Category: Movies

A photo featuring the teddy bear doll from the movie, 'Imaginary'
Look Back: The first ever “imaginary” trailer to promote ‘Imaginary’

Look Back: The first ever “imaginary” trailer to promote ‘Imaginary’

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I checked out ‘Imaginary‘ on Prime Video this weekend! I enjoyed the movie; it has vibes from iconic horror flicks like ‘Insidious‘ and ‘It‘ film franchises. After watching it, I went down the internet rabbit hole to learn more about it—like box-office numbers, what the cast and crew are up to, and all the marketing efforts, as I usually do. I found a few cool promo stuff, but one initiative caught my eye. So, here’s my third article on the ‘Look Back‘ series.

About the movie, ‘Imaginary’…

The movie’s main character, Jessica, moves into her childhood home with her husband and his two daughters. The younger daughter, Alice, ‘befriends’ a teddy bear and begins having conversations with it. Over time, the ‘bond’ between Alice and the teddy bear becomes stronger. This leads to a series of events reminiscent of the horror found in film franchises like ‘Insidious‘ and ‘It‘.

About the marketing idea…

Jeff Wadlow, the director, and Jason Blum, the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, co-produced the movie ‘Imaginary‘. Blumhouse Productions also co-produced by ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s‘ (FNAF’s) was released for streaming on Peacock and theatrically in the United States on October 27, 2023. Blumhouse initiated promotional efforts for ‘Imaginary‘ as follows, which Lionsgate views as a chance to reward theatricality and moviegoers, and to surprise and delight them:

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I wasn’t personally present to experience the first-of-its-kind trailer, so here’s a brief description of the experience from ‘Collider’:

The Imaginary teaser is unique in that it plays with your senses and natural fear of the unknown. At the beginning, an eerie little girl’s voice instructs you to close your eyes. If you’re too chicken (like me) or rebellious (good for you) to actually do as instructed, well, they’ll do it for you, as the screen then goes black and more creepy noises begin to play. The child starts counting, an ominous music-box song starts playing, and there’s the pound of footsteps and the creak of a door in there, too. The reliance on audio is interesting and a risk that pays off — who isn’t a little afraid of the dark?

Around halfway through, you’ll be instructed to open your eyes. The effects make it so it looks and feels like you’re blinking, with the screen showing quick, horrifying clips from the film of terrified people and sinister-looking creatures.

Recognition…

Variety describes it as a marketing strategy that was highly effective in generating interest in the movie. According to reports, during the opening weekend of FNAF’s, the term ‘Imaginary movie’ saw a significant spike in Google searches, reaching “maximum search interest” according to the search engine’s trend data.

Source: Blumhouse Productions & Lionsgate
Are the AI-generated Voices of Late Singers, De-ageing Technology, and VFX Undoubtedly the Cutting-edge Marketing Tools Driving Kollywood’s Big-ticket Movies?

Are the AI-generated Voices of Late Singers, De-ageing Technology, and VFX Undoubtedly the Cutting-edge Marketing Tools Driving Kollywood’s Big-ticket Movies?

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The Thalapathy Vijay starrer and Venkat Prabhu’s (VP) directorial, The Greatest Of All Time (The G.O.A.T.), which premiered globally on September 5th, 2024, took the box office by storm. AGS Entertainment, the movie’s producer, proudly announced an impressive day-one worldwide box office collection of 126.32 crores+ on social media. This phenomenal opening can be largely attributed to Thalapathy Vijay’s immense star power, his groundbreaking first-time collaboration with the dynamic Director-Music Composer duo VP and Yuvan Shankar Raja (Yuvan), and the superior production scale and quality showcased in the promotional materials. A deeper dive into the marketing strategy reveals three pivotal elements contributing to the pre-release buzz. Firstly, the use of the AI-generated voice of the late singer Bhavatharini (Yuvan’s sibling and VP’s female cousin) in the melodic track, ‘Chinna Chinna Kangal‘. Secondly, cutting-edge de-ageing technology is employed to present a youthful version of Vijay, a highlight enthusiastically promoted by the film’s crew in pre-release interviews. Lastly, AI technology was ingeniously utilized to bring the late actor Vijayakanth to life for a cameo, information that further fueled public anticipation. These strategies, combined with existing excitement, generated an unparalleled buzz, setting the stage for a highly frenzied reception.

Previous attempts at using de-aging technology in Tamil Cinema:

Kollywood continues to push boundaries with de-aging technology. The Rajinikanth starrer and Nelson’s directorial, ‘Jailer’ (2023) and the Kamal Haasan starrer and Shankar’s directorial, ‘Indian 2’ (2024) utilized this technology to bring back the yesteryear looks of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. Among these, ‘Indian 2’ stood out by heavily promoting its innovative use of de-aging technology. Despite receiving generally negative reviews, the film’s end segment, hinting at ‘Indian 3’, garnered applause, especially for the de-aged ‘Senapathy’ (An Iconic character played by Kamal Haasan in the ‘Indian’ franchise).

