Case Study: Role of digital marketing in Stree's 100 Crore club entry

Brand Introduction

Stree, a comedy-horror film of the year 2018, directed by Amar Kaushik and produced by Dinesh Vijan, Raj Nidimoru, and Krishna D.K.  The film stars Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor. 

Summary

• Campaign was kick-started with circulating information about the ‘Legend of Stree’ via Wikipedia & Digital PR along with an activity where Shraddha Kapoor archived her Instagram posts with a 3 posts grid which read ‘Mard Ko Dard Hoga’, following which memes were circulated all around and another activity #StreeSeSafe where fans ended up changing their Twitter headers to ‘O Stree Kal Aana’ in order to save themselves from Stree. A day prior to the launch, Rajkummar Rao archived his Instagram posts to a 3 posts grid which read ‘O Stree Kal Aana.’
• On the day of the trailer launch, the key poster was launched digitally with a call to action about trailer launch. The offline trailer launch was covered digitally. Keeping the horror factor in mind, the trailer launch happened at night around 8 pm. Additionally, users who participated in #StreeSeSafe activity also tweeted the trailer link through their profiles which generated great traction.

• Throughout the campaign, we released 4 songs along with their makings digitally and 5 dialogue promos which were shot exclusively and were not a part of the film which traveled well.
• To amplify the buzz & to engage fans, a series of contests were run across platforms which gained good traction.

• Offline activities such as #SpotStree & Stree Mirror Prank were amplified digitally.

• During the release week, multiple activities, as well as a Facebook Live session with the cast, was conducted which gave the film a final push.

Objective

• One of the key objectives while running the campaign was to establish the curiosity factor around the film, its one of a kind genre along with establishing a recall value around the film & its release date.

• Since the film is based on a true phenomenon, another key objective was to build the legend of Stree for a larger audience digitally.

• Another important objective was to sustain the hype around the film, keep the audiences hooked and drive ticket sales.

Creative Idea

1. Entire campaign was executed across Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
2. Majority of the assets were cross-promoted by a number of top portals which helped in wide visibility & amplification.
3. A number of digital associations such as RVCJ, Miss Malini, Arre, Terribly Tiny Tales, Pinkvilla etc. for the film helped in spreading the word around the film as well as create meaningful conversations.

Execution

As the film is based on a true phenomenon, one of the biggest challenges was to spread awareness about ‘The Legend of Stree’ among online audiences. There was a two-way approach for this:

1. Circulate the information via Wikipedia –

A Wikipedia page for ‘Stree’ was created where the plot along with a few details without giving out the entire story of the film was updated. This helped grab a good amount of eyeballs as none of the information was misleading and came from a reliable source.

2. Websites, Influencer Outreach -   

Topmost websites, as well as influencers, had ‘Mard Ko Dard Hoga’ on their social media handles along with ‘Legend Of Stree’ articles floating around on the websites. This helped in spreading the word as well as garnered traction.

• The main campaign for the film 'Stree' kic-started where Shraddha Kapoor archived her Instagram posts, leaving the profile with a 3 posts grid of “MARD KO DARD HOGA”, which is the tagline of the film, with no profile picture. The purpose behind this was to grab all the eyeballs and to build curiosity among people as to who is 'Stree' and why the tagline Mard Ko Dard Hoga?

• A follow-up activity #StreeSeSafe was done where fans ended up changing their Twitter headers to ‘O Stree Kal Aana’ in order to save themselves from Stree. An extension to this was the users tweeting the trailer as and when it launches.

• A day prior to the launch, Rajkummar Rao archived his Instagram posts to a 3 posts grid which read ‘O Stree Kal Aana.’

• In an exclusive tie-up with JIO Studios, the trailer of the film was launched exclusively on the JIO Cinema App first.
• On the day of Lunar Eclipse, a creative was put out with the messaging “Stree Ke Saaye Se TO Chand Bhi Nahi Bach Paaya!”

