Facebook, Instagram can help increase brand recall for Hindi movies by 69%

Movie marketing, over the years, has undergone a massive shift with the advent of the Internet and digital media driving accessibility for the masses. Social media has become one of the key mediums for viewers to discover content and the film industry is increasingly leveraging it to engage their audience through original, creative content. Given the changing consumption patterns of film goers and rapid internet and smartphone penetration, digital media is pivoting large box office results for Hindi movies.

Launched recently, a report by Ormax Media and Facebook, titled ‘Media Effectiveness in Hindi Film Marketing’, studies and correlates the actual box office collections to a movie’s marketing mix.

The research went beyond analysing a film’s marketing success, basis the elementary media metrics like impressions and readership, and also focused on evaluating awareness or buzz among the audience and their intent to watch or appeal of the movie. The study had a comprehensive scale with over 25,000 moviegoers surveyed across several cities, demographics and strata in a period of 6 months, assessing performance of nine media basis the impact created in driving movie ticket sales. It covered 3 different tiers of movies – ranging from large box office openers to niche releases with emerging stars, the six films that were studied were a combination of big, medium and small scale films. Cumulatively, the whitepaper evaluated the impact of media on over Rs 100 crore of first day Box Office collections.

As per the findings of the report, Facebook is one of the top 3 mediums in driving buzz and appeal for a film campaign, achieving it through organic methods like link shares and conversations, apart from initiatives like Facebook Live. Interestingly, Facebook and Instagram, combined, proved to have delivered the highest impact with 21 per cent contribution to a Hindi film’s first day Box Office sales.

Indian movie marketers are already taking advantage of engaging desired audiences through Facebook to drive uptake at the Box Office. For them, Facebook can help in building a community and interest, generate real-time conversation and feedback, and create a fan base even before the movie is released, which in-turn drives word of mouth and buzz. The platform offers not just large, but relevant reach and most importantly, high levels of audience engagement and interactivity through a movie’s journey, thereby delivering an ROI incomparable to any other media. 

Commenting on the report, Gautam Jain, Partner, Ormax Media, said, “This is a unique, one-of-its-kind study, developed exclusively for the Indian market, which correlates the actual box office collections to a movie’s marketing mix. The research went beyond just media metrics such as impressions, readership, etc., as a barometer for a film’s marketing success, and also focused on awareness or buzz and intent to watch or appeal as key parameters.” 

On Facebook’s impact on the Indian movie business, Saurabh Doshi, Head - Entertainment Partnerships, APAC, Facebook, said, “Facebook is a great place for fans to directly connect with their favourite stars and movies and drive reach and more engagement. We aim to become the go-to destination for celebrities and movie marketers to promote and connect with their followers in an authentic way and experience the power of organic content and first-hand interactions.”

Click here for more related articles.