Best Marketing Gimmicks of 2011

DELHI BELLY One witnessed how Aamir Khan’s marketing strategies are as unique as the man himself. The marketing magic of his earlier films were applied to his experimental film Delhi Belly too, Read More">a film that was rejected by may producers till Aamir khan decided to take it under his wings. Aamir Khan came up withRead More

DELHI BELLY

One witnessed how Aamir Khan's marketing strategies are as unique as the man himself. The marketing magic of his earlier films were applied to his experimental film Delhi Belly too, a film that was rejected by may producers till Aamir khan decided to take it under his wings.

Aamir Khan came up with the following unique marketing strategies:

D.K. Bose Success bash
One has to say that, Aamir made it possible by making the 'controversial' song Bhaag D.K. Bose a semi national anthem, courtesy its unique marketing strategies. For the first time ever a bash was held for the success of a super hit track.

Karaoke Jukebox
An interactive video channel on YouTube was created, wherein the movie makers had created a Karaoke Jukebox containing the film's songs. Users could select any of the eight different tracks and also read its lyrics on the jukebox.

Reverse Psychology
Telling people not to do a something is sometimes the best way to get the work done. Aamir used this reverse psychology by telling people who had reservation about the film's content not to watch the film, which made audiences further curious about the film and they went to watch the film.

Funky T-shirts
The hugely popular Delhi Belly tracks were incorporate in their funky T shirts promoted widely by the Delhi Belly trio.

RA.ONE Touted as a savvy marketer, Shah Rukh Khan very well understands the need and power of marketing and when you are making Bollywood’s most expensive film, Read More">you have got to go all out with the promotions. Ra.One had possibly one of the longest marketing campaigns in the history of Bollywood movie marketing spanning overRead More

RA.ONE

Touted as a savvy marketer, Shah Rukh Khan very well understands the need and power of marketing and when you are making Bollywood's most expensive film, you have got to go all out with the promotions. Ra.One had possibly one of the longest marketing campaigns in the history of Bollywood movie marketing spanning over a period of approx 10 months with tie-ups worth Rs. 52 crores with over 30 brands. SRK's magnum opus Ra.One redefined the ways movies are being marketed in India.

First look unveiled during World Cup telecast
SRK gave Ra.One the best start ever by showcasing a 10 seconds teaser over 6 months before release during the first quarter finals of World Cup Cricket, 2011. The frequency of these teasers was at least once every hour ensuring that no one misses having a glimpse of 2011's most anticipated film.

Magnificant Audio launch
With over Rs. 10 crores being spent on its music launch, the audio launch of Ra.One was the grandest any film has ever had, with King of B-town in his superhero avatar landing on the stage from top and lifting a car like a superman. This is the first time ever that the entire audio launch was telecast on TV.

Merchandising
As far as Bollywood is concerned, we have not yet seen any film with such exclusive movie merchandise products. Ra.One is the first movie in India to come up with an all exclusive store having merchandise for the people to purchase. Products like piggy banks, pencil box, notebooks, sippers and lunchbox were sold as a part of this movie's promotional gimmick.

Video Games and Comics
While video games related to movies is a very popular concept in Hollywood, for the first time in Bollywood, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) along with Red Chillies released a Play Station 3 game for Ra.One featuring all the characters. Also, it was the first movie to come up with a comic series showcasing the characters and promoting the film. Even iPad and Android apps were available for Ra.One movie.

Online Marketing
YouTube launched the official customized 'Ra.One channel'(a first for an Indian film) of the film, where several song and theatrical promos were released to the public, along with videos of the film's making, events and uncut footage. There were also videos of Shah Rukh sharing his thoughts and views on Ra.One and more. While Ra.One's official Facebook page has more than 3 lakh likes page, the film also had a tie up Google+, Google's social networking platform.

Other Tie-ups
The other tie ups include kiddies favourite McDonald's where the Happy Meal included G.One toy action figures, Godrej Appliances 'G.ONE MEIN EK BAR OFFER', Horlicks Nerolac, Western Union Money Transfer, UTV Indiagames, Videocon, Nokia, Coke, ESPN Star Sports and Cinthol amongst others.

The aggressive marketing worked as Ra.One went on to break all box office opening records.

They say that ‘If you can flirt with a Bollywood film’s marketing, then nothing can stop it from becoming a blockbuster’. Well, the year 2011 saw aggressive marketing of many Bollywood films. While a few paid rich dividends to its makers, Read More">others didn’t. Bollywood Hungama looks back in the year gone by and brings toRead More

They say that 'If you can flirt with a Bollywood film's marketing, then nothing can stop it from becoming a blockbuster'. Well, the year 2011 saw aggressive marketing of many Bollywood films. While a few paid rich dividends to its makers, others didn't. Bollywood Hungama looks back in the year gone by and brings to you a handful of films that was marketed in many creative and aggressive ways.

RAGINI MMS

In order to promote her supernatural theme based film Ragini MMS, the ever so dynamic Ekta Kapoor came up with the following unique marketing strategies:

Auto-rickshaw tie ups
She did a tie up with around 2500 auto-rickshaws in Mumbai, each of the rickshaws sporting a sticker "Ragini Ka MMS dekha kya?" Ekta reasoned it saying that since Ragini MMS was a solid product, different ways of marketing a film without splurging was important.

