Bollywood and The Weinstein Company: a Marketing Method Match?

   A presentation discussing the overall progression of marketing in the film industry, “Social Marketing for Bollywood Movies,” provides an illuminating perspective on today’s customer and keeping one’s movie on their minds.  Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the presentation is the fact that the author is focusing on film marketing strategies for India.  India and the Bollywood film market play an extremely important example in the future of cinematic marketing.  In order to reach a vast and lucrative audience via multiple screens, filmmakers have to maximize their pre-release marketing campaigns onto the screens of various devices. 

    Today’s customer has an ever-reducing attention span that requires filmmakers to give them something “extra” in their marketing campaigns.  The reason filmmakers must continue to produce interviews and clips that are unavailable through regular print and TV is the fact that there are so many multiplexes, films “only stay in theatres for a maximum of 2-3 weeks (Tapia, 2012).”  Therefore, the ‘word of mouth’ recommendation films depend on must begin sooner in order to get the “buzz” going before it hits theatres in order to ensure a successful launch of the film. 

     As if this was not challenging enough, budgets are increasingly limited for marketing and this is where the emphasis for Internet and Social Media campaigns are crucial to a film’s success.  According to Tapia, it is best to put together “a small team of social media managers that create a strategy for the movie content to be released in a staged manner right until the point of release.  This ensures that fans are continually fed information about a film via various online touch-points and the buzz for a film reaches a crescendo by the time a movie is set to release (2012).”

    This presentation is extremely succinct in defining the process by which a producer arrives at an entire marketing campaign for a film project, especially concerning the film’s online presence.  An excellent point to consider, before the execution of the marketing campaign, is the target audience of the film’s message or what demographic the film is meant to entertain.  Consider the questions: “who is the intended audience,” and, “what is the film’s underlying message?”  From this stage in the project, one should posit the tone of voice and communication involved in delivering the message to one’s audience.  The reason to evaluate these points with equal reverence is that both of these business aspects will tie together all marketing efforts for the film. 

     Of course, for most film projects, the steps to take in marketing a film are very similar to those of Bollywood.  However, in this presentation the most intriguing step is the portion regarding film leverage over third party associations like co-promoting one’s brand with in-film advertising, multiplexes, and malls.  It is a lot like grass roots marketing with a virtual twist. For example in India during the “City Tours,” promoting a film in the cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, there are relationships that exist with the multiplexes’ fans, and the malls’ as well.  The reason this is significant is due to the fact that these social meccas release newsletters to the massive public within these cities announcing film tours, theatre releases, movie times, premieres, and possible contests.  Tapia recommends that marketers capitalize on contests as another venue to increase the allure and attention towards one’s film.  This recommendation works and is used in modern film marketing campaigns, such as one for the film, The Giver, released by The Weinstein Company in August of 2014 staring Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges (The Weinstein Company, 2014).  The parameters of this particular online and social media marketing campaign demonstrates crowd-funding, charitable contribution for the arts (connects with the film’s theme), and the contest for the fans who want to experience the cast and crew in serious A-List style (Eventbrite.com, 2014). The package involves an exclusive premiere screening in New York with the cast and crew, meeting the stars of the film in a VIP after-party held for the film, and personal meet and greets with Jeff Bridges, Brendon Thwaites, and Katie Holmes. The point is that this marketing event keeps customers checking in to see if they in fact win, or who is bidding on the prize, and this successfully allows the marketers to relay continual information to the customer who in turn tries to get more supporters to help them win the contest.  It is brilliant.  Turn the fans into free grass roots social media marketing machines. 

    Ultimately in filmmaking, an incredibly thoughtful and well-researched marketing campaign can make or break one’s film project.  Based on the presentation, “Social Media for Bollywood Movies,” film marketing is now competing to capture, maintain, and mystify the customer’s ever waning attention span on multiple screens: theatre, TV, mobile and laptop.  There are two extremely important concepts to keep in mind throughout any successful film marketing campaign.  One, always consider the scope and nature of the audience the film’s message is inspiring/entertaining.  Two, be extremely mindful of the tone of voice and method of communicating the message of the film through the entirety of the marketing campaign.  More over, consideration of such points and having a social media management team can ensure that a film’s universal message successfully captivates audiences long before it is released.  The key is to market the extra footage unavailable through print or television in order to keep the customer searching for more on the film long after it has been available.  The goal is to get them to connect and keep them connected for as long as humanly possible.

    Best wishes towards meaningful marketing campaigns and thank you for reading,

Michelle Fernandez