Dhileepan, Author at MARKETING JOURNO

3 ways to effectively promote Movies with AR

By Dhileepan | August 27, 2017

In addition to their efforts in moviemaking, the film production houses have also been putting in ample efforts to make their movies reach their target audience. With technology growing day by day, there seem to be plentiful options available for the production houses to promote their movies. Augmented reality has been one among those technologies. Here are 3 ways in which the movies could be effectively promoted with augmented reality, by the film production houses…

1. Interactive film posters:

Disney in association with blippAR had come up with a blipp for the 2014 summer blockbuster, ‘Guardians of the Galazy’. When the ‘blippAR’ app is opened and blipped at the film’s interactive poster, the following contents get unlocked

Options to…

get to know the individual characters from the movie and their backstories
watch the behind-the-scenes footages
enjoy the movie trailer
buy the DVD or Blu-ray of the movie from e-Commerce sites when they are released

The interactive posters could be officially shared in social media and also be placed in cine halls, multiplexes and in places where the public might engage with the posters.

Scan the first picture that is available in the below web link using the ‘blippAR’ app to unlock exclusive contents pertaining to the movie, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘!

https://blippar.com/en/resources/blog/2014/07/09/meet-the-guardians-of-the-galaxy-they-re-hiding-in-this-movie-poster

Marketing Journo

2. Themed mobile games:

By partnering with blippAR, General Mills had launched a Spider-Man game to promote the release of ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’. By blipping the ‘blippAR’ app over the covers or posters of various products of General Mills such as Chex Mix and Fruit Snacks, people were able to access the game.

Along the lines of the above mentioned strategy of General Mills, Campbell’s Soup too had come up a Spider-Man themed mobile game by partnering with blippAR.

Scan the first picture that is available in the below web link using the ‘blippAR’ app to play the Spider-Man themed mobile game!

https://blippar.com/en/showroom/project/campbells-soup

3. Interactive murals:

To promote Legion (an American cable television series produced by FX productions in association with Marvel Television), 5 augmented reality murals were placed in 5 locations such as Brooklyn, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. By blipping the ‘blippAR’ app over the murals, the following contents get unlocked

Options to…

watch the trailer
access gifs, videos and pictures
participate in an interactive quiz
click photos with a customized camera effect

The above contents could as well be accessed by blipping the ‘blippAR’ app over the limited edition augmented reality posters available in few select local comic book stores.

Following suit the above ways, the below mentioned options could as well be incorporated as the contents that could be unlocked in an augmented reality app

Options to…

access exclusive interviews of the movie’s cast and crew
get to know the cinema timetables
get access to cinema ticket booking web-links

Scan the first picture that is available in the below web link using the ‘blippAR’ app to unlock exclusive contents pertaining to the television series, ‘Legion‘!

https://blippar.com/en/showroom/project/legion

Hope you liked reading the article! Now, let me know your opinions on the article, and on how the augmented reality technology could be leveraged by the film production houses for promoting their movies, in the comments!

5 Marketing Lessons from Sarahah

By Dhileepan | August 20, 2017

With ‘Sarahah’ – a self-development tool that allows people to receive constructive feedback – being in news for various reasons, I decided to write this article to jot down my learning, pertaining to Marketing, from the journey of Sarahah. Let us have a look at my learning (which I claim as ‘Marketing Lessons’):

5. Manage the controversies around the product:

Despite Zainab letting people know the actual intentions behind the ‘Sarahah’ app, as far as my knowledge is concerned, the constructive utilization of the app has been very minimal. With respect to the same argument, the app has been in news for wrong reasons such as cyber bullying for quite some time. Also, rumours were rife that the makers of Sarahah were planning to expose the identities of the senders on August 1, 2017. But, the people behind Sarahah were prepared to manage the controversies circling the app.

In order to thwart cyber bullying, facility to block senders has been incorporated to the app. From Sarahah’s official Twitter account, it was clarified that the rumours regarding the plan to expose the senders’ identities are fake.

