Marketing Ghajini: Bollywood's Biggest Blockbuster

Abstract:

On December 25, 2008, the much-awaited Hindi film, 'Ghajini' (a revenge drama) was released and it went on to become an instant hit. It opened to packed houses and grossed Rs. 320 million in one day worldwide. Its first week collections amounted to Rs. 1 billion in India. According to trade observers, it had broken all records set by earlier Bollywood films. The success of the film was widely attributed to aggressive promotional strategies adopted by the film maker (Geetha Arts) in conjunction with the lead actor of the film, Aamir Khan (Aamir), one of the top actors in the Hindi film industry, who played a vital role in the promotion of the film.

The promotional strategies included viral marketing, ambush marketing, television advertising, multiplex promotion, tie-ups with several well-known brands, and merchandising. In addition to this, a 3D PC game based on the film was also launched. The distribution strategy was also unique. Experts felt that the makers of Ghajini had raised the bar for film promotion in India. They felt that the rules of film promotion have changed as film makers were becoming more and more aggressive in their marketing strategies in their bid to ensure that the movie was viewed by the maximum number of people.
Issues:

To analyze the promotional campaign for Ghajini and understand the factors that led to its success. Understand how the company managed to get huge publicity for the film. Study how the promotions of films had changed with the emergence of new media channels such as the Internet. Study the Indian film industry and explore strategies that film promoters could adopt to ensure good openings and longer shelf life for their films.

"I think at a time when big opening weekends have become essential for the films' financial success, one needs to create an urgency in people to see the film in the first couple of weeks. Our marketing strategies are focused on creating this urgency." - Madhu Mantena, Producer, Ghajini, in December 2008. "Bollywood publicists are clearly putting a whole lot of thought into how to spread the word of mouth. We are seeing more and more meaningful promotional campaigns that not just spread the word about the films but also attempting to give the film a longer shelf-life and emotional connect with audiences." - A Trade Observer, commenting on the promotional strategies of Ghajini, in December 2008.
"Historic Hit in 14 Minutes and 52 Seconds"

December 25, 2008, saw the release of the muchawaited film, 'Ghajini'. The film (a revenge drama) opened to packed houses and grossed a staggering Rs. 320 million in a single day worldwide. Its first week collections amounted to Rs. 1 billion in India. With this, Ghajini became the biggest grosser at the Indian box office in terms of returns in the first week. Trade observers opined that the film was the biggest Bollywood blockbuster of 2008 and had broken all records set by earlier films. Komal Nahta (Nahta), trade analyst and editor, Film Street Journal, said, "The movie has earned more than Gadar: Ek Prem Katha and is comparable to DDLJ.", Commenting on the success of the film, a spokesperson for Ghajini said, "Ghajini has had the biggest box office opening and collections this year. It is the first movie to cross more than 100 crores in a week. The collections, as of 31st December, were Rs 140 crores and we are still counting. The poster reads 14 minutes and 52 seconds because Aamir loses his memory every 14 minutes and 52 seconds. The money Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi earned in 3 weeks, Ghajini took a week to earn.", The success of the film was widely attributed to the aggressive promotional strategies adopted by the film makers in conjunction with the lead actor of the film, Aamir Khan (Aamir), one of the top actors in the Hindi film industry, who played a vital role in the promotion of the film. The film was produced by Allu Arvind (Arvind), a noted south Indian film producer and distributor, under the banner Geetha Arts.

Established in 1974, Geetha Arts was one of the most reputed production houses in south India. In addition to Hindi films, the banner had delivered several hit films in south Indian languages such as Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu. Ghajini was earlier made in Tamil in 2005 and proved to be a raging hit. It was also dubbed in Telugu, and was again a hit. The success of the Telugu and Tamil versions of the film prompted Geetha Arts to go ahead and remake the film in Hindi
Introduction Contd...

