Now, actors resort to marketing gimmicks to promote films  

January 11, 2010

Taking a cue from the advertising industry, Bollywood actors are now seen adopting unique and innovative marketing strategies to promote their films, reports PTI.

Gone are the days when the marketing and publicity of a cinematic venture was limited to illustrious film posters, giant billboards, movie merchandising, television advertisements, pre-release media hype, etc.

Superstar Aamir Khan travelled across the country in disguise, Shahid Kapoor and Genelia D'Souza spent a night together in a car, Amitabh Bachchan read news on a TV channel, while actress Neha Dhupia threw condoms at a college crowd, all this to publicise their films.

After these below-the-line activities, marketing parlance for non-mass media promotions, were successful in creating a positive buzz around these films, it has now caused quite a flutter among the movie-making fraternity and triggered a new race for fresh and more aggressive marketing methods.

"Bollywood is now using the latest marketing techniques to attract more eyeballs. Previously they used to think they knew everything about marketing films and assumed that just putting up billboards and media advertisements were enough to promote their films," advertising guru Alyque Padamsee told PTI.

Mr Padmasee says that he approves the current trend in Bollywood. "It's good for the industry that they have finally realised the importance of marketing and are innovating. Whether you are selling a movie or 'bhelpuri', you need to have proper marketing," he says.

As part of his unique strategy promoting '3 Idiots', Aamir Khan roamed around the country for two weeks in disguise and challenged his fans to spot him.

Similarly, to hype his pet-project 'Veer' and to change his 'bad boy of Bollywood' image, actor Salman Khan had recently announced a hunt for unsung heroes who had performed acts of heroism in their lives.

Also, megastar Amitabh Bachchan (often called ‘Big B’), who is cast as a media magnate in upcoming film 'Rann' was recently seen reading news on a TV channel giving a year-end news roundup.

The film's director Ram Gopal Verma says he plans to distribute a ten-page daily newspaper 'Rann Times' till the commercial release of the film.

"Good marketing has produced good results at the box office. That old belief that the merit of the film shall eventually emerge victorious has long since been overridden.

By the time you wait for the merit to show its face, five other films have shown their merits," blogged the Big B.
— Moneylife Digital Team