4. Leverage influencers:

In the fall of 2016, Zainab Alabdin Tawfiq had launched the website, Sarahah and shared it within his group of friends, expecting 1000 messages to be shared in the site. But, by the end of 2016, only a couple of hundred messages were shared. So, Zainab decided to share the application with his friend whom he considered to be a major influencer. After sharing Sarahah with his influencer friend, the reach of the website became manifold. Post the sharing, the application spread across other Arabian countries too.

Hence, it was the utilization of an influencer by Zainab that brought in a sea change in the Sarahah’s outreach.

Marketing Journo

3. Optimize the product for mobile platforms:

Following Sarahah’s outreach in Arab countries, Zainab had decided to create a mobile app for Sarahah. By hiring a third-party company, Zainab had created the mobile app and launched the same in the App Store on June 13, 2017. For the first time, Sarahah was available in English when it went live in the App Store. With its availability in the App Store in English, Sarahah went on to garner the people’s attention from Western Countries as well. The app has been made available for download from Google’s Play Store as well.

Zainab’s efforts to optimize his product for mobile platforms, such as to create an app version of Sarahah; cater the app to the universal audience by making it available in English; choosing the channel, App Store to distribute the app, have paid dividends to him.

2. Make a ‘Simple to use’ product:

As far as the ‘Sarahah’ application is concerned, you get to see minimal features in it and the navigation within the app tends to be uncomplicated. In order to use an application of this sort, one doesn’t necessarily be a tech-savvy. Also, for a person to send a message to a Sarahah user, it is not necessary for the sender to get the app installed.

All the above mentioned factors pertaining to the ‘Sarahah’ application have made it to be a ‘Simple to use’ product.

1. Incorporate a feature to your product that resonates with its target audience:

Be it in the workplace or family or friends, there have always been barriers (due to various factors) that have been preventing people from speaking openly. Under such prevailing circumstances, think of people getting a platform to share their opinion to the person they wish to and yet not reveal their identity. Wouldn’t such people feel excited or relieved with an opportunity of this kind? This is the point where Sarahah has been striking a chord with the people. It is the app’s ‘anonymous messaging’ feature that has been resonating well with its target audience.

What are your Marketing Lessons from Sarahah? Let me know in the comments below!

Life Lessons from Gregor Johann Mendel, the ‘Father of Modern Genetics’

By Dhileepan | August 19, 2017

This post originally appeared on the blog, SOCIETAL INSIGHT.

Whenever people, on an extensive scale, discuss deeply or even initiate and engage in propaganda to promote the contributions or ideals of certain personalities in some sort of public platforms, I automatically get these thoughts: Why, all of a sudden, are most people talking about a personality who long back had passed away? Why weren’t the contributions or ideals celebrated as they are being now than when the respective individuals were alive? What kinds of circumstances are making most people hand-pick such persons, regard them in high esteem, debate their works and eventually term them to be momentous?

Of late, by chance, I revisited the news of exposition of Gregor Johann Mendel’s paper on genetics, ‘Experiments on plant hybridization’, which many of us would still be remembering of having a brief outlook, on this greatest path-breaking experiment, in our school studies. For me, by then in my schooldays, the chapters comprising Mendel’s works in my Botany book were a piece of information meant for knowledge acquisition and of course, to effectively reproduce my comprehensions in the examinations. But now with my view, which I have garnered reading the societies’ behavior in recognizing the contributions or discoveries of individuals, it appears apparently to me that rather than primarily focusing on one’s deeds with an intention of receiving instant recognition, one’s active and an honest participation in one’s own passion is what that counts a lot.

If not Mendel’s passionate pull towards his experimentation, amidst his pastoral duties in church, related to plant hybridization then there wouldn’t have been presentations about his findings as a paper, ‘Experiments on plant hybridization’ at two meetings of the Natural History Society of Brno in Moravia in 1865. As an immediate follow-up to the presentation, despite the recognition being minimal, reports in local newspapers showcased his discovery. Thereby, in 1990, independent rediscoveries of Mendel’s works on genetics by Erich Von Tschermak, Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns and William Jasper Spillman conceded Mendel’s priority. At a later time, the scientific fraternity went on to claim Mendel as the ‘Father of Modern Genetics’. These historical events clearly suggest that Gregor Johann Mendel was indeed phenomenal in ensuring a breakthrough in his topmost priority i.e. his work related to genetics, and keeping secondary the process of promoting his research, which was not noticed significantly then. Likewise, one’s passion should be fed by providing well defined results driven by an uncompromising effort by the corresponding person. If not an instant recognition, there are high chances for the outcome to gain prominence when a need arises for the value of the content at some point of time, in future.

