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Touted as the biggest chick flick of the year, Thank You For Coming hits theatres on October 6, 2023. Produced by Ekta Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor and directed by Karan Boolani the film stars Bhumi Pednekar, Shibani Bedi, Shehnaaz Gill, Kusha Kapila, and Dolly Singh – while Anil Kapoor makes a special appearance.
The film has been promoted as marking the return of the chick flick genre. It is a sex comedy that covers the story of a woman who has never had an orgasm in her life and follows her journey as she discovers things about her own sexuality. It is a welcome change as it centres around a female protagonist and explores female sexuality while looking at sex from a new lens, breaking away from the genre’s stereotypical approach.
As the subject is relatively new for the Indian audience, the marketing of the movie relied upon innovative strategies and newer ways of promoting the film.
The marketing team tried their hands at social media challenges and collaborations with chefs and social media influencers to reach out to a niche younger audience. The casting of the film proved especially beneficial as the majority of the supporting cast includes creators who have an established fanbase on social media. From influencer-comedian Kusha Kapila to content creators Shibani Bedi and Dolly Singh, the cast members have a considerable amount of following on social media that boosted the film’s presence on these platforms.
Beginning with the usual trailer drop and song reveal, Thank You for Coming added new twists to its marketing strategy. Here is how it panned out:
Teasing with BTS
Even before the trailer of the film was released, Bhumi Pednekar took to Instagram to share a post that featured behind the scenes clips from what seemed to be a shoot for the movie’s posters. The caption read, “Spilled some wine, but with your girls, everything’s fine #ThankYouForComing”
Amping up excitement for the trailer
Before releasing the trailer, the makers teased the audience with newer posters, each reminding the release date of the trailer with the hashtag #DontForgetToCome. Along with posters, Pednekar shared infographics that contained data on single women in India and their dating patterns.
Trailer launch and Photoshoots
To celebrate the trailer release, the cast shared pictures on their social media from a special photoshoot conducted by Rhea Kapoor. Along with the pictures, each of them shared their characters’ names and their traits.
The movie’s trailer received 22+ million views within 24 hours of its release.
Clips from the trailer launch along with the photoshoot were shared with hashtag #ComebackOfTheChickFlick, that is how the movie is positioned and its marketing strategy largely revolves around it.
Additional photoshoots were done and their pictures shared online to cater to the fanbase of the Instagram-heavy cast.
Premiere at TIFF
Thank you for Coming was an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival 2023. It became the only Indian film to achieve this feat and makers of the film were sure to capitalise on this feat. The cast shared posts about the film’s selection and their appearance at the festival on their social media.
With the movie set to premiere at TIFF, fans’ anticipation was further hyped by Pednekar and the rest of the cast when they shared posts asking fans in Canada to join them at the festival.
Leading up to the film, subsequent posters were shared which depicted the cast in their chaotic characters and featured funny one-liners.
Special documentary of the TIFF premiere
A special one-hour documentary was made by Sneha Menon Desai for Film Companion that featured the film’s cast and crew journeying to the TIFF with behind-the-scenes footage of their interactions. It also showcased their grand entrance at the TIFF red carpet and all the preparations that went behind this effort.
Creating buzz with songs
The film’s marketing put its peppy music and songs to good use generating tremendous buzz among fans. Teasers of the songs were shared a day before their actual release to create anticipation.
Haanji song
Desi Wine song
Pari Hoon Main song
Screening in Mumbai
A special screening was held in Mumbai which was attended by the likes of Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Ananya Pandey, Anil Kapoor, Kartik Aryan, Jeetendra, and Jackie Shroff along with the film’s entire cast. Pictures from the red carpet went viral as the event was covered by several media outlets.
Collab with Social media personalities:
To target a younger audience, emphasis was placed on marketing the movie on social media platforms, especially Instagram considering its popularity among the millennial and Gen-Z viewers. To facilitate this, collaborations were done with social media personalities and influencers across categories.