The film was made on a budget of Rs. 500 million with Rs. 140 million set aside for promotional activities. Aamir, being Internet-savvy, made extensive use of the Internet to promote the film. The promotional strategies included viral marketing, ambush marketing, television advertising, multiplex promotion, tie-ups with several well-known brands, and merchandising. In addition to this, a 3D PC game based on the film was also launched. The promotional strategies generated so much buzz around the film that the audiences began to eagerly await its release. The paid previews screened before the release of the film also attracted audiences in large numbers. Experts opined that while there might be myriad reasons behind the success of Ghajini, the way it was marketed played a big role in its ultimate success at the box office. The promotional strategies adopted by the film makers, online as well as offline, created such hype around the film that people turned up in high numbers to watch it in the theaters. Moreover, the film broke all prior box office records set by other films since the day of its release. According to Amod Mehra, trade analyst, The film, in its opening spell, has broken all previous records of super-hit films like Krrish, Dhoom:2, among others. I feel both the producer and the distributor of the film would recover their money with surplus overflow.", The unprecedented success of the film prompted the film makers to launch the film with English subtitles on December 26, 2008.

Promotional Strategies

The unofficial publicity for Ghajini began on March 20, 2008, when Aamir made his first public appearance with his 'buzz cut' - the hairstyle he sports in the film - at the premier of a Hindi film,

Race. Commenting on his new look, Aamir said, "This is the look originally, yes. This is what the look was and this is what the director wanted so this is what I have done and there are these 'scars' on my head and at the back also in two three places - since the character has got injured in the head."...
Paid Previews

Paid previews were viewed as another marketing strategy by film makers since they helped in generating a certain amount of buzz around the film. On December 23, 2008, the film had 300 paid previews with the ticket prices ranging between Rs. 100 and Rs. 300. The tickets were sold usually at a 30 percent premium while some theaters sold them at regular rates. According to Ghosh, "The number of paid previews is so large that it is as good as a release. Earlier, we used to have three shows a day when a film released, now each cinema is having three paid previews a day prior to the release!" Earlier Hindi films like Dostana and Singh is Kinng had paid previews and collected Rs. 7.5 million and Rs. 5 million respectively...

Distribution

The promotional strategies of the film hit the right chord in generating hype and thereby attracting audiences to the theaters. The distributors felt that the film would receive a very good opening keeping in view the promotional strategies adopted by the film makers to promote the film...
Results

The promotional strategies adopted by the film makers resulted in generating such hype that the film showed whopping results. In contrast to the estimates made by experts that Rs. 10 million would be collected from the paid previews, the film grossed Rs. 70 million from December 23, 2008 to December 24, 2008.

Aamir Khan is known for his use of the web and digital medium to create buzz and word of mouth for his movies. Right from his lagaan dvd selling days which prompted him to start his own website and blog. This preference for the digital medium has rubbed onto all the films he has been associated as well. So there was news that Ghajini would be heavily marketed on the web and so it has been. The makers of Ghajini have roped in Hungama to create maximum visibility for the film via the digital medium. Hungama has created multiple properties for Ghajini. Properties like www.rememberghajini.com, www.findghajini.com and www.wallofsuspects.com that drive the curiousity around the movie and provide an experience like the movie, over the Internet. Ghajini releases to a worldwide audience on Thursday, Dec. 25th 2008

The digital strategy has been aimed at maintaining the the suspense of this much awaited movie and hence the websites give very little on the story line of the movie. But instead the web is used to engage the user by driving curiosity around the movie via images and videos. Another unique aspect of the film that has been integrated into the website is that it refreshes itself every fifteen minutes. If one has seen the promos one would know that Aamir loses his memory every 15 minutes. So even on the website no matter which section the user is accessing, every fifteen minutes you are driven back to the homepage. To make sure that users get this there is a timer that runs at the bottom of each page. Hungama was recently voted as the 2nd top most digital agency after Webchutney and this initiative for Aamirs most awaited movie yet should add another feather on their cap! Well if Hungama is promoting Ghajini Webchutney is being street smart by riding on someone else effort and promoting its own client Oktatabyebye by launching a Ghajini spoof viral called Gajodhar. Have a look for yourself below: An innovative marketing tool has been encouraging people to get his hairstyle in Ghajini. In fact, 100 employees of a leading multiplex chain have got themselves a Ghajini look- a trendy bald look that Aamir wears in Ghajini. Aamir posed with his look-alikes on Monday. I think that the staff and the chain are being a part and viewing this film as an event, Im very happy, said Aamir Khan. And it is believed that the staff members were not forced to go under the barbers scissors. It was a voluntary gesture on their part, all for fun. If you didnt have enough with that, there is also a life size cut out of Aamir sporting his 8-pack abs staring at you near every theatre that will be running Ghajini. With so much promotional gimmicks, a lot is riding on the success of Ghajini.