‘Sri Thenandal Films’ pushes the envelope with Digital Marketing for ‘Mersal’

By Dhileepan | August 15, 2017

'Mersal' Vijay — **‘Sri Thenandal Films’ pushes the envelope with Digital Marketing for ‘Mersal’**

It’s always been interesting to watch film production houses leveraging the digital space to offer a personalized experience to their target audience. With their 100^th movie ‘Mersal’, in pipeline for a grand audio launch on 20^th of August, Sri Thenandal Films aka TSL (makers of ‘Mersal’) have come up with a unique and interesting promotional strategy for the movie.

A chatbot to create personalized movie posters:

Along the lines of utilization of interactive chatbots for movies such as ‘Kaabil’, ‘M.S.Dhoni’, ‘Jolly LLB 2’, ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya’, ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ and ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, TSL has introduced a chatbot for ‘Mersal’ using which their audience could create personalized Mersal posters. Sri Thenandal Films, in association with ICONICbot (a tech start-up cofounded by the Indian film actress cum producer, Vishaka Singh and ex-IBMer, Sandesh B Suvarna), has launched the chatbot that could be accessed by messaging in the official Facebook page of Sri Thenandal Films or on its messenger.

Target audience rejoicing the outcome of the strategy:

With Vijay – an iconic Indian actor who enjoys a huge fan base – on board for ‘Mersal’ and the movie being TSL’s 100^th movie, what better circumstance than this could get TSL to implement the AI technology! As expected, the fans seem to love the outcome of this strategy a lot. In the social media accounts of TSL, the information regarding the chatbot was shared with the hashtag, ‘#MyMersalPoster’. Following suit, the fans have been sharing their customized Mersal posters under the same hashtag.

Marketing Journo

Complementary factors of the strategy:

The chatbot’s launch date i.e. 15^th of August sounds ideal as the corresponding day is a pan-India holiday. Also, the regional movie influencers have propagated the news, about the chatbot launch, to their respective followers.

Chatbots of ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ and ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ VS Chatbot of ‘Mersal’:

Unlike the predominant feature of the chatbot of ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ that offered the people an opportunity to take part in an interactive quiz and that of the one for ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ that offered the audience to indulge in an immersive chat experience, the chatbot of ‘Mersal’ has been restricted with the creation of Mersal posters as of now. We have to wait to know from the makers regarding the inclusion of new features to the ‘Mersal’ chatbot.

So, that’s it with the write-up on the Digital Marketing Strategy of Sri Thenandal Films for ‘Mersal’. Hope you liked reading the article! Let me know your opinion in the comments section!

4 Ways to Market Yourself in Workplace

By Dhileepan | August 2, 2017

Do you feel that you don’t get enough recognition in your workplace in spite of doing your tasks? You need not feel dejected anymore. I have jotted down 4 ways that could help you to earn the recognition in your workplace that you have been craving for. Let us have a look at them.

1) Project yourself to your superior:

Firstly, in your workplace, you must try to effectively accomplish the tasks that have been assigned to you. Then, at the right time, proactively let your superior know that you have successfully completed the tasks. Also, when you face any obstacles – which you feel are beyond your control -, that hinder you to complete your work successfully, convey your superior about the same in advance. This will help the superior to come up with solutions that could address your concerns.

Takeaways:

By projecting yourself to your superior, you make him/her feel that entrusting you with a work ensures a positive result. Also, you make an impression that you express yourself well in adverse circumstances.

2) Grab the opportunities:

You should always be aware of the happenings in your workplace. While being so, when you feel that a scenario requires a handsome contribution from an individual and that individual could be you, without a second thought, try to work out on a plan that could guide you to contribute to the scenario. In this process, ensure that your actual tasks don’t get affected. Most importantly, have a word with your superior regarding your plan.

