Kabali fever is here, but do innovative campaigns work each time?

Here's how a low marketing budget is a good thing.
Kabali fever is here, but do innovative campaigns work each time?
Kabali fever is here, but do innovative campaigns work each time?

Yes, Rajinikanth's “Kabali” has gone all out, and by all out we mean, really far out. An international appeal, airlines, coins, and emojis notwithstanding, it's time to acknowledge simplistic campaigns of films that have worked. 

Easy, breezy marketing campaigns of hit films


Srimanthudu

If fans liked the cycle superstar Mahesh Babu used in Telugu blockbuster “Srimanthudu”, you could own it. Viewers and fans were given the chance to take it home. In the film, Mahesh used a Cannondale Scalpel Carbon 3 cycle, worth almost Rs.3,50,000. A website was even set up for those interested.  They could bid for the cycle at http://www.iamsrimanthudu.com by donating a minimum of Rs.999. The highest bidder got to take home the cycle. As for the film, it did decently at the box office.  

Jannal Oram

Tamil romantic-drama "Jannal Oram", which unfolds in a bus, resorted to a unique strategy too - its audio was unveiled at several busy bus stops. The idea was to promote the story, not the film, said the film's director Karu Pazhaniappan. “They realized that since the bus is a recurring character in the film, they decided to launch the audio of our film at several bus stands," he said. This movie did well too.

Bangalore Days

Days before the release of blockbuster hit, “Bangalore Days”, it was touted as perhaps the first Malayalam film to have been promoted using WhatsApp. The key element of marketing was releasing titbits of information about the film and the characters in a phased manner. So much so, that their phones crashed.

They started off with content introduction – letting out small details of the movie. For instance, that the three main leads (played by Nivin Pauly, Nazriya Nazim and Dulquer Salmaan) are cousins and revealed posters with the three of them. Nivin even posted videos of him interacting with his on-screen cousins to further the storyline into reality.

Ennakul Oruvan

For Siddharth's Tamil venture, “Enakkul Oruvan”, there weren't any posters of the hero or heroine. Instead there were pictures of the present and past of Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Ajith, Vijay to keep with the theme of the film. A way of showing the growth and journey towards stardom of these superstars took social media by storm.

Adhugo

Telugu film “Adhugo” that's based on a pig, has prompted huge hype for the film which is yet to hit screens. But here's their campaign - they plan to bring the pig to all press conferences and premieres. Whether this could serve as a good omen or not, oinkly time will tell.

Films that marketing couldn't save

Kochadaiyyan

In Rajinikanth's “Kochadaiyyan”, there ended up more dues to pay for the marketing budget. Not even Thalaivar could save it. The film went all out, tying up with Hungama for a series of games based on the movie, another one for a comic book as well. Collectibilia, was also roped in to exploit merchandising and tied up with Karbonn Mobiles for a 'Kochadaiyaan' range of devices. Ostentatious and overly ambitious, “Kochadaiyaan” was a lost cause and flopped.

24

Suriya's “24” kept it minimal, but the damage was done with bad reviews and mixed audience reactions. Offering kids magic watches which were just bright pieces of plastic was the last resort. They tried another one - giving away these magic watches to people who voted and showed their ink to watch 24. 

Moral of the story, you don't need 100 crore rupees to run a successful marketing campaign for a film. Or an airline. Or fanaticism.

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