Sheikh & Shinde, 2007). Facebook and Orkut
communities were made to capture the net-savvy audience. The membercount in the Om Shanti Om community in Facebook is 41,703 (as of 19 June,
2010)

2. Mobile phones: Om Shanti Om collaborated with Nokia enabling a user to

exclusively watch selected movie clips and behind the scenes videos on their
handsets. They could also download ringtones and exclusive wallpapers
(Om Shanti Om on Your Mobile, 2007, Nov 7). Nokia created a special Om
Shanti Om Crazy Mobisode, an animated character of the protagonist, Om
Prakash Makhija, which was available for download exclusively on all Nokia
GPRS enabled handsets from www.nokia. co.in/oso, a special website created
for Nokia and Om Shanti Om association. Shah Rukh Khan added, This
unique platform represents the blend of two of the fastest growing sectors in
India - entertainment and mobility. The association with Nokia has been great
and the team at Nokia has created some truly amazing fun animations of the
character of Om Shanti Om (Om Shanti Om on Your Mobile, 2007, Nov 7).

2. Dev.D
Many consider Dev.D as a trend-setting classic directed by Anurag Kashyap,
known for his off-the-beaten-track film making. A modern adaptation of a
classic novel, Dev. D was described as adrenalin fuelled, vodka laced,
cocaine injected, and emotional roller-coaster ride. (Thoughts on Dev D,

2009, April 6) Given the bold theme and extremely moderate budget of the
film, Kashyap very well knew that the target audience for the film has to be
the youth, who likes innovative cinema and hence Dev.D cashed on the
segmented marketing

1.Online marketing
The website of the film was launched prior to release but keeping in mind
the adult theme of the film, a user had to confirm his or her age before
proceeding. The website was a riot of bold colours and eye-catching graphics
which arrested the users attention pronto. An interesting section in the
website was the Lustline. One of the two lead actresses in the film is a sex
worker and one could hear her husky, lusty voice seeking sexual favours in
the Lustline. Uncensored videos and trailers were also posted, which soon
found their way to YouTube. The trailer of the film was uploaded in YouTube
and within three weeks, it was viewed more than 59,000 times. Other viral
footages and 549 videos created a buzz that was unprecedented for a film of
such a budget. Deleted scenes from the movie were also uploaded on
YouTube. The films music was also available via streaming at
www.bollywoodhungama.com. The unique soundtrack quickly became a rage
and the songs were listened to more than 25,000 times, two months before
the films release.
www.passionforcinema.com is a blog site for cinema buffs, film makers and
actors. Anurag Kashyap, being one of the avid contributors, not only wrote
his blog to keep everyone updated with the progress of the film, bus also
religiously replied to almost all the queries. His posts received several replies
which in turn, stirred more interest amongst viewers. An official community
of Dev.D was created in Facebook and Orkut, which now has 28,525 and
6,091 fans respectively (as of 19 June, 2010). Many videos and stills were
also uploaded. Other SNSs like Orkut.com, hi5.com, and bigadda.com that
are popular in India, followed suit.

2.Mobile phones: To catch the attention of the mobile-using consumers,

Dev.D used a gimmick where, upon dialling a number, the user is met with
the same husky, seductive voice from the official websites Lustline. The
user was asked to press a button upon which he would hear to get an

autographed CD of the film, visit the official website of the film or to get a
movie poster of the film, go to www.devdthefilm.com. Though it was a
gimmick, one cant help but admire the creativity behind the concept.