Takeaways:

You implicitly convey to your superior that you are interested in taking additional responsibilities. This attitude of yours counts a lot when you move up in your career ladder.

Marketing Journo

3) Create opportunities:

It is not always you get scenarios where you could contribute your efforts. Sometimes you have to create opportunities that could set the platform for you to showcase your abilities. When you are successfully done with your actual tasks, think of the areas related to your work where you could add values by means of the skills that you are naturally inclined to. For example, if you are interested in public speaking then arrange for a session whose main theme could be fun, motivation, education etc.,

Takeaways:

As a result of creating opportunities and executing them, you will earn a good impression from your superior and the people above your superior. Your skills will also get projected to various people across your workplace.

4) Ease off the workload of your superior:

It is not always your superior will explicitly ask for your help in easing off his/her work pressure. When you have accomplished your tasks and you feel that your superior needs a help in executing his tasks then let him your help. For you to think this way, you need to have a bigger picture of the processes that are happening in your workplace.

Takeaways:

By easing off the workload of your superior, you sort of create a personal bond with him/her. As far as the workplace activities are concerned, the personal bond enhances the mutual understanding between you and your superior.

Hope my 4 ways and their takeaways gave you the much needed heads up for your concern. Now, try applying these 4 ways in your workplace and enjoy the benefits that they offer.

Emoji Marketing: 5 Smart Examples from Famous Brands

By Dhileepan | July 30, 2017

Taking a look at the history of emojis, and its evolution over the years since its inception, makes me feel awe over the monumental growth of the digital language. I feel that the uncomplicated nature of the emojis has been the primary reason for them to attain the status on what they are today. As people have been using the emojis in their day-to-day digital communications, brands have been pushed to leverage the icons effectively in such a way that their efforts benefit their products. By having a look at the usage of standard emojis (Unlike the custom emojis of films like Wonder Woman, War for the Planet of the Apes or Transformers: The Last Knight) by various brands across the social media circle, I have picked 5.

Now, let us begin our count down.

5) IMDb

After the release of the ‘IT’ trailer, the fans of ‘IT’, and probably those of the horror movies, would be mentally inclined towards the ‘horror’ factor. To capitalize on this aspect and engage the audience, IMDb offered a chance, via a tweet/post from their official Twitter/Facebook account, to its audience to comment their favourite scary movie in emojis.

IMDb Twitter — **IMDb’s tweet to engage its audience**

IMDb Twitter replies — **Audience’s replies to IMDb’s tweet**

IMDb Facebook — **IMDb’s post to engage its audience**

IMDb Facebook comments — **Audience’s comments to IMDb’s post**

Marketing Journo

4) Target

Via creative means, Target had wished for the World Emoji Day 2017 from their official social media accounts, by recalling one of its significant occasions. Utilizing standard emojis like ‘Hot beverage’, ‘Dress’, ‘Womans hat’, ‘Womans sandal’, ‘Chocolate bar’, ‘Strawberry’, ‘Handbag’, ‘Nail polish’, ‘Notebook with decorative cover’, ‘Smiling face with open mouth’ and ‘Chequered flag’, Target had made a representation which they titled as ‘Classic Target Run’.

Target Twitter — **Target’s ‘*Classic #TargetRun*‘ tweet**

Target Facebook — **Target’s ‘*Classic #TargetRun*‘ post**

3) 24AM STUDIOS

In addition to promoting its movies using conventional approaches, 24AM STUDIOS – the makers of Sivakarthikeyan’s 2016 Tamil romantic comedy, ‘Remo’ – has been engaging with its audience in the social media circle via innovative means. On the Seventeenth of the July, the production house had embraced the World Emoji Day by coming up with an engaging tweet that was intertwined with the aspects of Remo. In the tweet, the followers of the twitter account of 24AM STUDIOS, were provided with four standard emojis such as ‘Information desk person’, ‘Syringe’, ‘Dancer(medium light skin tone)’ and ‘Older man (light skin tone)’, which symbolically referred to four among the different makeovers of Sivakarthikeyan in ‘Remo’ and were offered a chance to comment their favourite emoji. This activity was done in Facebook as well.