De-aged look of Kamal Haasan as Senapathy in 'Indian 2'
De-aged look of Kamal Haasan as Senapathy in ‘Indian 2’ (Photo Courtesy: Lyca Productions)

There were compelling rumours about bringing back a younger version of Kamal Haasan in the 2022 sensational hit, Vikram. The movie’s director, Lokesh Kanagaraj, later confirmed their plans to showcase a younger Kamal Haasan briefly. However, due to time constraints, the idea wasn’t pursued, leaving the footage they had worked on untouched. This material remains intact and could be utilized at any time in the future.

Below is the reference video…

Upcoming Kollywood biggies experimenting with AI-generated voices of legendary singers and cutting-edge de-aging technology:

The excitement surrounding these technologies and the enthusiastic reception from audiences has led major industry players to embrace them. Rajinikanth‘s highly anticipated movie, ‘Vettaiyan‘ is slated to hit theatres on October 10th, 2024. Yesterday, the movie’s producer, ‘Lyca Productions‘ announced plans to use the AI-generated voice of a legendary late singer in the first single, which is expected to be released soon.

Also, news is circulating on social media about the innovative use of de-ageing technology to bring back a younger version of Rajinikanth in his upcoming movie, Coolie, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj.

VFX in the recent Tamil big-ticket movies showcases a groundbreaking leap in visual storytelling, setting new benchmarks in the film industry.

Of late, with the usage of VFX in Tamil films, audiences are treated to some larger-than-life sequences. The release of the Thalapathy Vijay starrer and Lokesh Kanagaraj‘s directorial, ‘Leo’ (2023), set the bar high with much hype around two standout sequences. The first is a gripping 10-minute scene featuring the actor taking down a hyena, and the second is an intense car chase. In pre-release interviews, the hyena sequence received significant emphasis. The film soared, opening to 148.5 crores+ at the box office, the highest day 1 worldwide gross for an Indian movie this year. Even in Netflix‘s official promotional content, photos and videos of the hyena and car chase sequences dominate social media. Likewise, Sivakarthikeyan-starrer and R. Ravikumar‘s directorial ‘Ayalaan’ (2024) featured a unique grey alien character, earning rave reviews for its visual effects.

In the vibrant age of OTT, audiences are fervently craving nostalgia alongside the thrill of fresh ideas and portrayals. Enter the marvels of AI-generated voices of iconic late singers, breathtaking de-ageing tech, and awe-inspiring VFX, all pushing films beyond sky-high expectations. These groundbreaking technologies have graced the screen with both impeccable and nearly flawless results, the latter often hindered by budget and time constraints. Yet, it’s undeniable that these innovations have bestowed upon viewers countless unforgettable moments. The future of these modern marketing wonders hinges on the brilliance with which films weave technology into their storytelling and fulfil pre-release excitement, while makers must ensure they wield these tools with respect, never reducing them or their audience to mere gimmicks.

Photo and Video Courtesy: AGS Entertainment and Dream Frames

Humans dressed as the demonic nun, 'Valak' at PVR Cinemas, Mumbai
‘The Nun 2’ Movie Promotions Prepare You to Be Terrified

‘The Nun 2’ Movie Promotions Prepare You to Be Terrified

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Movie promotions excite me, but what excites me, even more, is the brilliant incorporation of the unique aspects of movies into their respective promotional strategies rather than just deploying generic or conventional advertising. For instance, in my previous blog post on the promotion of the Tamil movie, ‘Maaveeran‘, I mentioned how the installation of a transparent banner, featuring the movie’s poster, on the facade of a cinema hall, made the people passing through the set-up recreate the iconic ‘overhead stare’ of Sivakarthikeyan in the film. Unless ‘Maaveeran‘ has a sequel/prequel/spin-off, this activation is certain to not be repeated for any other movie as it is closely associated with the film’s theme. In this regard, I recently came across some exciting stuff from the makers of the movie, ‘The Nun 2‘. I feel psyched about a couple of those strategies. So, lemme share them in this blog post!

“Creepy” nuns, all over the place:

As a part of the movie’s marketing campaign by ‘Warner Bros. Pictures‘, around twenty “creepy” nuns (humans dressed up as the evil entity, ‘Valak’ that features in the movies, ‘The Conjuring 2’, ‘The Nun’ and ‘The Nun 2’) have been set out in public to carry out a candlelight stroll.

