7 Movie Marketing trends that are re-shaping the industry

Industry experts share movie marketing trends to be seen in the movie and entertainment space that has thrived over the years with some uber cool innovations.

From those glossy, vibrant portraits of the "hero-heroine" of a film outside the cinema hall to today’s moving teaser posters, Bollywood has come a long way when it comes to movie marketing. Gone are the days when a film heavily relied on word-of-mouth.  Today we see Instagram handles of Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra posting each other's photos showering praises on how good the duo is as best friends. While a lot of users adored their photo-conversations, many assumed that it just a marketing gimmick for their upcoming movie ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’.  

From increasing a movie's shelf life to helping a niche reach masses - these movie marketing trends are re-shaping the industry completely.

1. The arrival of digital

With apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and content playing an important role, a major shift will happen from digital being a social media marketing platform to a wholesome digital marketing platform. Co-branding of products in movies to co-branding on digital spectrum will take over.

2. Content around Content to be the driving force

The more content you generate the better your performance. Use of content creators to influence audiences will continue to rise. Engagement will move beyond likes & shares; and will be focused on consumers creating their own content around yours. Use of multiple creatives for different sets of consumers; there will be no scope for a one size fits all.

Analysis and hyper analysis of all spends based on ROI rather than pure reach will be a given.

Also Read: Changing dynamics of Movie Marketing: Are digital efforts translating into in-theater leads

3. Augmented Reality and high tech on the go

Facebook and Instagram are used to engage with fans and viewers, offering them snackable content and also hosting Facebook Live interactions for promotions. The bot, which allows the movie makers to incentivise users for engagement, works as a native ticketing platform. Augmented reality will pick up in India as will gaming which will be the new platforms for marketing movies.

Due in part to Netflix, 4K is becoming the feature production and post-production standard, is becoming a norm. The latest home televisions are technically superior to theatre screens. While theatres offer unique scale and community, they will need new image technology to keep their audience.

4. Focus to shift from only lead actors to the crew’s contribution

Typical niche movies have managed to go mainstream, due to innovative digital movie marketing; in fact new audiences have been created for niche genres, thanks to social media. Respect/awareness from audience beyond the focus on hero/heroine – now screenplay, cinematographer, director, locations, music directors are discussed – character actors celebrated – as digital movie marketing has enabled such discussions within / amongst audiences.

5. Popularity of niche cinema: India vs Global

While India is still basking in the glory of adopting niche cinema and in an exploratory stage of consuming new formats of theatrical content. Globally the content battle is far ahead where there is significant battle of media giants and studios to explode. Netflix has announced that it plans to spend USD 8 billion in 2018, on some 700 series and 80 feature films. Amazon is the other elephant in the streaming room, and is catching up with Netflix, investing USD 5 billion in Content. Disney’s entry in the space is the biggest disruption to both worlds – studio and streaming. Facebook is testing various hypotheses at a USD 1 billion investment and next year we predict them to make a major play in this space.

6. Snapchat on the rise

Snapchat usage has grown significantly with one studio or another going to leverage Discover, Snapchat’s news section, even if it’s just for a limited time. Back in the middle of the year Snapchat was said to be talking with Hollywood about producing more original content for the platform, so it would make sense for one of the studios to get a short-term placement within Discover around the time of a major release.

7. Influencer Marketing - The BIG game

There is an increasing trend to use influencer marketing initiatives to promote movies. Top stars on YouTube, Instagram and other platforms have signed with the same entertainment talent agents who represent Hollywood stars. That means the distance between the two worlds is shrinking and will continue to do so as influencers join the roster or specialized agencies and otherwise formalize their businesses.

As vloggers and digital creators become stars in their own right, from the few innovations done today, marketing teams will be devoting significant effort around them just like they would with a Kapil show on TV.

The article has inputs from Rudrarup Datta – Head of Marketing, Viacom18 Motion Pictures; Pranay Anthwal, Executive Director, Publicis Entertainment; Saurabh Kanwar, Co-founder, Flarepath and ATKT.in; Manish Kumar, CEO of Digi Osmosis and Imran Shamsi, Founder, What Works give their insights on the trends.