Film promotion, marketing budgets to take a 20-30% hit post covid
2 min read . Updated: 01 Jul 2020, 04:34 PM IST- Bollywood promotional budgets, which in some cases, can go as high as ₹25-30 crore, have comprised common drills
NEW DELHI : The aggressive marketing campaigns for Bollywood’s top movie titles, some of which extend over a couple of months, are expected to take a significant hit post covid as studios and producers deal with limited cash flows, slashing budgets by 20-30%.
“Logically, anything that requires physical interaction or engagement will go under the axe given the reasoning against gathering of crowds and the threat to everyone’s health," said Shikha Kapur, chief operating officer, studios, Eros International Media Ltd. “This is however, an opportunity to build a robust digital ecosystem that can measure impact and value going forward, and can lead to efficiencies in planning," Kapur added.
Kapur, has in the past, worked on campaigns for films like Sanju produced by Fox Star Studios, which were completely digital-focused.
Bollywood promotional budgets, which in some cases, can go as high as ₹25-30 crore, have comprised common drills such as city tours, college, mall and sporting event visits, reality show appearances and newspaper ads. These are not feasible anymore.
“Adaptability is going to be key for any business now and while fundamentals such as a trailer launch will still be big, a physical event may not happen and a digital launch will be bigger," said Rudrarup Datta, marketing head, Viacom18 Studios.
He added that deployment of media may shift over the coming months, though television will still remain important to drive awareness and reach. Tactically, reality show appearances that would include mingling with a large crowd would now perhaps be replaced by integrations with fiction shows shot in-studio.
“Large-format events would be out of the window, city tours are not happening any time soon and while press interactions will continue, many may happen online. Marketing will assume a critical role now as it will be needed to not only create awareness for the film but also to catalyse consumer traction to bring them back to theatres," Datta added.
In-cinema promotions, too may shift more to digital platforms such as ticketing sites or advertising-led video streaming services. Radio which primarily helped with music marketing, may not be nearly as big, because people could cut down on travel time by working from home. Engaging multiple PR agencies and getting large entourages to travel with actors would also be a no.
Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO and co-founder of digital agency TheSmallBigIdea said the digital marketing agenda has been escalated by four to five months. While overall marketing spends may come down, digital alone will see a spike of 30-40%.
Siddharth Anand Kumar, vice-president, films and television, Saregama India that has produced Netflix originals such as Axone and Chaman Bahaar said digital-first companies like theirs had focused on social media and YouTube advertising for quite some time now, besides influencer marketing on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, before the recent controversies.
“Big marketing campaigns often stem from the presence of a star and thus create more noise. Rationalization in costs will now take the conversation towards more merit-focused films," Kumar said.
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