3. Ghajini
Ghajini, directed by A.R.Murugadoss with Aamir Khan in the lead was loosely
based on Christopher Nolans psychological thriller Mememto (2000). It was
a romantic-action thriller in which the protagonist develops anterograde
amnesia following a violent encounter in which his love interest is brutally
murdered. With the help of Polaroid camera photographs and tattoos on his
body, he starts his hunt for the killer. The marketing of the movie was
noteworthy and it extensively exploited the new media tools.
1. Online marketing
The official homepage- www.rememberghajini.com - was a website with a
dark and murky feel. It featured the regular song videos, movie trailers, stills,
cast and crew news, and other information. Interestingly, it also had a list of
all the international theatres where the movie was releasing. This was quite a
marketing move as it highlighted the grand-scale release of the film. Based
on the theme of the movie, the users who logged onto the website would
automatically be directed from the page they were on to the homepage after
every fifteen minutes, since the protagonist forgot everything after fifteen
minutes. This was an innovative approach. The website also involved print
and electronic media. Once Aamir finished an interview with a journalist, the
journalists had an option of logging into the media section of the website and
then upload his or her personal photograph to which Aamir would leave a
personal note about his interaction with the journalist. This repository
assisted in creating a buzz among the journalists. Other than the official
website,
two
viral
websites,
www.wallofsuspects.com
and
www.findghajini.com were also launched. www.findghajini.com used the viral
gaming application where the users got a chance to play the protagonist and
find the killer using the provided clues. Ghajini too extensively used SNSs to
promote the film. A large number of users became members of the
communities and word spread. The official community of Ghajini at Facebook
has 85, 575 members (as of 19 June, 2010).
2.Mobile phones

Tata Indicom, one of Indias leading mobile phone subscriber tied up with
Ghajini to create a one-of-a-kind mobile campaign. The outbound dialler
service had Aamirs pre-recorded voice where a Tata Indicom customer got a
call in Aamirs voice, asking if he was Ghajini and finally reminding him that
the movie was releasing on 25th of December, 2008. This service reached
out to 10 million customers (Brands Pump Marketing Ghajini, 2008, Dec 23)
3.Games
Ghajini was the first Indian movie to launch a 3D game based on the movie
(Bollywood Inspires Videogames, 2009, Jan 22). FXLabs Studios Pvt Ltd
came up with this game on the tracks of Hitman, where the protagonist had
to clear levels using martial arts, weapons and plenty of artefacts. The game
was priced at Rs 199/- ($ 4.10) to combat piracy and could even be
purchased
online
at
the
website
dedicated
to
this
game,
http://ghajini.fxlabs.com. It registered more than 25,000 sales within two
weeks of its launch (Ghajini The Game, 2009, Jan). Not a very high
number in terms of the gaming market but considering this was a first
Bollywood movie game, the figures were remarkable. www.indiatimes.com, a
mobile gaming application website in India, launched four games and one
application based on the movie. Games such as Ultimate Workout, Memory
Revival and Brain Trek struck a right chord with the mobile gamers and soon
became a fad.
4. Mary Kom Case:
Mary Kom is a biopic film about Mary Kom, a well known female World Boxing
Champion and Olympic bronze medalist This movie is produced by Sanjay
Leela Bhansali and directed by Omung Kuma.
This movie narrates the story of Mary Kom, right from her childhood life in
India to the victory at the 2008 World Boxing championship. Sewing Quadras
has written the storyline and screenplay of this movie and the popular
Bollywood actress Priyanaka Chopra played the lead role as the boxer Mary
Kom.
Mary Kom was premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
before it was released on 5th September 2014. This 150 million budget
Bollywood movie was a huge box office hit and received praise for its
superior direction and the overall performance.
The film has made a gross collection of 17 million US dollars at the box
office. This was a huge commercial success. Social media channels have
played a key role in popularizing the movie through the campaigns.

Flarepath, the marketing agency outsourced to promote this movie, has used
social media channels extensively in their marketing campaign keeping the
following objectives in their agenda.

To popularize the movie amongst the fan of actress Priyanka Chopra,

who played the lead role in the movie.

To intensify the engagement levels amongst the fans and offer a

unique opportunity to interact with the actress Priyanka Chopra in real
time.

To enhance the bond between the actress Priyaka Chopra and her fans
so as to keep them well with the launch of the movie using Facebook,
Twitter, Vine and YouTube.

Approach / Strategy Adopted By Mary Kom

The marketing agency has introduced a pre-launch contest on Twitter.

