Tag: Rajinikanth

Utilization of Cutting Edge Technologies for Marketing in Indian Film Industry

Utilization of Cutting Edge Technologies for Marketing in Indian Film Industry

Mersal Vijay
Utilization of Cutting Edge Technologies for Marketing in Indian Film Industry

Of late, I have observed several instances where the Indian Film Producers have showcased their immense interests in optimizing cutting edge technologies to promote their movies. There are few notable ones from among such instances. To start with, let me brief about the utilizations of cutting edge technologies for the marketing of movies such as ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’, ‘2.0’, ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ (aka JHMS) and ‘Mersal’.

b2-4
Still featuring Prabhas from ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

In the case of ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’, the film’s maker, ‘Arka Media Works’ had utilized the Facebook Messenger Chatbot service to conduct an interactive quiz and share information on subscription to it; released a VR (Virtual Reality) video that guided the viewers through a virtual tour on the sets of Baahubali; live streamed the Baahubali pre-release event in 360° on the movie’s official YouTube channel; released a teaser of the 10-min VR film, ‘The Sword Of Destiny’ that is based on the characters from Baahubali.

To know more on the Digital Marketing strategies of ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ by ‘Arka Media Works’, click here!

To make the first look launch of ‘2.0’ (Sequel to the 2010 movie, ‘Endhiran’) unique and special, the film’s producer, ‘Lyca Productions’ had leveraged AR (Augmented Reality) by setting up a virtual conversation between the image of Chitti (character played by Rajinikanth in ‘Endhiran’) – that was incorporated to the screen that was placed over the stage – and the film maker, Karan Johar (host of the first look launch event).


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An infographic on the Promotional Strategies of ‘2.0′:

Promotional Strategies for ‘2.0’ seem to serve as perfect preludes to the movie!

To know more about the promotional strategies for ‘2.0’, click here!

JHMS promotional event
Shah Rukh Khan and Anushkha Sharma from a promotional event for ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal

To promote the Shah Rukh Khan-Anushkha Sharma starrer ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, the movie’s producer, ‘Red Chillies Entertainment’ had launched an interactive Chatbot service in Facebook Messenger, which offered a lot more immersive experience than that of the one that was utilized for ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’. The Chatbot was designed in such a way that the people can get to interact with the character, ‘Harry’ played by Shah Rukh Khan in the movie. In the chat, the characters of the movie were introduced, an overview about the relationship between them was let known, the crux of the film was highlighted and the options to access Mini Trails (series of promo clips of the movie) and video songs were made available. Also using the Chatbot, people were able to create customized Jab Harry Met Sejal posters and access web ticket booking and film review links.

To know more about the Digital Marketing efforts of ‘Red Chillies Entertainment’ for ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, click here!

Mersal
Still featuring Vijay from ‘Mersal

Along the lines of the efforts of ‘Arka Media Works’ for ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’, ‘Lyca Productions’ for ‘2.0’ and ‘Red Chillies Entertainment’ for ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, ‘Sri Thenandal Films’ aka ‘TSL’ have been pushing the envelope with Digital Marketing for their 100th venture, ‘Mersal’. The movie also marks the 25th year, for the Oscar Winning Music Composer, A.R.Rahman and the South Indian Star, Vijay, in the Indian Film Industry. The marketing for ‘Mersal’, which is gearing up for a release on October 18th 2017, has been proceeding in full swing. Similar to ‘Baahubali 2’ and ‘JHMS’, for ‘Mersal’ as well, ‘TSL’ has launched an interactive Chatbot in Facebook Messenger to create customized ‘Mersal’ posters.

In the case of ‘JHMS’, we had a look at how an interactive Facebook Messenger Chatbot could be utilized to access contents, that are relevant to the movie, from one place. But, there is a visual discovery app of the London based firm ‘blippAR’, which I came across recently, that could also be utilized to access the contents of the movie from one place in an even more interesting manner. The ‘blippAR’ app operates using Augmented Reality, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to bring the physical world to life through smartphones and wearables. As far as the Indian Film industry is concerned, ‘blippAR’ has already created a blipp for the Amitabh Bachchan starrer ‘Bhoothnath Returns’. Using the ‘Bhoothnath Returns’ blipp, one could access the movie’s video songs, making videos, Juke Box, web ticket booking links and an option to click photos using camera effects that have been customized for the movie.

