Jawan’s marketing thrives through SRK’s stardom, Southern India influence & brand collaborations
Riding on the trails of Pathaan, Jawan opted for an unconventional route in promoting the film. Jawan’s marketing hinged on the stardom of SRK, combined with on-ground initiatives and brand partnerships.
With a life-size cut-out Shah Rukh Khan poster, movie-themed Dahi Handi, celebratory processions, and Band Wallahs, the release of one of the most anticipated movies of the year – Jawan has literally created a lot of noise. Fans are celebrating the film release like a festival by dressing in Jawan merchandise and expressing their enthusiasm through placards that read ‘first day, first show’ outside of theatres.
Released on September 7, 2023, Jawan follows Shah Rukh Khan’s mega-successful movie Pathaan. Whistles in theatres and dhols on the streets, yet again, the fandom is working its magic for brand SRK and creating an organic word-of-mouth buzz for Jawan.
Taking stock of this uproar, Elara Capital predicts the new SRK-starrer movie to have a lifetime net box office collection of 3.5-4.5 billion. The report further went on to say that the film is set to have a strong recall in Southern markets as Atlee Kumar directs it.
After a disappointing H1, the box office has seen huge openings and record-breaking collections with the likes of Gadar 2, OMG 2, and Jailer in the last two months, reflecting that cinemas are back in business after the stagnation the pandemic had brought on.
With the theatre business finally booming and the audiences showing up in cinema halls, Jawan’s marketing made sure to capitalize on the changing consumer patterns.
The marketing team took a relatively unconventional approach to promoting the film. Following the footsteps of Pathaan, the marketing relied on the brand SRK and the enormous fan following of the supporting cast from South India.
Apart from Shah Rukh Khan, film stars Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani, Sunil Grover, Riddhi Dogra, Sanya Malhotra, Vijay, Sanjay Dutt and Deepika Padukone also make cameo appearances.
Jawan Prevue
A teaser of Jawan was released on July 10, 2023. It was titled “Jawan Prevue” and became the most watched Indian teaser in 24 hours with over 112 million views. The teaser was attached to the prints of popular films like Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer, Barbie, Jailer and Gadar 2 in theatres.
Trailer Reveal
The trailer of Jawan also made headlines as it was released on August 31, 2023, only a week before the film’s official release–a rare move in itself.
No public appearances
In keeping with the precedent set by Pathaan, the film’s cast made no public appearances and relied heavily on the intrigue created by the film.
Trailer on Burj Khalifa
Right after the trailer was unveiled, Shah Rukh Khan arrived in Dubai to celebrate its release with fans and showcased it on the Burj Khalifa. Besides that, the teaser of Jawan was also played at Times Square in New York.
Jawan ka jashn main aapke saath na manau yeh ho nahin sakta. Aa raha hoon main Burj Khalifa on 31st August at 9 PM and celebrate JAWAN with me. And since love is the most beautiful feeling in the world, toh pyaar ke rang mein rang jao and lets wear red...what say? READYYYY! pic.twitter.com/IUi4AkGrZy
Nayanthara’s Hindi film debut is a big milestone in itself. Taking things a notch higher, the actor also made her Instagram debut right around the film’s release, which led to an increase in audience’s excitement. She also became the first Indian female actor to have ever crossed the one million mark of followers in just 10 hours.
Further leveraging SRK’s fan-following, Jawan released official merchandise in partnership with shopping platform Fully Filmy on August 25. The platform has launched phone covers, t-shirts, hoodies and more to fuel SRK fandom.
Delivery platform Zomato has released an ad, which gave a twist to the movie’s original trailer, revealing its partnership with Jawan. Zomato extended its original campaign ‘Zomaito v/s Zomaato.’
To leverage SRK and Jawan’s popularity, brands across industries have stepped up to collaborate with the film. Bisleri has launched a limited edition line of ‘Bisleri’s X Jawan’ bottles and will be distributed nationwide in all general and modern trade outlets, which will see marketing activation of more than 70,000 retail outlets.
Sharing the objective behind the partnership, Tushar Malhotra, Head of Marketing, Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd., said in a press statement, “Movies are an integral fabric of India’s culture and Bisleri’s largest-ever Pan-India association with ‘Jawan’ brings the larger-than-life cinematic canvas to our consumers’ doorstep, creating brand love.”
Building materials company Astral Ltd also released a short ad with SRK.
On the other hand, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is looking to expand its reach and gain brand visibility through its partnership with Jawan.
Muthoot FinCorp, with an aim to empower the common man and helps them transform their lives to soar higher like Jawan, the Gold Loan company also announced an association with the movie.
Going Viral with “Zinda Banda”
The song “Zinda Banda” was released in July 2023 to amp up talks about the film. The hook step choreographed by Shobi Paulraj and performed by Khan in the music video went viral on social media. People recreated the signature step by recording themselves dancing to the song and posting their videos on social media. A behind-the-scenes video capturing the making of the song was also released by Red Chillies Entertainment.
Pre-release Event
Further fueling excitement for Jawan in South India, a grand pre-release event for the film took place in Chennai at Sri Sai Ram Engineering College, Chennai. SRK was seen sharing anecdotes and received wishes from actor and filmmaker Kamal Haasan. The event was televised on Sun TV on September 3.
Advance Bookings
A few days after the trailer released, SRK announced that viewers can book tickets in advance for the film. This led to a rush among fans in making advanced bookings.
As per ticketing platform BookMyShow, Jawan has generated unprecedented buzz ever since the release of its teaser and is off to a great start, with 750,000 tickets already booked on the app. As screens open up for advance bookings in various cities, the Tamil and Telugu versions of the film are also garnering enthusiastic support, although the Hindi version is naturally taking the lead.
“Jawan’s release has been much-awaited by fans across the world and India, owing to the fantastic cast, remarkable storytelling prowess of director Atlee Kumar and the enchanting musical compositions by Anirudh Ravichander. The unmistakable charisma and enchantment of Shah Rukh Khan is enthralling, promising a diverse portrayal of characters that will captivate the audience,” said Ashish Saksena, COO – Cinemas, BookMyShow in a press statement.
The report further said that metros and non-metros such as Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bhubaneshwar, Pune and Kochi lead the charts in advance tickets booked for the film, along with the South and East India markets earlier mentioned, with near equal interest from audiences opting to watch the spectacle at a single-screen theatre and multiplexes across the length and breadth of the country.
Going Local
The film’s posters, designed by the marketing team GM Modular, were placed on metro trains in Mumbai as well as Kolkata. The posters were also displayed on the BEST buses in Mumbai.
Shah Rukh Khan’s tradition of answering questions of fans continued this time as well with #AskSRK. Known for his witty replies, King Khan did not shy away from his trademark humour and gave fans some remarkable replies as #Jawan trended on X (Twitter).
As fans await SRK’s grand release and rush to theatres to watch it, Jawan is expected to help prop Q2FY24 performance, as per Elara Capital, as occupancy may breach to pre-COVID level.
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