24AM STUDIOS Twitter — **24AM STUDIOS’s tweet to engage with its audience**

24AM STUDIOS Twitter replies — **Audience’s replies to 24AM STUDIOS’s tweet**

24AM STUDIOS Facebook — **24AM STUDIOS’s post to engage with its audience**

24AM STUDIOS Facebook comments — **Audience’s replies to 24AM STUDIOS’s post**

2) Rotten Tomatoes

In the case of the Twitter account of ‘Rotten Tomatoes’, the standard ‘Tomato’ emoji is utilized after the hashtag, ‘#Tomatometer’ in most of the tweets that contain the movie’s Tomatometer score or rating.

Rotten Tomatoes Twitter — **Rotten Tomatoes’s tweet with the Tomatometer rating for the movie, ‘*Atomic Blonde*‘**

In the case of the Facebook page of ‘Rotten Tomatoes’, the standard ‘Tomato’ emoji is utilized at end of most of the posts that inform the movie’s ‘Certified Fresh’ status.

Rotten Tomatoes Facebook — **Rotten Tomatoes’s post announcing the ‘*Certified Fresh*‘ status for the movie, ‘*Dunkirk*‘**

1) IT

In the official teaser and trailer of the film, the clip of the movie released in the MTV Awards, the Fan Art Contest conducted by the makers and the other promotional activities of ‘IT’, the red balloon has gained a prominence. This prominence has extended to the social media accounts of ‘IT’ as well, where the name of the movie’s Twitter account possesses the ‘Balloon’ emoji that already exists in Twitter. Occasionally, the tweets/posts of the movie’s Twitter/Facebook account possess the ‘Balloon’ emoji. It appears as if the ‘Balloon’ emoji is tailor-made for the social media accounts of ‘IT’.

Standard ‘Balloon‘ emoji in the Twitter profile name of the movie, ‘IT’

IT Movie Tweet — **Tweet from ‘*IT Movie*‘ containing the Standard ‘*Balloon*‘ emoji**

IT Movie Tweet from Entertainment Weekly — **Tweet from ‘*Entertainment Weekly*‘ containing the Standard ‘*Balloon*‘ emoji**

IT Movie Facebook Post — **Post from ‘*IT Movie*‘ containing the Standard ‘*Balloon*‘ emoji**

What are your favourite emoji marketing picks? Share with me in the comments section!

5 Amazing Guerrilla Marketing Strategies from Popular Brands

By Dhileepan | July 28, 2017

After reading the article titled, ‘What Is Guerrilla Marketing? 7 Examples to Inspire Your Brand’ written by Amanda Zantel-Weiner for Hubspot, I had surfed the internet to know more of such interesting Guerrilla Marketing strategies. Consequently, I came across innumerable strategies which I felt as being interesting. Among those, I have picked 5 and briefed about them in this post. Let’s take a look on them:

1. ‘Eyes On The Road’ Campaign for ‘Volkswagen’:

Volkswagen Eyes On the Road Campaign — **‘*Eyes On The Road*’ Campaign for ‘*Volkswagen*’**

Via the ‘Eyes On the Road’ campaign, Volkswagen, in association with Ogilvy & Mather China, had offered societal values in a creative manner with the assistance of technology. In the campaign, they raised awareness among the people by highlighting the dangers of texting while driving.

As part of the campaign, a video was released, wherein the people initially seem to be waiting to watch a movie in ‘MCL Cinema’ in Hong Kong. In the movie hall, the lights go down and a video depicting the driving of a car, from the driver’s viewpoint, starts playing on the big screen. Then, a location-based short message is sent from the projector room to the defined Geo location within the theater i.e., to the mobile devices of the people who are out there in the theater. When everyone tries to take a look at the message in their respective mobiles, the car in the big screen is shown crashing. When everyone in the movie hall is rendering a clueless stare over the on-screen happening, the message, “Mobile use is now the leading cause of death behind the wheel” is displayed on the screen. Following which the audience are let known that all what they experienced till that moment was a reminder to them to keep their eyes on the road while driving. The Volkswagen logo accompanied by the phrase, ‘Das Auto.’ gets displayed at the end of the ad.

