A product is so amazing that it sells itself. Bollywood's marketing has relied on this 'feature marketing' approach, which revolves around revealing one unique feature of the product, the movie in this case, at a time.
It starts with a teaser. Later, a song is dropped that becomes an earworm on Instagram as you watch almost every second influencer dancing on it. Slowly, movies start establishing the characters – relying on star power. Follows the trailer and Bollywood stars, showing their presence at TV reality shows, influencer collaborations, and offline events.
Would it be far-fetched to call Bollywood's approach almost templatized? Perhaps not.
"I wish Bollywood was a little more fearless in applying higher-risk media approaches or campaign strategies. It’s possible to fail, but it’s also possible to win big," said Zee Studios’ Head of Marketing, Neeraj Joshi, in a recent interview with Social Samosa.
New Releases Revive Old-School Bollywood Appeal
After the pandemic, Bollywood struggled to bring audiences to the theatres, and the industry was going through a dry spell. It lost more than Rs 15,000 crore in 2020-2021 and is slowly returning to 2019's box office records of Rs 11,000 crore.
The major challenge that the industry faced for three consecutive years was the decline in footfall, leading to more movies getting released on OTT platforms. This also led to a movie's responsibility and marketing budgets relying on the OTT platform's hands.
This pall that took over the glamorous industry was broken by the Rs 410 crore budget movie Brahmastra, which also had an extensive marketing plan. From leveraging the movie’s soundtrack to Ranbir-Alia’s real-life chemistry and fan base, the movie makers turned every possible page in their marketing books to reach the audience. In a way, marketing played a significant role as the industry's content also improved.
Recently, with Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, the makers took the nostalgic route and tried bringing back Bollywood’s yesteryear charm to connect with the audience. This approach worked for the film as it earned over ₹336 crore worldwide and thus emerged as the sixth-highest-grossing movie of the year.
Similarly, Bollywood’s latest hit, Gadar 2, took a regional approach and relied on the movies’ characters, which played on the ‘relatable’ aspect for the audience.
Starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, Gadar 2 has collected Rs 482.45 crore in the Box Office.
Moving away from the usual digital heavy marketing route, the makers didn't rely on media but focused on a regional approach and marketed the movie as an ‘election campaign’ owing to Southern films and audiences’ love for them.
"More than 70% of the marketing budget went into on-ground activations, which were followed by social and then display. We used a lesser number of mediums as compared to any other general Bollywood film. Whatever happened socially after that, we wanted to keep it organic," said Joshi.
For Gadar, engaging with the audience was at the forefront of their marketing strategy, both nationally and internationally.
On the other hand, RRKPK took the nostalgic route to connect with the audience. Although the makers did use the movie’s soundtrack to their best potential, that wasn’t the only medium used to promote the film.
This year, moving on from the traditional marketing routes, Bollywood saw a revival of celebrity brands playing a crucial role.
SRK’s blockbuster Pathaan took a minimalistic route to the promotion approach; brand SRK was the selling point for many moviegoers. Pathaan’s marketing became a prime example of organic movie marketing, and the film collected ₹1,050.3 crore worldwide in April.
Similarly, Ajay Devgn starrer Bholaa, relied on the star cast’s popularity as well.
Karan Taurani, Sr. VP Research Analyst (Media, Consumer Discretionary & Internet), Elara Capital, pointed out that content has been the most influential factor in building a movie’s popularity.
He said, “In the last six months, most movies have done well without any kind of a big marketing push. Although marketing is important, focusing on the quality of content that the makers are churning out will eventually drive the success of a particular movie.”
Learning from the West
According to film exhibitors and distributors, in the last eight months of 2023, Hollywood films have registered Rs 476 crore net collections at the Indian box office. For this year’s big release, Barbie’s marketing budget was set at $150 million, and the makers went all out with large-scale collaborations, experiential marketing, and a lot more.
India has always proved to be a good market for these global players and franchises. Thus, movies like Spider-Man, FastX, and even OTT shows like Stranger Things and Wednesday have gone all out in marketing themselves.
Recently, with the success of Barbie’s 100+ brand collaborations, experts think that Bollywood should learn from the West and identify partnerships that align with their brand identity to create impactful collaborations.
Mitesh Kothari, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of White Rivers Media, said, “Cross-promotions and embracing strategic partnerships with compatible brands can maximize exposure and expand reach, leveraging shared audiences.”
With Gadar 2, the filmmakers positioned the movie’s larger-than-life actors and characters to draw the audience's attention towards the forthcoming movie. Another tactic in their marketing playbook consisted of leveraging from the prequels' stardom; hence, a pre-planned marketing strategy was set in place.
Sanmesh Sapkal, Associate Director - Key Accounts, TheSmallBigIdea, mentioned that Bollywood needs to have a marketing plan in place from the initial stages of the movie.
“The marketing team strategizes how the behind-the-scenes (BTS) unit will be during the film's shooting, aiming to create intrigue among the audience during the promotion phase. The entire marketing plan for Top Gun revolved around the authenticity of the stunts, while Oppenheimer capitalized on the fact that Nolan didn't use any CGI in the film. These narratives are established right from the start of the movie's production.”
Under-explored Tactics & Mediums of Marketing
While marketing Bollywood movies, producers have heavily focused on the usual promotional tactics like following the short-form video trend, leveraging the movie’s soundtrack to create viral trends, influencer marketing, and more.
Experts think that the makers need to move beyond these mediums to connect with the audience effectively.
Taurani mentioned, “Out-of-home activations and celebrity-led events do see a lot of traction from the audience. Makers need to keep focusing on these mediums but take it to Tier II and Tier III markets as well. Secondly, makers need to leverage TV as a medium, which in itself is very massy in nature.”
Pooja Dua, Account Director, The Rabbit Hole, said that Bollywood’s marketing is witnessing a shift as consumer trends change. She mentioned that with GenZ being at the center stage for every industry, moviemakers have shifted their focus as well. She suggests the industry can follow these overlooked mediums in the future:
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Influencer marketing has attracted attention on a global scale. Bollywood, however, could maximize its potential by collaborating with social media influencers who have a sizable and engaged following.
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Beyond the usual product placements, Bollywood can explore more extensive partnerships with brands. Both parties can gain from increased authenticity and brand recall by imaginatively fusing the plot or characters of the movie with brands.
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Bollywood can take advantage of the intimate connection that podcasts and audio content provide to listeners by producing behind-the-scenes podcasts, conducting interviews, or telling engrossing tales about the film.
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Paparazzi, as a strategic marketing tool, could provide an opportunity to generate buzz and excitement around movie releases and events.
According to industry reports, language-wise, Hindi movies contributed to a 37% share in the overall box office performance of the Indian film industry. The second half of the year has an equally star-studded lineup of movies like Jawan, Tiger 3, and more. While content is changing as consumers demand better storylines, Bollywood's revenue is also dependent on how it sells this revised product to its fan base. If Jawan, Tiger 3, and more consider leveraging under-looked mediums and learn a few lessons from iconic Bollywood and Hollywood films and their marketing approach, competing with OTT wouldn't be a massive challenge. Marketing has the potential to draw more experiences to the theatres and continue to win audiences with Bollywood's old magic.
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