Movie marketing needs to change tracks to draw in crowds in post-pandemic world

The year 2022 has not been a good year for Bollywood so far, film after film released this year, some starring Bollywood A-lister stars, have flopped at the Box Office. Films like ‘Bhool Bhulaiya 2’, ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, ‘ Brahmastra’ and ‘The Kashmir Files’ have been among the few rare exceptions. On the other hand, South Cinema have been delivering blockbuster after blockbuster – ‘RRR’, ‘Pushpa – The Rise’, ‘KGF – Chapter 2’, ‘Sita Ramam’, etc.

In the post-pandemic world, it has become a big struggle to bring back the crowds to the theatres. Before Covid-19 struck, big names were enough to ensure packed movie theatres, at least in the opening weekend. But the scenario has changed completely now. Big names like Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar are no longer guarantees of a hit movie.

There are several factors which are impacting a film’s success or failure – same old mish-mash story plots, failing to connect effectively with movie fans, high ticket rates, as well as severe reactions and boycott trends on social media.

Bringing back the crowds to the movie halls will require a collective effort from the movie industry as well as theatre owners. It was observed that when theatre owners decided to slash ticker prices as a marketing strategy, the crowds did return.

As in all spheres of live, the tough pandemic period and the economic aftershocks that it has brought about has forced people to rationalise their spends. Healthcare, personal care, household essentials, saving for a rainy day, children’s education, retirement funds, insurance have taken precedence of all else. The festive season of 2022 did see heavy spending by consumers as market sentiments, but the spends were more self and family focussed and outdoor movie entertainment didn’t feature very high in the spends list.

The time has come for the movie industry to change tracks in their movie marketing strategies, with digital playing a greater role.

According to Naveen Chandra, Founder & CEO, 91 Film Studios, “The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital across the country. Movie promotions are easily done digitally now. From teaser to trailer and all marketing reaches the audiences faster now. A lot of traditional media like print, outdoor or on-ground meet and greet at colleges are now not being used for movie marketing as not all audiences have gone back to the theatres yet. The new aspect of marketing is the fact that most regional language movies are also seeking the pan India or Hindi audience. So, it’s now common for producers and their film stars to travel to their non-core markets and promote their films. For example, Ranbir Kapoor promoted ‘Brahmastra’ in Vishakapatnam and Chennai. ‘Ram Charan’ promoted ‘RRR’ in Mumbai and Delhi, etc.”

He further said, “Social media is omnipresent now. Everyone has an opinion about everything now and is airing it openly through their social media handles. In marketing terms, this is both a good and a bad thing. As is evident for recent movies and ones that are not yet released, too much social media movie could get bad press instantly or become very big with some good viral marketing.”

Along similar lines, Jehil Thakkar, Partner and Leader, Media and Entertainment, Deloitte India, pointed out, “Social media has now become a critical channel in the promotion of films. Not only directly, but through the use of various influencers as well. This channel is critical for pre release as well as post release to keep interest high while the film is in theatres and sustain it for the OTT release.”

Mautik Tolia, Director and Co-founder, Bodhi Tree Multimedia, noted, “Due to the limited spending capacity of consumers post pandemic, movie promotions are now relying on social media heavily to create a positive word of mouth to posit consumers to go watch the movie. Thus the clear differentiator and scale of the movie is being highlighted more. FB, Insta and short format video sites have become extremely integral along with fan created content to push the film so the promotions look organic and not paid. That is the challenge – the movie promotions have to make audiences believe that there is a genuine interest among the general populace and that it is not just paid publicity.”