The army of nuns flooded across some significant landmarks of different cities in the United States of America, like Brooklyn, New York, San Francisco, Miami, Denver, Atlanta and Washington, D.C, in Canada, like Montreal and Toronto, in England, like London and in India, like Mumbai.

Apart from swarming landmarks across different cities of various countries, the nuns made their appearance at the annual horror events, like ‘HorrorHound Weekend‘ and ‘Popcorn Frights‘ and at the movie’s exclusive screenings, like the annual speculative fiction fan convention, ‘Fan Expo Canada‘.

Below are the posts from the official X accounts of ‘The Nun‘ movie, ‘Warner Bros. UK‘ and ‘Warner Bros. India‘ on the stunt…

Across cities in the United States of America…

In London, England…

In Mumbai, India…

Throwback to a similar ‘”Creepy” nuns, all over the place’ stunt for ‘The Nun’:

Upon noticing these “creepy” nuns on the move, the excellent marketing campaign of the 2022 science fiction horror film, ‘M3gan‘ might occur to you, but I’d like to convey here that ‘The Nun‘ had similar promotions way back in 2018.

Here’s a look back at the movie’s campaign.

In Sydney, ‘Roadshow Films‘ and ‘OMD‘, in partnership with ‘Habitat‘, orchestrated a campaign, wherein unsuspecting morning commuters were in for a fright from a bevy of demonic nuns. Likewise, ‘Warner Bros. Canada‘ studio, in collaboration with the agency, ‘Rooftop‘, set out three teams of six nuns each to hit the streets, chanting in Latin and distributing double-sided prayer cards encouraging fans to share on social media using “I Hate #NUNDays” (NUNDay, a wordplay on Mondays). The activations in Canada were created to mark the studio’s partnership with ‘FanExpo‘, which has been considered a part of the Canadian strategy for the movie. Though these stunts appear to be relatively small-scale compared to that of ‘The Nun 2‘, they are equally creative.

Terror appears when you least expect it – A “creepy” newsstand:

Toward the end of ‘The Nun 2‘ trailer, you’d see the protagonist, ‘Sister Irene‘ gazing at a Valak-like artwork on a book at a newsstand. Upon hearing rapid footsteps, she gasps and then turns back only to see nothing. Again, as she turns slowly toward the newsstand, the Valak appears right in front of her from nowhere and has her in a chokehold.

The makers of ‘The Nun 2‘ kind of recreated the above scene.

A ‘The Nun 2‘ branded newsstand was placed in Venice Beach, California. Unsuspecting beachgoers felt shocked as a Valak popped out of the newsstand while they got closer to the prop and started having a look at the magazines. It’s just like how it makes an appearance in the scene from nowhere. As a result, it scares the shit out of them.

Below is the post from the official X account of ‘The Nun‘ movie on the stunt…

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So, how are these promotions gonna help the movie’s opening weekend prospects at the box office?

Upon encountering unusual sights of nuns in public, passersby would be nudged to stop by. Capture photographs of, or probably take selfies with the nuns. In the ‘The Nun 2‘ trailer, you’ll notice the girl named ‘Sophie‘ say ‘I saw a nun‘. If you notice the copies in almost all the X posts above, you’ll see the hashtag, ‘#ISawANun‘. So, any passersby noticing the nuns could later excitedly say, “I saw a nun” to their families and friends. Also, if they share their clicks, with nuns, on social media, they could probably include the hashtag, ‘#ISawANun‘. Thereby, the film’s producers make the audience recreate a moment of the movie. This would pave the way for user-generated content, helping organically to get the word out about the movie. And thereby, evoking interest in the film.

With respect to promoting movies in the annual horror events aforesaid, there’s a key takeaway point. FIND WHO & WHERE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MOVIE IS AND THEN INVENTIVELY PROMOTE IT THERE.

So, in the aforementioned way, the promotions might help the movie’s opening weekend prospects at the box office.

Hope you liked the promotions for the movie, ‘The Nun 2‘ and my take on the same. Lemme know your feedback on this blog post’s comments section.

Photo Courtesy: Warner Bros. India

P.S. ‘The Nun 2‘, which is a sequel to ‘The Nun‘ (2018) and the ninth instalment in ‘The Conjuring Universe‘ franchise, is scheduled for a theatrical release on September 7, 2023. Do watch in Cinemas!

A still, featuring Sivakarthikeyan, from 'Maaveeran'
Look Back: A “Natural” Billboard to Promote ‘Maaveeran’

Look Back: A “Natural” Billboard to Promote ‘Maaveeran’

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After a brief hiatus from blogging, I’m here again!

This time, I’ve come up with my second article in the ‘Look Back‘ series, wherein I share interesting aspects I gather on the marketing of the movie or web series, which I watched on an over-the-top (OTT) platform and felt satisfied.