View this post on Instagram

#Stree ke saaye se toh chaand bhi nahi bach paaya! #LunarEclipse @ShraddhaKapoor @Rajkummar_Rao #DineshVijan @amarkaushik @pankajtri3 @Aparshakti_khurana @nowitsabhi #D2RFilms @krishna.dk @rajanddk @officialjiocinema @tseries.official

A post shared by Maddock Films (@maddockfilms) on Jul 27, 2018 at 11:35am PDT

• • The first song from the film, ‘Milegi Milegi’ was popularised via multiple memes with the ‘Milegi Milegi’ angle to every situation. As an extension to this, Shraddha Kapoor interacted with a few fans keeping the ‘Milegi Milegi’ angle as its highlight. The idea was to popularise the lyrics of the song.

• Amidst the usual contests floating on the internet, the song ‘Kamariya’ had a different twist post the launch. Fans & followers witnessed ‘Nora Fatehi’ shaking her ‘Kamariya’ wherever she went with the messaging ‘Jaha bhi ho apni Kamariya Hilao’and asking users to send in their versions. The #KamariyaHilaDeChallenge was taken up by fans across the globe.

View this post on Instagram

#Kamariya Pe Kamariya hilana toh banta hai! Jahaan bhi ho Kamariya hilaao & stand a chance to win cool goodies ? #KamariyaHilaDeChallenge P.S. Don't forget to challenge your friends ;) (Swipe for more) @shraddhakapoor @Rajkummar_Rao #DineshVijan @amarkaushik @pankajtri3 @Aparshakti_khurana @nowitsabhi @norafatehi @soulfulsachin @jigarsaraiya @aasthagill @aslidivyakumar #VAYU #D2RFilms @krishna.dk @rajanddk @pvijan @officialjiocinema @tseries.official

A post shared by Maddock Films (@maddockfilms) on Aug 10, 2018 at 12:43am PDT

• Throughout the campaign, sustenance posts were pushed through innovative pegs. Festivals as well as special days such as Independence Day, Friendship Day, Rakshabandhan etc. Posts had the ‘Stree’ angle to it.

• The dialogue promos shot exclusively for the digital campaign were pushed out with a unique context for each one which helped create buzz around the characters as well as the film.

Views   

Views

• Throughout the campaign, a series of relatable memes for ‘Mard Ko Dard Hoga’, ‘Milegi Milegi’ & ‘Aao Kabhi Haveli Pe’ which traveled well and ended up creating conversations and curiosity for the campaign as well as asset launches.

• Close to the film release, ‘Don’t Turn Around’ activity was observed across platforms which gave out the message of how one should not turn back if they want to save themselves from Stree.

Challenges

• One of the topmost challenges were to create curiosity around the legend of Stree & keeping the fans intrigued till the film release without revealing Stree’s identity. Whether Shraddha Kapoor is  Stree or not was one of the talking points throughout the campaign and curiosity was to be maintained for the same.
• Since the film belongs to a niche genre of horror comedy, another challenge was to make sure that the campaign reaches out to a larger number of audience and isn’t limited to a particular set of viewers.
• With an influx of movies releasing with and around the film, another challenge was to make sure that Stree stands out amongst its competitors.

Also Read: Case Study: Mahindra Finance Company’s #IAmIndia attempted to transform rural India

Results

1. The film grossed over 30 Crores on its opening weekend and is about to enter the 100 Crore club.
2. The positive box-office numbers proved that the curiosity & intrigue around the film and its content was successfully established.

"Filmmakers today understand the importance of the digital medium & it’s direct impact on box office collections. While devising the marketing plan of Stree we decided to have a digital-first approach. The film & its storytelling lends itself to the audience that first hears of any news via social media. The film is a marketing success with digital marketing’s contribution in the forefront" said Dinesh Vijan, Producer at Maddock Films.

"Stree was a unique opportunity given the premise & the unexplored horror comedy genre which allowed us to experiment with the promotions as well. It’s worked fantastically and it’s been a great learning for all of us," said Nikita Khandelwal , Head of Strategy at WWO