Now in 2017, as mentioned earlier, Indian Film Producers are leveraging the digital channels in a much more effective manner, than they were in the days of ‘Bhoothnath Returns’, to promote their movies. In the matter of ‘Mersal’, as of now, contents such as HD stills, lyric videos of songs, exclusive interview of the film’s producer, audio launch videos and audio CDs have been officially released. In the forthcoming days, teasers, trailers, song promo videos and full song HD videos will also be released and once when advanced ticket booking for ‘Mersal’ commences, web ticket booking links will also be available. Isn’t it a cool approach to have the contents pertaining to ‘Mersal’ as mentioned above to be packed into a blipp of the ‘blippAR’ app! Similar to the ‘Photo’ feature in the blipp of ‘Bhoothnath Returns’, a customized camera effect, featuring Vijay of ‘Mersal’, has the potential to go down with the fans of the star. Suppose if ‘TSL’ is in a plan to launch a ‘Mersal’ themed mobile video game then that as well could be incorporated to the blipp.

Prior to the theatrical release of the 2013 Tamil rom-com, ‘Raja Rani’ the movie’s primary characters were introduced one-by-one in a cine supplement of a daily newspaper. In 2017, prior to the release of the Tamil action thriller, ‘Vikram Vedha’, the introduction scenes of Vedha (played by Actor Vijay Sethupathy) and Vikram (played by Actor Madhavan) were released in the official YouTube channel of the film’s producer. Imagine the promotional tactics as said above in the case of ‘Raja Rani’ and ‘Vikram Vedha’ being incorporated to an Augmented Reality app such as ‘blippAR’! Isn’t the idea sounding effective, with respect to marketing, to the film producers and adding value to the film audience!

With all being said and done with respect to the utilization of cutting edge technologies for marketing in Indian Film Industry, all what a marketing cum movie buff like me has to do is to wait and watch for the Indian movie martech to evolve!

Promotional strategies for ‘2.0’ seem to serve as perfect preludes to the movie!

Promotional strategies for ‘2.0’ seem to serve as perfect preludes to the movie!

2.0 still
Promotional strategies for ‘2.0’ seem to serve as perfect preludes to the movie!

A film like ‘2.0’ (A sequel to the 2010 movie, ‘Endhiran’) that features stars like Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar is automatically bound to garner the attention of movie-going people. But, Lyca Productions – the makers of ‘2.0’ – are pushing the envelope, in terms of promotional strategies, to widen the movie’s reach. Here are two such promotional strategies that have been implemented so far by the makers:

1. Utilization of Augmented Reality in the first look poster launch of ‘2.0’:

The first look poster launch of ‘2.0’ took place in Mumbai where the first looks of Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar from ‘2.0’ were launched in 3D. Huge LCD screens were placed in the arena to set the tone for the mega audio launch. The event was hosted by the Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar. Salman Khan had also made his presence at this event.

The best among the innovative ideas that were implemented in this event was the utilization of Augmented Reality. Using the technology, the image of Chitti (the character played by Rajinikanth in ‘Endhiran’) – answering Karan Johar’s questions – was incorporated into the screen that was placed over the stage.

Click here to enjoy watching the lively conversation between Chitti (Of course, a virtual image!) and Karan Johar. (Courtesy: Movie Talkies)

2.0 First Look Launch
Making of Augmented Reality – 2.0 First Look Launch

A video titled, ‘Making of Augmented Reality – 2.0 First Look Launch | Lyca Productions’ was released on the official YouTube channel of ‘Lyca Productions’ on November 26, 2016, which shows a glimpse of how the ‘Augmented Reality’ sequence of the first look event was shot.

Click here to take a look at the making video. (Courtesy: Lyca Productions)


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2. Flew a hot air balloon over the Hollywood Signage in Los Angeles:

Hot air balloons for '2.0'
Hot air balloon flying over the Hollywood Signage in Los Angeles

To grab the eyeballs of people from outside India, Lyca Productions flew a 100-foot tall hot air balloon over the iconic Hollywood signage in Los Angeles. From Los Angeles, the balloon will be traveling to QuickChek Festival (28th -30th July) in New Jersey, USA. From New Jersey, the balloon will proceed to San Francisco, London, Dubai, Europe, South East Asian Countries, Australia, and finally to India. In India, the balloon is set to travel to various cities. Also, Lyca Productions is planning to involve well-known film stars from India, to take a ride in the balloon.

Click here to have a look at the video of hot air balloons flying. (Courtesy: YOYO TV Channel)

These are the 2 interesting promotional strategies from Lyca Productions for ‘2.0’. Hope you liked reading my write-up. Keep following Marketing Journo to get to know the interesting promotional strategies that get applied for ‘2.0’ by Lyca Productions in the upcoming days.