Dhileepan, Author at MARKETING JOURNO

5 striking Digital Marketing strategies implemented by the makers of Baahubali 2

By Dhileepan | May 21, 2017

b2-4 — 5 Striking Digital Marketing strategies implemented by the makers of Baahubali 2

Similar to the amount of effort that has been put into the making of the two technically rich movies in the Baahubali franchise (Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion), an equal amount of effort has been invested from the marketing arena as well to take the movies closer to the audience and sustain the ‘Baahubali’ sensation among them for all these years. In this digital era, when it comes to marketing, Digital Marketing becomes imperative and essential. So, here I have come up with 5 striking Digital Marketing strategies deployed by the makers of the Baahubali franchise, ‘Arka Media Works’ around the theatrical release of ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’.

1. Launch of #ChatQuizChallenge on Facebook:

ChatBot 3 — **Launch of #ChatQuizChallenge on Facebook**

After the release of the trailer of ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’, the producer of the film launched on Facebook, an interactive quiz named ‘#ChatQuizChallenge’ driven by a Chatbot, that was accessible by messaging in the movie’s official Facebook page, Baahubali, or on messenger. The interactive quiz created by the Social and Digital Agency, ‘KRDS India’ had 5 trivial questions that were based on the trailer of Baahubali 2. People were provided with an option to take the quiz on the language of their preference with available languages being Tamil, English, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. As part of this strategy, people were also offered with an option, by the Chatbot, to subscribe to it to get to know the latest news or updates, pertaining to the movie, from the production crew.

2. Release of the Graphic novel, ‘Baahubali – The Battle of the Bold’ on Google Play Store:

WEB.jpg2_ — **Release of the Graphic novel, ‘Baahubali – The Battle of the Bold’ on Google Play Store**

Targetting the fans of Baahubali and comic book lovers, two months ahead of the theatrical release of ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’, Arka Media Works had launched the Graphic novel, ‘Baahubali – The Battle of the Bold’ on ‘Graphic POP Asia’ app, which is available in Google Play Store. Post the installation of the app, the graphic novel can be downloaded from it. According to the novel’s author, ‘Graphic India’, ‘Baahubali – The Battle of the Bold’ depicts some untold events that had laid around the participation of Baahubali and Bhallaladeva in a tournament, which had happened well before the happenings that have been showcased in the film. Paperback version of the novel is also available for purchase in amazon.

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3. Launch of the animation series, ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’ on Amazon Prime Video India:

baahubali-animated-759 — **Launch of the animation series, ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’ on Amazon Prime Video India**

Around mid-April, inspired by the Baahubali film franchise, Arka Media Works and the director of the Baahubali film series, S.S.Rajamouli in collaboration with Graphic India and Amazon had launched the first episode of the animation series, ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’ in Amazon Prime Video’s India service. The second episode of the animated series was released on 19^th May 2017, with the other episodes to be made live in the upcoming weeks. ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’ seems to exhibit some fresh stories about the characters, which have already become popular among the audience, such as Baahubali, Bhallaladeva, Kattappa and Sivagami and portray few more new characters and their respective stories.

4. Optimization of the hashtag, #WKKB in social media posts and on film posters:

Optimization of the hashtag, #WKKB in social media posts and on film posters

In India, when Twitter first brought in the plan of creating hashtags in regional languages, Rajamouli launched the first Telugu Hashtag, #బాహుబలివస్తున్నాడు (‘Baahubali Vasthunnadu’ meaning ‘Baahubali coming soon’) from his twitter handle for the promotion of ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’. Likewise, for ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ too, the hashtag, #WKKB (WKKB is the abbreviation of ‘Why Kattappa Killed Baahubali’) was creating quite a revolution in the social media space. It was utilized in film posters too.

5. Leveraging Virtual Reality and 360 degree videos:

Baahubali-2-Movie-Shoots-With-BB360cc-VR-Camera — **Leveraging Virtual Reality and 360 degree videos**

In October 2016, ‘Radeon Technologies Group’, a part of US-based chip maker AMD (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) released the Virtual Reality (VR) video titled, ‘On The Sets of Baahubali’. It guided the viewers through a virtual tour on the sets of Baahubali. As a follow-up to this activity of leveraging the technological advancements, for marketing purposes, Arka Media Works by teaming with Radeon live streamed in 360° the Baahubali Pre-Release Event (which was held on March 26^th 2017 in Hyderabad) on the movie’s official YouTube channel. VR boxes were suggested to viewers to have a Virtual Reality experience of the event.

To top it all, the collaboration of Arka Media Works, Rajamouli and AMD Radeon Technologies Group came up with the teaser of the 10-min VR film, ‘The Sword Of Baahubali’, that is based on the characters from Baahubali. The teaser was shown to people in various malls, theatres and multiplexes across the states of Andhra and Telangana.