In this contest, few lucky winners were given a chance to meet Priyanka
Chopra in person and watch the movie with her.

Besides this, they had introduced a #PCEntourage winner contest as

well. In this contest, interested fans were instructed to email their entries
to get participated. One lucky winner was selected who could get a
chance to share the stage with Priyanka Chopra, interview her and shoot
the episode on Vine videos.

Vine videos were widely used in the trailer launch activities to engage
the fans well with their favorite star Priyanka Chopra. Fans who were
present in the trailer launch got a chance to see Priyanka Choptra in her
Mary Kom outfit. In addition to this, a Question and Answer session was
also organized with the actress.

Post trailer launch was carried out on the same day. This enhanced the
trailer views and the winners of this contest were presented movie
posters signed by Mary Kom.

Overall, the trailer received a huge response- (almost 3,825,356 views!) and
some trending on Twitter.
Results Achieved By Mary Kom

The unique promotional activities have played a major role in this movies
success at the box office. Promoters used all leading social media channels

that include YouTube and Vine to make this campaign more appealing and
engaging. Following are the results achieved by this campaign.

Received 7087 more followers.

Able to reach out to 688472 people online
20254782 impressions.

and received up to

Received 700 tweets during the contest.

Learnings

Promoters of this movie have successfully used the celebrity status of

Priyanka Chopra- actress who played the lead role in the movie and made it
a success. This social media campaign study shows the effective use of
celebrity popularity to get better engagement level and interactions that
eventually made this movie launch a success.

Limitations of the Study:

The report covers how the marketing has evolved from a meager handmade
poster to digital advertisements using websites, mobile apps, games, blogs
etc. Also, how the movie stars have themselves become the messenger for
movie marketing. The study also covers the 5Ps of movie marketing and
discusses in detail the marketing strategies carried out for various
entertainment movies like DevD, Om Shanti Om to the strategy used for
Mary Kom a movie based on the life of famous boxer Mary Kom. This report
although tries to cover various topics based on consumer choices and factor
affecting those choices. But there are certain limitations and studies can be
further extended on the following lines in future:

Our studies are based extensively on how marketing is done in

Bollywood. Studies can further be carried out to understand the
marketing strategies used in other film industries like Hollywood,
Tollywood, Kollywood etc.
The scope of the report is limited as it analyzes the audience of mainly
tier1 and tier 2 cities like Delhi, Gurgaon etc. Choice of movies and
attraction towards different marketing styles may vary in rural and
urban areas and with various age groups
Case studies discussed in the report are mainly limited to the modern
era movies and can be extended to closely analyze movies of different
eras like that of 1970s to 1990s and then in 1990s. And also how the
transition took place from one marketing style to another.
After independence, the movies were made mainly on the patriotic
theme. Gradually the the themes were changed to various social
stigmas and how they have been affecting the society Further the
movies evolved to romantic ones and today there is an upcoming trend
of movie making based on true stories like No One Killed Jessica and
on various biographies like that of Milkha Singh, Azhar and MS Dhoni.
Hence, the study can be carried out by classifying movies based on
genres of the movies. Movies of different genres like romantic, comedy,
thriller, biopic can have different marketing strategies based on their
target audience
Most of the cases discussed in the report are from the best selling
movies, we could have analyzed some failed marketing tactics to
analyze what can go wrong during the marketing of movies
The cases discussed were from the most reputed movies and stars like
that of Amir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra etc. Study can be

done to analyze the marketing of movies with entry level stars playing
the lead role
Apart from genres, stars of the movies, we can analyze the strategies
varying based on the movie directors. For e.g. strategies varying from
that of Karan Johar to that of Imtiaz Ali or Sanjay Lila Bhansali