Click here to watch the video.

Marketing Journo

2. ‘A Telekinetic Surprise in a Coffee Shop’ prank for ‘Carrie’:

To promote the 2013 Hollywood horror film Carrie, its makers, in association with Thinkmodo, had staged a larger than life situation in Snice Coffee Shop in West Village, New York.

Before staging the event in the cafe; a fake wall was put up in the shop, a pulley system was integrated to the fake wall, tables and chairs were remote controlled and pictures and books were spring loaded. Following which, few actors – including the primary characters, a stunt man and a woman – posing as customers, were made to sit inside the coffee shop.

Whenever a customer, who is unaware of the above mentioned setup, visits the shop, the stunt man topples the coffee of the woman, who is seated in the nearby table, and pretends as if he unintentionally did so. Getting angry over her coffee being spilt, the woman is shown unleashing her telekinetic powers. As a result of which, the customers see the stunt man getting lifted up the fake wall, chairs and tables being moved randomly from their positions and pictures and books being thrown from the shelves and walls.

Click here to enjoy watching the prank video.

3. ‘Unbelievable Bus Shelter’ prank for ‘Pepsi Max’:

Unbelievable Bus Shelter’ for ‘Pepsi Max’ — **‘*Unbelievable Bus Shelter*’ prank for ‘*Pepsi Max*’**

To promote PepsiCo’s ‘Pepsi Max’, Augmented Reality was deployed – in an interesting manner – over a see through window, available in the bus shelter of London’s New Oxford Street.

In the bus shelter, people were surprised on seeing unbelievable events on the see through window; a bomb approaching the bus shelter and exploding after dashing the glass, a tentacle of an octopus popping up from the drainage pit and abducting a person into the hole, a set of flying saucers floating above the skyline, a man hanging from balloons advancing towards the bus shelter, a giant laser-shooting robot and a fully grown tiger running towards the bus shelter.

Click here to have a look at the Augmented Reality stunt of Pepsi Max.

4. ‘Invisible Car’ Campaign for ‘Mercedez-Benz’:

Mercedez-Benz, in association with Jung von Matt (an Advertising agency headquartered in Germany), had implemented an innovative campaign to promote their F-CELL hydrogen fuel cell technology (a technology that allows the car to have zero-emissions or emit no pollutants to the environment).

As part of the campaign, mats containing numerous LEDs were utilized to cover the driver side of the car leaving out the tyres. A camera that was placed on the other side of the car captured the happenings on its side and transmitted them to the LEDs. Initially, the public were puzzled to see the car. Later, after getting to know on how the technology operates, they gathered around the car to enjoy watching their own reflections on the LEDs.

Click here to watch the glimpse of the ‘Invisible Car’ campaign.

5. ‘So Real, it’s Scary’ prank video for ‘LG’:

To advertise their IPS monitors, LG, along with SuperHeroes (an Advertising agency based in Amsterdam, Netherlands) had come up with a video where unsuspecting people were pranked of dropping floors in a moving elevator.

Before the prank, 3’*3’ of IPS monitors were placed over the lower surface of an elevator to actually look like the lift’s floor. After people got into the elevator and it started moving, in each monitor, a video played in such a way that the floor of the lift appeared dropping. The perplexed reactions of the people, in response to the prank, were captured on hidden cameras that were placed inside the elevator.

Click here to watch the ‘So Real, it’s Scary’ prank video.

So, here I end my article about the 5 amazing Guerrilla Marketing strategies that have been implemented by 5 popular brands to promote their respective products.

Do you feel the above mentioned Guerrilla Marketing strategies to be amazing? Sound off in the comments section below.