Recently, I watched the Sivakarthikeyan-starring ‘Maaveeran‘ on prime video. I loved the movie a lot. It’s a very interesting film that brilliantly blends a fantasy aspect into a sensible narration. Having been so satisfied with the movie, I’ll share information about an activation that Maaveeran‘s producer, ‘Shanthi Talkies‘ had executed to promote the movie’s theatrical release.

About the movie, ‘Maaveeran’…

The movie is about how a cowardly character named Sathya (played by Sivakarthikeyan) transforms into a brave personage and takes on a corrupt politician. In the movie, following an accident, Sathya starts hearing a voice, which foretells the problem that lies ahead for him. Whenever he hears it, he gives an overhead stare in anxiety as to where the voice comes from. And that ‘overhead stare’ has been leveraged by the film’s producer to conceive a brilliant marketing idea.

About the marketing idea…

On 13th July, a day prior to Maaveeran‘s theatrical release, ‘Shanthi Talkies‘ posted a video on its official X account on the installation of a transparent banner, featuring the movie’s poster, on the facade of PVR Sathyam Cinemas at Royapettah, Chennai. The video shows the poster being hand-drawn using black paint. The banner is then mounted overhead using four poles. So, when the light, especially the sunlight around noon, is blocked by the black paint in the banner, the poster’s shadow appears on the floor beneath the set-up. The shadow nudged anyone who passed through the installation to look at the overhead artwork. In the process, the person recreated the iconic ‘overhead stare’ of Siva Karthikeyan in ‘Maaveeran‘.

Below is the post from ‘Shanthi Talkies‘ on its official X account…

VJ Abhishek ideated this innovative concept.

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Recognition…

Karthik Gowda, Executive Producer of ‘Hombale Films‘ (The production house behind the movies, ‘K. G. F: Chapter 1’, ‘K. G. F: Chapter 2’ and ‘Kantara’ which became pan-Indian sensations) has appreciated the marketing idea via his official X account.

Below is the post from Karthik Gowda on his official X account…

Sivakarthikeyan has a history of some unique, interesting and brilliantly executed marketing ideas for his movies like ‘Remo‘, ‘Velaikkaran‘ and ‘Seema Raja‘. Now, with the aforementioned marketing idea, Maaveeran has joined the admirable list!

Photo Courtesy: Shanthi Talkies

Photo from 'Ouija: Origin of Evil'
Look Back: A “Spooky” Twitter Bot to Promote ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil’

Look Back: A “Spooky” Twitter Bot to Promote ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil’

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When I feel satisfied completing a movie or web series on OTT, I google to know its critical reception, box-office performance, and the whereabouts of its actors. Above all, I spend relatively more time looking up the marketing endeavor put behind the movie. A lot of those marketing strategies would be as interesting as the associated movie or web series. For quite some time, I’ve been wishing to blog about such initiatives in an organized manner (although I’ve blogged considerably and randomly on movie marketing). It is not just that I love to put them down, but also because they deserve to be raved about for the creativity invested to conceive, design, and execute them. So, here I am to fulfill my wish with the ‘Look Back’ series, wherein I’ll retell the interesting aspects I gather on the marketing of the movie or web series I watch.

Kicking off the series…

Recently, I watched the 2016 American supernatural horror film, ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil‘ on Netflix. I loved the movie. So, I dug up to know its marketing initiatives. As a result, I got to know a handful of promotional events done for the movie, but the one that interested me the most is the campaign titled, ‘Ouija Knows All Twitter Bot‘. Therefore, I begin the series with this article on the initiative.

About the movie, ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil‘…

A widow (Elizabeth Reaser as Alice Zander), with her daughters, carry out a phony séance business at her home. Upon bringing the Ouija board to the business, they make contact with an evil spirit existing there. Consequently, the entity possesses Alice’s 9-year-old daughter (Lulu Wilson as Doris Zander). The movie then focuses on the event’s after-effects.

About the campaign, ‘Ouija Knows All Twitter Bot‘…

The movie’s distributor, ‘Universal Pictures’ and the Digital Marketing agency, ‘Addison Interactive’ collaborated on the campaign, which invited fans to tweet random questions to the Twitter handle, ‘@OuijaKnowsAll’. The questions posted were like, “What is my name?” and “are ghosts real?“. The agency-curated customized bot facilitated the Twitter handle to reply with a GIF image, which showed a planchette sequentially moving over the letters on the Ouija board per their order in the answers. The alphabet under focus on each movement of the planchette displayed beneath the board. Within the confines of the GIF image, the alphabet got added in an incremental manner post each movement and ended with accurate answers to the questions.

