by Until a few years back, traditional advertising & promos for movies consisted of the following things
- Sticking movie posters on the walls in all the streets
- Movie Trailers in TV and also song clippings in music channels
- Playing the songs in radio stations weeks before the movie release
- Asking singers to do unplugged versions in TV/Radio and describe how the movie and song was created
- Huge cut-outs of heroes (around 15-20 ft. high) in the main roads,esp near theatres
- Newspaper and magazine ads with details on film crew, release date and theatre list
- Preview shows for the press and media to write articles on why one should look forward for the movie
A lot of the above points definitely do exist even today, but relatively in smaller proportions. Film production companies have understood that the movie engagement with fans is less in traditional channels. Instead, if they opt for a social medium, they enjoy free publicity and sharing of movie info by your audience itself through the internet. The cost of advertising spend is drastically reduced as most of work is done by your audience itself
A film company now has to merely upload the following things in YouTube in this specific order
- Song Teaser
- First Single
- Film Teaser
- Film Trailer
and a few months after movie release, the whole movie itself is uploaded on YouTube too
YouTube being a video content sharing medium has a phenomenal impact on Indian cinema, to say the least. Films that may have otherwise flopped due to low promotional spends, has seen an upsurge in ticket sales thanks to a million likes and share in YouTube
YouTube’s another key impact is on monetization. An unofficial estimate states that, for every one hundred thousand views YouTube pays out around 200$ to the owner. This is quite amazing compared to the several lakh rupees film producers pay to have it telecasted on TV
Prediction of Success: The engagement of the film through YouTube with its songs, trailers and interviews, can be a direct measure in predicting the success of the movie in mainstream markets
Remember Kolaveri, the famous Dhanush single from the movie 3? A song that went viral with several million hits in YouTube across India, not just TamilNadu. If the same song was telecasted only in TV and radio channels, it would have never become famous, probably even a flop.
The 20-30 second ad content in the beginning of the video and related clicks are also benefiting the producers as an extra source of income.
YouTube videos are easy to share across other social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, thereby improving the visibility. This impacts not only local, regional and national markets, but also international markets. A person sitting in a different part of the world, with no access to Indian TV channels can watch all his favourite actors’ movie and upcoming movie trailers through YouTube
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