The team collaborated with baker and author Shivesh Bhatia to make a special #Haanji Hot Chocolate. Pednekar and Gill were seen creating this recipe and enjoying the hot chocolate in a video.
Pednekar and Gill were also seen collaborating with chef Saransh Goila to make a special recipe “Thecha Cheese Pav.” In the video, they can be seen enjoying the process, sprinkled with humorous commentary.
Gill and Pednekar created a reel with dancer and choreographer Shehzaan Khan. In the reel, they can be seen grooving to the song Desi Wine from their film. With the reel, Shehnaaz asked viewers to make their own reels on the song and tag the cast of Thank You For Coming.
Pednekar appeared in a special episode of the “no sugar coat” podcast with Pooja Dhingra sharing exclusive stories while being honest and vulnerable. She shared her thoughts on the kind of films she did early on in her career as well as her insecurities as an actor.
Merchandise:
Custom ranges of food products and edibles were created to ensure wider reach and facilitate retention of the film’s name in people’s minds. The products were specifically selected keeping in mind their popularity among younger audiences living in tier-one cities, which are as follows:
Pleasure Bomb Ice Cream
Thank You For Coming collaborated with Papacream to create an exclusive flavour of ice-cream called “Pleasure Bomb.” It was exclusively available on Swiggy.
#DontForgetToCome Jumbo Macarons
Thank You For Coming collaborated with Le15 Jumbo Macarons to create a custom range of #DontForgetToCome Jumbo Macarons that were made available in all Le15 Jumbo Macarons stores. A video was shared in which Gill and Pednekar could be seen crafting these macarons with pastry chef Pooja Dhingra.
Brand Collaborations
To further create buzz and combine synergies, Thank You For Coming also collaborated with brands that align with its plot.
Jewellery brand Giva launched The Bhumi Collection, inspired by endangered flowers. The focus in this video, like the movie, was to make you have fun, pose and play.
Secondly, the protagonist of the movie Pednekar is also the face of Nutrition brand Be Bodywise. The brand collaborated with the star to position itself as a personalised app for women.
Amping up Social Media Presence
As the main cast largely consisted of social media personalities, the marketing team made sure to leverage their following and created content specifically for that purpose. These videos focused on women companionship, candor, and authenticity.
In a special video, Anil Kapoor and Jitendra can be seen conversing about the film and supporting their daughters in their effort while talking about topics that the film tackles. Seemingly targeting men, this candid video also addresses the stigma surrounding female pleasure and normalised ‘being bold.’
#IHaveComeALongWay
Pednekar shared a video on her Instagram that showcased her life’s journey till now. The video featured images of her childhood as well as her early years in the industry. In the caption, Pednekar thanked all the people that have helped her in her journey to success. She further nominated other people to share their stories with the hashtag #IHaveComeALongWay. These included the likes of Rajkummar Rao, Rakul Preet Singh, Vaani Kapoor, Rhea Chakraborty, and Huma Qureshi.
TV appearances
The movie’s cast made an appearance on popular television reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa flaunting colourful outfits and interacting with the contestants. This ensured that the film does not miss out on tapping into a large section of the audience that still watches TV on a regular basis.
Interviews
Bhumi Pednekar, Shehnaaz Gill, Kusha Kapila, Dolly Singh, and Shibani Bedi appeared in interviews for several prominent TV as well as YouTube channels. The cast engaged in banter and shared some interesting stories with the viewers. This helped the audience connect with the cast on a personal level and bring out the stars’ relatively unknown sides.
India Forums
Zoom
The Quint
Pinkvilla
Instant Bollywood
Largely, Thank You for Coming focused on female orgasm, women companionship, pleasure and ‘being bold’ in their marketing strategy. The media mix saw a heavy focus on social media, followed by television and OOH. Since the genre of the movie is chick flick, the content also tried to bring in a humorous twist to connect with the audience and establish the characters.