Reply to a few other questions had Doris Zander replacing the Ouija board and planchette in the GIF. For instance, a question like “Will Rihanna win a Grammy for her 8th album ANTI?” had the image say “OF COURSE“.

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About the offline promotions…

Real-world giant projections, installed at the annual Halloween events, ‘Haunted Hayride’ and ‘Halloween Horror Nights’, entertained people waiting in the queue. In conclusion, the ultimate goal was to get everyone buzzing around the movie.

Outcome…

Influencers and celebrities jumped on the bandwagon of posting questions, resulting in the campaign’s reach getting amplified. As a result, the initiative garnered 355,000+ questions and 23,000,000 impressions on Twitter by then.

Per Deadline, the movie debuted at 3,167 theaters with cumulative gross earnings of $14M in its Week 1.

Recognition…

As an entrant to the Clio Awards program, the agency submitted the below video and photo to the medium, ‘Theatrical: Social Media’ within the entry type, ‘Theatrical’, and the category, ‘Single Platform Campaign’. Eventually, the campaign won Clio Gold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEHe5UJuiQk

Source: Clios

Also Read:

Look Back: A “Natural” Billboard to Promote ‘Maaveeran’

Kamal Haasan in 'Vikram' movie poster
‘Raaj Kamal Films International’ Has Set Out Interesting Promotions for ‘Vikram’

‘Raaj Kamal Films International’ Has Set Out Interesting Promotions for ‘Vikram’

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It has been quite some time since I wrote about movie marketing. With this being the case, when I noticed the legendary actor Kamal Haasan’s upcoming film, ‘Vikram’ – one of my most anticipated movies of 2022 – promoted all along by some innovative and interesting initiatives, it became inevitable to feel excited and urged to put them down. So, here I am with this blog post.

The compelling promotions gradually ramped up the hype of Lokesh Kanagaraj‘s directorial besides the K-Town sensation Anirudh‘s chartbuster album. Now, let me provide an account of the endeavors.

1. Vikram Non-Fungible Tokens (Vikram NFTs):

‘Fantico‘, an NFT and gaming company owned by ‘Vistas Media Capital‘, is offering limited-edition Vikram NFTs in its soon-to-be-launched metaverse, ‘Vistaverse’ (To be set operative in partnership with Lotus Meta Entertainment) by collaborating with Raaj Kamal Films International (RKFI).

The NFTs will serve as a ticket to the metaverse experience. In addition, it will offer its buyers utilities like…

  • Access to unique artworks of characters
  • Digital avatars
  • Props
  • Posters
  • Film memorabilia
  • Fan interaction moments
  • Private screenings
  • Access to by-invite only to a traveling Vistadome party
  • A choice to convert some of the NFTs to actual underlying tangible assets

The NFTs will also give preferential access to virtual land sales in Mumbai and Chennai in Vistaverse, which RKFI claims to be the first such in-game asset to be launched in India.

Actor Kamal Haasan unveiled Vikram NFTs along with the movie’s trailer on 18th May 2022 at Cannes Film Festival.

Vikram NFTs arrived for presale on 28th May 2022 over here: vikram.vistaverse.io

As one may know that NFTs are one of the secure ways of trading, I consider the initiative to be smart in monetizing the brand.

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2. ‘Vikram’ branded artworks executed directly over train engines and coaches:

Raaj Kamal Films International, along with Southern Railway, has branded the WAP 7 class locomotive or engine at Erode with the official first look of ‘Vikram’. Below is Southern Railway‘s tweet about the collaboration…

Also, ‘Vikram’ branded graffiti have been executed over a couple of double-decker coaches of Uday Express, which plies to and fro between Coimbatore Junction and K.S.R Railway Station (Bengaluru).

Chennai-based graffiti writer and street artist ‘A-kill’, Pune-based artist ‘Afzan Pirzade’, who specializes in portrait arts, and Karthik SS of Chennai art studio, ‘108 Collective’ have come together to realize the artwork.

Previous notable arts of ‘A-kill’ in Chennai are the widely popular mural featuring two sisters smiling together in Kannagi Nagar and the HIV/AIDS awareness street art across Indira Nagar MRTS’ main façade.

Afzan Pirzade’s painting, along with Lobster, as part of the ‘Paint my city’ project for the Kumbh Mela festival 2019 was one of the most widely shared images of street art done for the event.

In Chennai, Karthik SS and his team were behind the initial concepts and sketches for the murals present on the walls of Andhra Mahila Sabha hospital in Durgabai Deshmukh Road, Adyar. The arts are also being sold as NFTs in the marketplace, ‘JupiterMeta’.