So, here ends my documentation on the 5 striking Digital Marketing strategies implemented by Arka Media Works for the Baahubali franchise but not the only strategies that have been implemented. There may be even more striking ones.

Feel free to let me know your comments on the article!

Content Marketing Strategies: Coca-cola’s ‘Share-a-Coke’ vs ‘Cupid’ standee of ‘Remo’

By Dhileepan | May 18, 2017

Untitled collage (2) — Content Marketing Strategies: Coca-Cola’s ‘Share-a-Coke’ Vs ‘Cupid’ standee of ‘Remo’

Recently, I read an article titled, ‘8 (More) Absolutely Brilliant Content Marketing Innovations From the World’s Best Brands’ written by Neil Patel in the site, contentmarketinginstitute.com. There is a section in this write-up that briefs about Coca-Cola’s ‘Share-a-Coke’ campaign. After reading the section, I remembered a similar Content Marketing campaign (though without an unique name for it) deployed by 24AM Studios, the producer of the Sivakarthikeyan – Keerthy Suresh starrer, 2016 Tamil romantic comedy movie, ‘Remo’. Both the strategies could well be suggested as ideal case studies of successful Content Marketing Innovations as both had illustrated the concept of personalization of contents that resonated well with their respective target audience. In this article, let us have a look at both the strategies to know how they went on to become successful by adding considerable values to their respective products.

Coca-Cola’s ‘Share-a-Coke’ campaign converting the brand’s customers into its promoters:

Coca-Cola’s one of the most successful marketing campaigns, ‘Share-a-Coke’, which has been launched in more than 70 countries till date, was first introduced in Australia in 2011. In this campaign, Coca-Cola had printed the most popular names of individuals in its Coke cans and bottles by replacing its famous logo. As a follow-up to this, customers were offered with the opportunity to purchase customized Coke cans and bottles featuring the names those they wished to see on the products.

'Share-a-Coke- collage — Customized Coke Cans

All these efforts of Coca-Cola did pay rich dividends to the brand as the people felt emotionally touched and excited on seeing their names or the names of their beloved ones in the products of a popular brand like Coca-Cola, took pictures of them with the customized cans and bottles and shared the photos in their Facebook and Instagram accounts.

unknown-2_12 — Picture of a lady with the customized Coke bottle

In this way, the people had acted as influencers of the ‘Coca-Cola’ brand and made the marketing campaign, ‘Share-a-Coke’, one among the successful ones of all time.

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24AM Studios’s ‘Cupid Standees’ campaign converting Remo’s target audiences into its promoters:

Along the lines of Coca-Cola’s ‘Share-a-Coke’ campaign, in 2016, 24AM Studios came up with an interesting Content Marketing strategy by personalizing their content. In this strategy, the crux of the movie’s story line and its promotional tactics were cleverly intertwined.

‘A guy falls in love with a girl, at first sight’

The above line has been an age-old formula as far as the movies that deal with romance are concerned. The kick-starter in the story of Remo too, is this formula. But, in order to make this not-so-interesting sequence look eye-catching, the director introduces a fictional cum animated character called Cupid in the movie. By deftly bringing the character into the picture, the director makes the audience forget the fact that the scene is based around an old-fashioned idea.

maxresdefault (1) — Cupid featured in the movie, ‘Remo’

The utilization of Cupid wasn’t confined to the movie alone. Around the movie’s release time, standees of Cupid were placed in the movie theaters where Remo was about to be screened. Standees were also placed in shopping malls. In other words, the standees were placed in locations where they could garner the attention of the audience towards the movie. The aura rendered by Cupid in the movie was recreated by the Cupid standees that were placed across various cine halls and shopping malls. Yes… the people got attracted by the Cupid standees and felt excited to the extent of taking selfies (current day’s crazy deed) with them. They were not only influenced by this marketing strategy but also played the role of influencers by posting the snapshots in their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The campaign, as its contribution to the pretty decent acceptability of the movie by the audience, would have driven a considerable number of people to throng the theaters those that screened ‘Remo’ then.

CtRyjZEW8AAMFp3 — Oscar & BAFTA winning and Remo’s Sound Mixer/Designer, Resul Pookutty taking selfie with the Cupid standee

Despite the results of both the strategies possessing striking similarities, Coca-Cola’s campaign was carried out across multiple nations whereas the Cupid promotion unleashed by 24AM Studios was limited to a specific region in India. Though the products, Coca-Cola and Remo had various other interesting factors to garner the attention of the audience and ensure a good reach among them, the campaigns had actually widened the attention towards the products from their natural scope and subsequently yielded a significant reach to their brands.

So, that’s it with my blog post about the Content Marketing lessons that one could learn from Coca-Cola’s ‘Share-a’Coke’ campaign and 24AM Studios’s innovative Content Marketing strategy for Remo. Now, you get to know the similarities in the way in which the brands, Coca-Cola and 24AM Studios had personalized their contents that resonated well with their respective target audience. Let me know your opinions on the write-up in the comments section!