Film makers using digital media to attract fans

Movie makers have found a digital way to create a buzz around their films. For instance, the poster of Aamir Khan-starrer PK, unveiled just six days ago, has grabbed close to 2 million views on YouTube.

While the trailer of the upcoming Hollywood flick Fifty Shades of Grey took the internet by storm, amassing about 36 million views on YouTube in a week, the teaser of Hrithik Roshan starrer Bang Bang, which is slated for release in October, crossed the 10-million views mark within 10 days of its release.

“The core target audience for a movie is the youth, which is heavily present on the social media and online platforms. Hence, a natural fit. With word of mouth being a critical component to aid buzz, social media marketing ends up playing an important role,” said Rudrarup Datta, VP , Marketing, at Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

Viacom18 Motion Pictures’ co-production,

Mary Kom, starring Priyanka Chopra, grabbed one million views within the first four days of its teaser release, while the movie’s trailer has got over 2.5 million views.

Shikha Kapur, Chief Marketing Officer of Fox Star Studios India, the producers of Bang Bang , said: “The digital medium and social networks have become a significant part of the overall movie marketing strategy today. Not only is it important to get movie buffs to sample the teaser, it is also important to engage with them through conversations on social media.”

Rising spends Movie studios say spends on digital platforms have increased from 5 per cent to almost 10 per cent of the overall marketing spends in the last two years. These spends vary from movie to movie.

In fact, movie studios are going beyond the release of teasers, trailers and posters by conducting Google hangouts with the cast, live streaming music launches, and holding contests, besides sharing exclusive content with their Facebook followers first.

Gautam Anand, Director of Content and Operations, YouTube, Asia-Pacific, said: “We have been working closely with Indian movie studios, which have been the frontrunners in working on integrating YouTube in their movie launch strategy. Promos, live hangouts, contests, live streaming music launches… YouTube really has become an integral part of the movie release process.”