In post-pandemic times, I could recall the makers of the 2022 Indian period romantic drama, ‘Radhe Shyam’ coming up with a similar strategy, wherein they put up the movie’s posters over Delhi Metros. But, the promotion over train for ‘Vikram’ spans across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka because of the medium chosen i.e. Uday Express.

3. Kamal Haasan surprises his fans from behind them while they adulate him:

In the below video uploaded to the YouTube channel of ‘Sony Music South‘, fans of Kamal Haasan are shown adulating their favorite star. The highlights are the moments we watch them getting surprised as they either see Kamal Haasan or hear his voice from behind.

This promotional video follows suit of Chadwick Boseman and Puneeth Rajkumar surprising their fans.

4. A brief reunion of old pals, wherein ‘Panchatanthiram‘ meets ‘Vikram‘:

This is yet another short promotional clip for ‘Vikram‘, which is uploaded to the Youtube channel, ‘Moviebuff Tamil‘. It features actors Jayaram, Ramesh Aravind, Sriman, and Yugi Sethu enacting the respective characters portrayed by them in the 2002 Tamil language comedy film, ‘Panchatanthiram‘. Kamal Haasan and Simran are the movie’s leads. The short video appears as an extension to Panchatanthiram. In other words, the video is a light-hearted attempt at the concept of ‘Panchatanthiram‘ meeting ‘Vikram‘.

The video has been conceptualized and executed by Team Social Beat.

5. As dusk fell in Dubai, Burj Khalifa put on a visual spectacle:

Like Netflix promoted the launch of Volume 1 of Stranger Things 4 by making the rifts to Upside Down appear on monuments like the Empire State Building in New York and Gateway of India in Mumbai, Raaj Kamal Films International built anticipation for Vikram by putting on a visual spectacle on Burj Khalifa.

6. Raaj Kamal Films International‘s fusion marketing with Bisleri:

Raaj Kamal Films International collaborated with Bisleri in Tamil Nadu and Kerala to render limited edition ‘Vikram‘ branded water bottles.

Apart from the above promotions, the makers of ‘Vikram‘ organized a grand audio and trailer launch event in Chennai, set up a digital billboard with the movie’s poster at the airport, facilitated the incorporation of customized emoji to select hashtags on Twitter for the film, and devised a handful of pre-release events. So, it was an all-out effort from Raaj Kamal Films International, in association with Turmeric Media, in creating sky-high expectations for the film. Also, the film’s cast and crew involved in a slew of shows (Including Super Singer Junior 8 on Vijay Television and Big Boss Malayalam on Asianet) and interviews on linear TV and YouTube channels respectively.

Featured image courtesy: Raaj Kamal Films International

Actor Suriya in 'Soorarai Pottru'
4 Marketing Lessons, Businesses Can Learn From ‘Soorarai Pottru’!

4 Marketing Lessons, Businesses Can Learn From ‘Soorarai Pottru’!

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A couple of days back, I watched the Amazon Original, ‘Soorarai Pottru’ on the OTT platform. The Sudha Kongara’s sixth directorial venture is not only moving but also is studded with a number of lessons for businesses to take away. In this article, I list them. But, before listing, I shall boil down the movie, which is loosely based on the life of G. R. Gopinath, founder of ‘Simplifly Deccan’ – India’s first low-cost carrier.

A brief on the movie…

‘Soorarai Pottru’ chronicles the inspirational journey of Nedumaaran (Suriya), an ex-Air Force officer, who is launching a low-cost airline in an attempt to afford flight travel to the less privileged. In the process of realizing his dream, Nedumaaran is hampered at regular intervals by Paresh Goswami (Paresh Rawal), a leader in the aviation industry and the one whom the former considers a role model. Amidst such tricky circumstances, Nedumaaran makes his dream come true. Alongside him is Sundari (Aparna), his better half, who apart from successfully running a bakery, stays with him through thick and thin in breathing new life into his dream.

Now, let me list the lessons I observed.

1. Empathize with the pain points of your customers:

While serving in the Indian Air Force, knowing his father dying, Nedumaaran rushes to the airport. When trying to purchase a flight ticket, he gets to know that the economy class tickets are fully booked, and he is short of the fare of a business class ticket. As he desperately wants to travel to his native, he even goes on to plead with his fellow passengers for the balance money. Also, he promises that he would return it to them but it goes in vain. So, he resorts to alternate modes of transportation. And by the time, he reaches his native, his father has already died.

Following these series of unpleasant experiences, he doesn’t stop with just painfully running into them but goes on to empathize. He empathizes from the shoes of all those who consider the prevailing pricing of airline tickets unaffordable. That very thought urges him to make the common man fly. And the result is… a low-cost airline.