Red Chillies Entertainment’s notable Digital Marketing efforts for Shah Rukh Khan-Anushkha Sharma’s ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’

By Dhileepan | July 20, 2017

Jab Harry Met Sejal - Shah Rukh Khan and Anushkha Sharma — **Red Chillies Entertainment’s notable Digital Marketing efforts for Shah Rukh Khan-Anushkha Sharma’s ‘*Jab Harry Met Sejal*’**

As far as my knowledge goes, right after ‘Ra.One’, it has been the case with most movies of Shah Rukh Khan-Gauri Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, where their marketing efforts have been as notable as the themes of the movies. With Red Chillies Entertainment’s next, ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ being scheduled for a release on 4^th August, 2017, I tried gathering information regarding the marketing strategies deployed for the movie. As a result, I have come up with this article that briefs about a couple of Digital Marketing strategies applied for the movie.

1. An interactive chatbot rendering an immersive experience:

Along the lines of utilizations of chatbots for movies such as ‘Kaabil’, ‘M.S.Dhoni’, ‘Jolly LLB 2’, ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya’ and ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion‘, Red Chillies Entertainment have come up with an interactive chatbot to offer an immersive experience to their audience.

The chatbot has been designed in such a way that the people can get to interact with the character, Harry played by Shah Rukh Khan in the movie.

The features that this chatbot offers are more than just generic conversations. In its likeable interaction, the chatbot provides an intro about the characters, Harry and Sejal (Anushkha Sharma) from the movie and then offers us three engaging 37-second clips – which the makers call as ‘mini trails’ – from the film.

Also, using the chatbot, people can create customised posters, participate in a travel based personality quiz, watch songs from the movie and win exclusive merchandise.

Marketing Journo

2. Very own Facebook camera effect for ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’:

‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ is one among the few films in Bollywood, to have their very own Facebook camera effect.

By accessing camera effects by swiping left on their Facebook profile, people could make use of the JHMS (Jab Harry Met Sejal) effect. Using this provision, people could click a picture or shoot a video and share the same in their story or Facebook profile in ‘Harry & Sejal’ style.

Those are the two Digital Marketing strategies that Red Chillies Entertainment has deployed for ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’. Wish the marketing efforts of the Khan couple, to establish a ‘connect’ between their film and the digital audience, pays dividends with their movie’s result at box-office!

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

By Dhileepan | July 16, 2017

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)

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)

Marketing Journo

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 (28^th -30^th 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.

How high-profile Political Campaigns across the world have effectively utilized Augmented Reality!

By Dhileepan | July 12, 2017

Along the lines of promotional strategies for any brand or service, political campaigns have also been designed in an innovative and interesting manner. The inclusion of technologies to the strategies makes them appear even more appealing. Here’s a note of such high-profile political campaigns, across the world, which have effectively utilized Augmented Reality:

1. ‘blippAR App’ for Barack Obama in 2012:

In 2012, to support the Barack Obama’s election campaign, Blippar and BMGi created the “We got your back, Obama” blipp, compatible with iPhone and Android mobile devices.

After opening the ‘blippAR’ app and hovering the phone over either a five-dollar bill or the Obama campaign logo, contents set to offer an interactive Augmented Reality experience with Obama campaign were unlocked. In the app, the users were allowed to donate funds to the campaign, listen to the Obama campaign track and create photos, with high-fiving Obama, to share on social networks.

Barack Obama went on to win the election which made him the first Democratic president since Franklin D Roosevelt to win the majority of the popular vote twice.

Click here to watch the demo of the “We got your back, Obama” blipp.

Marketing Journo

2. ‘Merkel app’ for Angela Merkel in 2013:

On the eve of the German election 2013, as part of the political campaigns of the present German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, ‘Christian Democratic Union’, an Augmented Reality mobile app named, ‘Merkel app’ was launched.

As part of this strategy of leveraging Augmented Reality, billboards with the portrait of Angela Merkel – wearing her trademark red suit – were placed in public places. When a mobile phone, having the app opened, was pointed at the portrait, the camera recognized her face and Angela Merkel appeared in the app saying, “Germany is doing well but we cannot take this for granted. I want us to be successful in the future together”

In this election of 2013, Angela Merkel had secured a historic third win and continued to be the Chancellor of Germany.

Click here to have a look at the demo of the ‘Merkel app‘.

Here ends my post on the effective utilization of Augmented Reality by high-profile political campaigns. If you come across to know of any such high-profile political campaign – from a trusted source – then please feel free to share the details in the comments to grow the above list longer.