In the marketing game, budgets for film promos are increasingly becoming as important as films themselves

Teasing with teasers

In the marketing game, budgets for film promos are increasingly becoming as important as films themselves

Marketing and promotions can either make or break the film. Earlier Bollywood has seen several new tactics and promotional strategies that production houses come up with. In certain cases, the films marketing budget has overshot the stipulated budget and the producers have pumped in more money to get the audience attention. From jumping atop a multi-storey to kissing on screen, actors have resorted to all this and even more, but of late the latest trend in Bollywood seems to be that of teaser campaigns and success parties. Anubhav Sinha's Ra.One starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan recently held a teaser launch to unveil the promos and the teasers of the sci-fi film. The event was held on a large scale for the unveiling as Anubhav had booked an entire screen at a suburban multiplex. Talking about this growing trend, Anubhav says, "It really depends on the kind of the film and the budget allotted for marketing. Nowadays, the audience have so many options with television, radio and the internet that it becomes difficult to grab their attention. It is not just about spending money, you need to take efforts to entice them. Stars are now going all out and reaching out to the audience and that is a great thing. I think it is a good phenomenon that everyone is now taking an equal amount of interest in the film." Actor Abhay Deol too thinks that a few of his films like Manorama Six Feet Under and a few others would have worked, had they been promoted and marketed well. Trade analyst Amod Mehra opines, "In the 70's and the 80's, film premieres were the order of the day. It would only happen for big films and they were also reserved for a few theatres. The premieres would be followed by dinner at a five-star hotel. Around 2008, the entire scenario changed and production houses understood the importance of marketing and now instead of spending 20-25 lakh on five or six different events, the team now finds it financially viable to have a promo or teaser launch. A success party is usually held to silence the critics who trashed their film."