Blood stained beds
Being a paranormal film, a blood stained bed with the words "Ragini was here!" were placed at many multiplexes, which caught on like wild fire amongst the cine-goers.

'Punch The Pervert' Application
This was an application on Facebook, for which the status message read as 'Run for cover, perverts'. The application was intentionally released on the International Women's Day and was intended to hit out at all the pervert men through the networking site.

Midnight Premiere
Ekta took one bold step that nobody had ever even thought of, by planning a horror theme-based midnight premiere for her film.

With all this and more, this film went onto rake in the moolah for Ekta, who is rightly called as the Czarina of the silver screen. Take a bow, Ekta!

Read More">DON 2 The team of Excel left no stone unturned when it came to the marketing aspects of the film. Don says The “Don says…” one-liners posted weekly on YouTube became the new catchphrases. Catchy dialogues from the film like “Don Ke Dushman Ko Ye Baat Hamesha Yaad Rakhani Chaiye Ki Don Kabhi Kuchh NahiRead More

DON 2

The team of Excel left no stone unturned when it came to the marketing aspects of the film.

Don says
The "Don says..." one-liners posted weekly on YouTube became the new catchphrases. Catchy dialogues from the film like "Don Ke Dushman Ko Ye Baat Hamesha Yaad Rakhani Chaiye Ki Don Kabhi Kuchh Nahi Bhoolta..." became a rage with the audience. These dialogues were showcased at cinemas halls and even washrooms, thus trying to catch more eyeballs.

Comic fare
The comic book titled "Don: The Origin", was officially launched at Mumbai's first ever Comic Con Express, where the books were distributed to fans free of cost. The comic is on the origin of Don and fills in details on the making of Don, thus acting as a prequel to the sequel.

3D Invitation
Famous newspapers carried a front-page invitation from Farhan Akhtar for the 3D music premiere of the movie on Google +Hangout - with a pair of 3D glasses. The strategy was to attract audiences as the movie was released in 2D as well as 3D.

"Meet the Don 2: Mission Berlin" Contest
Microsoft India came up with "Meet the Don 2: Mission Berlin" Contest, a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a free trip to the beautiful, historic city of Berlin and also to meet SRK.

Don 2 Bobbleheads
SRK's became the first Bollywood star to have 'bobblehead' figurine of his character from Don 2.

Read More">THE DIRTY PICTURE Ekta Kapoor came up with innovative ideas once again for the promotions of her film The Dirty Picture. She also hired a PR agency that specializes in promoting films in non-metropolitan India as they had a universal theme with a mass connect and required to be marketed differently in different regions ofRead More

THE DIRTY PICTURE

Ekta Kapoor came up with innovative ideas once again for the promotions of her film The Dirty Picture. She also hired a PR agency that specializes in promoting films in non-metropolitan India as they had a universal theme with a mass connect and required to be marketed differently in different regions of the country.

First look launch at Gaiety Galaxy cinema
Giving a miss to upscale multiplexes and five star hotels, Ekta Kapoor decided to launch the first look of her film The Dirty Picture at Bandra's Gaiety Galaxy- a theatre for the masses. Since the film is set in the 80s, a time when multiplexes did not exist, the producers thought it would be apt to disclose the first look at a single screen. The space was especially decorated to recreate the retro era. The crowds were shocked to see Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and director Milan Luthria in their midst and welcomed them with a huge applause and whistles.

Free for all audio launch
The makers of The Dirty Picture invited the public at large to attend the audio launch event with friends and family to kick off a 'dirty' weekend at a free for all public event. The event was held at a mall recreating the colourful 80s era in Mumbai and had dazzling live performances by the film's stars and singers.

Vidya Balan on the cover of Hindi magazine Manohar Kahaniya
Vidya Balan was on the cover of the popular Hindi magazine Manohar Kahaniya because the makers felt that it will sell the film better in B and C-tier towns. As the magazine is known for "raunchy" content, the cover only promises the truth behind the film. By putting Vidya Balan on the cover of the magazine, the marketers of The Dirty Picture explored the film's chances of finding and including a new audience.

Promotions at The Parliament.
During the promotions in Delhi, the crew decided to go one step ahead and headed to the Parliament to promote the film. Emraan Hashmi visited the Parliament to distribute copies of the music CDs to the MPs, including the Union Minister of State for Tourism Sultan Ahmed. This was the first time ever that an Indian actor got a chance to promote the film in the parliament.

Vidya Balan goes on a Tram ride
Vidya Balan left no stone unturned to promote her film The Dirty Picture. For promoting her film in Kolkata also known as the 'City of Joy', Vidya went on a tram ride. Vidya along with her team got the opportunity to ride a 200 year old heritage tram in Kolkata. The tram took Vidya across the famous landmarks of the city. It was the first time a tram was made available for a film promotion.

Invites in Multiplex washrooms
The marketing team of The Dirty Picture had enticing pink lipstick-smeared put up in multiples washrooms to attract the audience to watch the film. Even if you were at the theatre to watch another film, a visit to the washroom would have convinced you to watch The Dirty Picture.