2. Take into account the value-conscious aspect of the target market:

As a follow-up to empathizing with customers’ pain points, he formulates a business model that enables passengers to buy plane tickets, like they purchase soaps. With India being a value-conscious market, Nedumaaran decides to charge 1000 rupees per ticket as opposed to the market rate of 10,000. Simultaneously, he negates various value-adds. He doesn’t provide newspapers. No extra food or staff. And to top it all, he decides to operate his flights for six trips a day as against the 2 trips by existing players. Eventually, he drops costs but at the same time ensures in delivering a quality service.

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3. Team up with another business to do fusion marketing:

In a chapter of the late American Business Writer Jay Conrad Levinson’s book*, the author has listed twenty ways in which guerrilla marketing differs from the old-fashioned brand of marketing. In one of the ways, the writer defines traditional marketing as an approach, which suggests a brand to observe its industrial market completely to decide which of its competitors are to be utterly defeated by it.

Conversely, he proclaims guerilla marketing as an outlook, which advocates a brand to discover businesses that possess the same kind of potential customers/clients and standards as it does, so that the brand can collaborate with the selected businesses in their marketing endeavors.

By opting for the latter, the author asserts that a brand is expanding its marketing reach, but reducing its marketing cost as it is sharing the expenses with the fellow business. And, he puts forth the term Fusion Marketing, which guerrillas use for this viewpoint.

Now, coming back to the movie. As Nedumaaran partners with his wife Sundari to sell food to his passengers, he provides hospitality to them and at the same time, earns extra money for his family (A collaboration with another catering service would have dented his profit margin).

Towards the climax, a couple of young men, who just completed a trip in Nedumaaran‘s flight, render a casual positive remark over the food. This implies that Sundari‘s expansion of her products beyond her bakery has become fruitful and it’s a win-win situation for the entrepreneurs.

Also Read:

4 Examples of Captivating Fusion Marketing Campaigns (And Why They’re So Great)

These are the 10 Best Burger King Marketing Campaigns of 2018

4. Identify your competitor(s) (If necessary, cut across industries):

Way back in 2019, in a letter to its shareholders, Netflix wrote, “We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO.” This was owing to Netflix considering the online game, ‘Fortnite’ as its competitor in entertaining its customers, and eating up their free time in the process.

Likewise, Nedumaaran doesn’t view another airline that offers flight tickets at relatively affordable prices as his competitor. Instead, with 1,000 rupee tickets – way below market rates – he wants to meet the Indian Railways head-on.

So, for a business, it is essential to identify its competitor(s). If necessary, it has to do so by cutting across industries because sometimes your competitors may end up in another industry, as in the case of Netflix.

That’s it with my observations and interpretations pertaining to the lessons, which businesses can take away from ‘Soorarai Pottru’. Hope you liked reading the write-up. Let me know your opinion(s) in the ‘Comment’ section.

* Guerrilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for making big profits from your small business

Featured image courtesy:

2D Entertainment and Sikhya Entertainment

Actor Suriya in 'Soorarai Pottru'
‘Soorarai Pottru’ goes the breathtaking ‘Red Bull’ way! (But, not exactly)

‘Soorarai Pottru’ goes the breathtaking ‘Red Bull’ way! (But, not exactly)

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Hope you remember the Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s breathtaking descent from over 24 miles (39km) above the earth! It was way back on October 14th, 2012 when the spellbinding feat was achieved as part of the Red Bull Stratos project, wherein the company invested 30$ million and raked in 500$ million through sales.

Whenever I think of Guerrilla Marketing stunts, this famous, record-breaking space jump instantly occurs to me.

Now, here is an instance of Guerrilla Marketing from the makers of Tamil actor Suriya starring ‘Soorarai Pottru’ along the lines of Baumgartner’s astonishing 2012 feat. But, not exactly.

To be more precise, if it was Felix Baumgartner reaching the stratosphere for Red Bull, then it is a board containing the autographs of thousands of Suriya’s fans for ‘Soorarai Pottru’.

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The makers of the movie have orchestrated with a German crew to accomplish this ‘OUT OF THE WORLD’ task by fastening the board to an unmanned high-altitude balloon.

Suriya posted a brief video on this promotional effort, dubbed ‘Tribute to my anbanafans!!’ on November 11th, 2020 to his social media profiles.

The clip provides a glimpse of the board floating across space. Also, the altitude last shown in the video appears to be 35km above the earth! ‘Soorarai Pottru’, the first big-ticket movie from Tamil Film Industry to be directly released on an OTT platform, goes for a world premiere on Amazon Prime Video on November 12th, 2020! The latest Guerrilla Marketing stunt from team ‘Soorarai Pottru’ finishes the movie’s vigorous pre-release promotions on a high note.

