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Film producers are using the popularity and reach of TV programmes to market their movies, writes Anurag Sharma
IT may have started as a mere experiment but its all-round success has made film producers take recourse to using the popularity and reach of TV soaps to market their movies. No surprise that actress Katrina Kaif recently made her debut on the small screen to promote her flick Singh Is Kinng. "Hindi television serials have become one of the major sources of entertainment and advertising gateway for promoting upcoming Hindi movies today. According to our TV ratings, viewership sees an unprecedented rise if the star-cast of a film comes on TV soap. And it is informative also as people come to know about the story," says Amit Varma, CEO, Audience Measurement and Analytics Ltd (aMap). "When actors Aamir Khan and Imran Khan came to promote Jaane Tu`85 Ya Jaane Na on Salman Khan’s Dus Ka Dum, the show got one of the highest TRPs on that day. This is just an extension of other promotional technique on television," he adds. Ekta Kapoor, who started
this trend, advertised her films like Krishna Cottage through
her leading daily soaps and Similarly, before the release of Taare Zameen Par, director Aamir Khan and the child actor from the film came on a singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. The latest movie Singh is King was promoted by a special appearance of Katrina Kaif for a special episode of Baa Bahu aur Baby recently. "I think in today’s world, promoting through only one medium is not enough. And TV serials are just an extension of marketing strategies. If a star of a film comes on a TV serial, it helps in increase in both the serial and the film," says Imran Ali, VP Marketing & Communications, UTV Movies. "Movies to move the audience have to be marketed competently with effective promotion, proper distribution channels, and state-of-the-art facilities and so on. Movies are promoted with a target audience, which eventually determines the box office success rates. And these soaps have a very good reach among the viewers and so can connect easily with the audience," he adds. Adds Varma, "The motto behind promotional activities is to draw the audience to the cinema halls. Any gimmick would sell provided it gels with the target audience’ mindscape." Film critic Taran Adarsh says that the reach of small medium has now become so huge that Bollywood has to keep experimenting with different promotional techniques. "Avenues have changed. Some television serials are so popular that even housewives who really don’t care about films, get to know about it after seeing the stars in their favourite soap." The trend of marketing films started with cross selling of brands by way of organising events, brand promotion of merchandised stationeries and commodities, for example, Don with Tag Heuer and Louis Philippe and Krrish with consumer brands like Hrithik’s mask, Tiffin boxes, bottles, stationery and Coca Cola had a tie up with Dhoom 2. After this comes music albums as a tool to promote films. Kabul Express was advertised using a music album while it was primarily a song-less movie. Even director like Ashutosh Gowarikar admits that television is a strong medium to promote the film. Asked if this is the sole reason to organise the world TV premiere of his film Jodhaa Akba so soon, he says, "Yes. I think television has a huge reach. I have added some special footage in the film, like the scenes of Akbar-Birbal are new. I want everyone from children to senior citizens to watch the film and I know only small screen can do it." — PTI
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