Ghajini: A lesson in Marketing!

Posted In: BuzZ , Movies . By vaneet After 25th December:

100% opening day collections with over 1500 prints Over 90 crore business by the end of first Sunday Expected 120 crore by end of first week Best Ever Opening Top film of 2008 already

Before 25th December:

Lets have a look at what the hell happened to get these earth shattering numbers.a sneak peek at the Marketing Strategy for Ghajini :

First Look:

Ghajini's marketing started way back from March 20 when he came out on the premier of RACE with his new BALD look. It actually gave the perfect sneak peek at the two looks of Aamir in the movie.Notice the jacket and rolled up half sleeves?Did anyone say Sanjay

Singhania?

And then in November, this photo shot across leading dailies and Aamir without even showing his face and his 8 packs instantly became the talk of the town.

The 8 pack promotion: Cut back to october 2007 and remember SRK and the ho-hallah around his 6 pack abs.It was only around that time that Aamir silently started working on his own, and just to make it better, he added a pair and made it eight!The fact that the man now had a 8 pack and a fantastic body, he decided to show the world how he got it! Up came the videos with 'Making of Aamir's 8 pack' on all news and entertainment channels.Videos similar to this youtube got thousands of visits!

He even went a step ahead and called a press conference to introduce his trainer and explain his diet chart!

Television appearances With the TV channels filled with Ghajini promos, Aamir went into overdrive with his interviews, which came in by the day on every news and entertainment channel. Not to forget the guest appearances on reality shows, which is now a sort of a norm.

Offline Promos at Theaters One of my personal favourite was the 'Theater personnels with Ghajini hair cut' act that he did on the release on Rab ne Bana di Jodi.Simply Fantastic. Imagine going to a cinema hall to watch RNBDJ and you watch all these Aamir Khan look alikes and his life size cut outs. You almost wish that you had come to watch Ghajini!

Co Branding

Tata Sky started running Ghajini specials complete with behind-the-scenes stories of the upcoming film. Samsung launched special Ghajini edition mobile phones of L700 and M200 models. These handsets have preloaded with Ghajini ringtones, pictures and songs. Tata Indicom started with a outbound dialer service with Khan's pre-recorded voice.

Van Heusen launched Ghajini's apparels in their stores all across India and is backing it with in-store campaigns and giant posters of Khan dressed in formal attire. Van Heusen also organized a fashion show wherein models along with Aamir sported the Ghajini look.Add a little big of jig and a bit of Guzarish and he had all the TV channels beaming again!

Viral SMS campaign

Remember the chain SMS which threatened to reveal what could possibly be the climax of the film? For those who were not on the mailing list, here it goes...

Someone killed Aamirs girlfriend and he lost his memory. Then he tries to find out the killer. Suspense Aamir himself is the killer. Now enjoy Ghajini!

I bet this one was proposed by someone at Tata Indicom!!!

Digital Promotion With so much happening offline, something had to be done online to. And Ghajini makers had that well covered. Websites like www.rememberghajini.com, www.findghajini.com and www.wallofsuspects.com were built to drive curiousity levels around the movie and provide a movie like experience on the Internet. Add to that a 3D PC game and a number of mobile games and applications, and you have the digital space busy.

Not to forget that he has his own popular blog, which was a constant source of dope for all those waiting for Ghajini to release.

Final Week controversy Just to cap it all, we had this 'Ghajini Release Stayed' court notices which threatened to stop the release of the immensely anticipated film a day before 25th December. Naturally, this became breaking news with minute to minute tracking on the latest updates. And after much drama, when the permission was granted, it was like a whole nation had taken a sigh of relief and they could all breath again!

A 10 month Campaign, where we saw Aamir from 8 pack fighting machine to turning in to a barber on the streets of Delhi, is a real case study in motion picture marketing.

To hear from the horse's mouth :

With Ghajini we've opened with the highest number of screens ever. So the marketing needed to have depth and width, so we needed to be very aggressive with the marketing of the film.