Conclusion
Hence, the aggressive marketing followed in Bollywood could well be due to
the influx of companies like UTV Motion Pictures and Yash Raj Films that work
in true corporate style in branding movies. In todays time, a movie might be
great but sans an aggressive marketing campaign, it would be very difficult
to have it make an impact at the box office. I would like to end here by
quoting a few lines that super star Amitabh Bachchan has written on his
blog, Good marketing has produced good results at the box office. That old
belief that the merit of the film shall eventually emerge victorious has long
since been overridden. By the time you wait for the merit to show its face,
five other films have shown their merits. The Bollywood industry has
advanced a lot in these years of entertainment. Marketing of movies in the
earlier era was mainly through hand-painted billboards and posters. M.F.
Hussain the highly renowned painter was also a poster painter in his
heydays. Labour used to be cheaper at that point in time when compared to
print and colour dyed posters. But with the advent of globalisation and
technology advancement the print media became cheaper than the labour
force. Today computer-printed vinyl is the cheapest and most used form of
publicity material.
The analysis of various movies and the eras in which they dominated the
audience perception and fascination proved that there was no specific
formula to a successful blockbuster, no specific tactics or medium can be a
sure shot formula for a chartbuster. The only way out to progress in correct
direction is to understand the target audience, their taste, their thinking
procedure and many other parameters. To start with they can apply general
rules of marketing of segmenting, targeting and positioning in an appropriate
manner. Film promotion results vary across these parameters as they are
influenced by the behavioural aspect of these target groups. With the
amplification of marketing practices in India at present it is fascinating to
note that the field has become increasingly interesting, innovative,
competitive and challenging. With the new emerging model of global
entertainment it is an advantage to India where the numbers of movies
produced per year are unmatchable, mass appeal is mind blowing and

increasing technical finesse, not to forget our song and dance tradition and
the unmistakable religion of Bollywood.
In the current tough time, it is really very important to take up the promotion
and training task with added amount of creativity and innovation. We see
how the promotion of movies like Ra One and Roy were done. The thinking
procedure and instruments employed for the marketing were out of box and
they did create an impact on the audience. These days even the actors are
the part and parcel of these marketing and promotional events for their
films. The protagonists use their charisma to their good and leverage their
image for the success of their upcoming movies. It is not about producing
any movie but selling out the product that counts after all how well you are
able to sell the movie is the key. The saying that Any publicity is a good
publicity stands valid in the case of Bollywood industry.
Bollywood and marketing go hand-in-hand and would reach newer avenues
and create many milestones in creativity. The digital age is changing the
traditional model of marketing and distribution for independent films. For
every opportunity it presents theres yet another challenge. Its time now for
everyone in Bollywood to sit up and take marketing more seriously as
marketing creates magic!
On an end note what is clear evidently is that formal marketing rules are
applicable to films as well and the campaigns planning depend on many
factors like the plot of the movie, the stars involved, the channels and
mediums available, competitions with other filmmakers and movies, release
dates, budgets among other factors. What might work for one movie may not
work for the other or can be a much better hit than the movie it is already
implemented in. Another factor that emerged was that in youth- centric
movies like Ra-One and 3-Idiots an unconventional approach would work
and that in more massy movies, conventional techniques would work better.
This is a wrong notion. To conclude we would bring out a point that there is
no linear approach to whether conventional mediums should be deployed or
unconventional. What needs to be understood are the factors in
consideration and saying the right thing at the right time with streamlined
objectives.

Reference
1. http://www.digitalvidya.com/blog/bollywood-movie-mary-kom-leveragedsocial-media-to-get-a-reach-of-more-than-6-5-lakhs-dmblog-0702/
2. http://www.researchgate.net/publication/258047916_New_Media_Marketing_o
f_Bollywood_Movies_Making_a_Difference
3. http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Entertainment_economy_of_India/
$FILE/Indias-Entertainment-Economy_Oct_%202011_.pdf
4. http://www.ibscdc.org/casecatalogues/Marketing_Case_Studies_Catalogues.pdf

5. http://www.academia.edu/4251791/Emarketing_of_Bollywood_movies_A_case_study_of_movies_with_net_earnings_above_
INR_100_crore