Featured image courtesy:

2D Entertainment and Sikhya Entertainment

Hark back to the Interesting Promotions for ‘Cinthol’ and 1967 Tamil Film ‘Adhey Kangal’

Hark back to the Interesting Promotions for ‘Cinthol’ and 1967 Tamil Film ‘Adhey Kangal’

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Being movie enthusiasts, my father and I use to deliberate about them now and then. Recently, my father re-watched the 1967 Tamil mystery thriller, ‘Adhey Kangal’, produced by AVM Productions, on Amazon Prime Video. After watching the flick, he mentioned recollecting a then print marketing strategy for ‘Cinthol’ and A. C. Tirulokachandar’s directorial effort.

He said the production house or the Godrej Consumer Products Company Ltd (GCPL) owned brand had then strategized newspaper advertisements quizzing readers the number of instances on the brand name ‘Cinthol’ featuring in the movie. And, they were asked to mail their answers to the address specified in the advert. Likewise, there was a contest where consumers were encouraged to dispatch ‘Cinthol’ soap’s wrappers by post. Also, the advertisements carried an announcement on considerable rewards for winners of the contests. Thereby, prodding the readers to watch the movie as well as to purchase ‘Cinthol‘ soaps.

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It was a scene from the movie that enabled my father hark back to the strategy.

The narration of the scene sets off with the heroine and her friends shown indulging actively in social work. One among them bathes a couple of kids of the locality. A little one who awaits in queue for his turn carries Cinthol Body Talcum Powder (Probably!) and soap apiece, with the sides of both products carrying the brand name facing the camera. The lady who helps in bathing gets the soap from the kid. And then comes a close-up where the woman shows the brand name more prominently and then unwraps the soap’s cover.

In this day and age when product placement or embedded marketing has become more apparent even in TV News Channels – brand names affixed to laptop’s top cover – it is interesting to know of an instance in yesteryear and the print marketing strategy coupled with it.

‘The Curse of La Llorona’ impressively jumped on the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ bandwagon

‘The Curse of La Llorona’ impressively jumped on the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ bandwagon

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'The Curse of La Llorona' impressively jumped on the 'Avengers : Endgame' bandwagon

It’s a rarity to see a flick in a movie series, generating massive frenzy all over the world before its theatrical release. Now, when I try to recall one such rare movie, Avengers: Endgame of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), pops up without a shadow of a doubt.

Since the movie, Avengers: Infinity War ended in a suspenseful manner, fans were left with utmost anxiety as to not miss the film’s sequel. Also, as the sequel, Avengers: Endgame (22nd movie of MCU) being labeled as the last movie of the franchise, the eagerness among the fans got immense. These aspects laid the groundwork for the “last installment” of one of the most memorable franchises of Hollywood to ride high.

For brands looking to promote their product/services, the movie appeared as a significant vehicle to unleash their prowess in marketing. Thereby, we have been observing various brands impressively riding the Avengers: Endgame wave either by associating themselves with the movie or by ambushing the same.

What appeared more interesting in these strategies was a movie doing a marketing ambush at Avengers: Endgame. Wherein, the ambush extended beyond the universe…SHARED UNIVERSE!

Before describing the movie’s marketing ambush, let me brief about a series of promotional contents shared by Marvel Studios for Avengers: Endgame.

A month before the release of Avengers: End game, a series of character posters featuring the MCU superheroes were shared on social media. Superheroes, who survived the snap of Thanos like Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Thor in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, appeared in full color. Whereas, the heroes, who turned to dust such as T’Challa, Peter Quill and Gamora, appeared in black and white. Also, each poster featured the tagline, ‘AVENGE THE FALLEN’. As the Hollywood Reporter puts, the tagline offered a new definition of the Avengers title and a callback to 2012’s first Avengers movie, wherein Tony Stark told Loki, “If we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn sure we’ll avenge it.”

Check out the character posters below…

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The Curse of La Llorona‘s marketing ambush at Avengers: Endgame:

On 25th April 2019, the day before the release of Endgame, the following poster was released in the social media of the movie, The Curse of La Llorona…

Also Read: Dindigul Thalappakatti’s marketing ambush at the 2019 IPL!

The poster featured the titular character, La Llorona looking off camera and the tagline, ‘AVENGE THE CHILDREN’, rephrasing ‘AVENGE THE FALLEN’. The tagline appeared in a similar font and carried the spark effect from the original posters.

The rephrased text makes more sense to the movie’s crux as La Llorona persistently tries to drown children. Also, the social media post carried the text, ‘Twice the scares, half the time’ with the hashtag, ‘#LaLlorona’.

When all is said and done, it’s really impressive to notice The Curse of La Llorona, the sixth installment in The Conjuring Universe doing a marketing ambush at Avengers: Endgame of Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Photo Courtesy: Fotor and The Curse of La Llorona