With movie marketing moguls fast latching on to popular social networking sites you could switch to the Internet and view promos and teasers for the latest flicks.
NEW DELHI: Now you dont have to wait to catch rushes of forthcoming big screen releases on television. With movie marketing moguls fast latching on to popular social networking sites you could switch to the Internet and view promos and teasers for the latest flicks.
In the new trend, trailers for films like the upcoming Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer 'Singh is King' are being promoted on the Internet on sites like Orkut, Facebook and My Space. These social networking sites provide subscribers with opportunities to create communities which are used to discuss films through forums as well as upload latest videos.
The first production house to take advantage of this medium was Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts, who promoted their 'Black & White' staring Anil Kapoor via an online community with the tag line 'Kill Terror in Search of Harmony.' The initiative, however, did not do too well for them.
The fate of Ghai's movie did not hamper Yash Raj films from promoting their production house latest flick 'Tashan' through Orkut and Facebook.
"This is really a very encouraging medium i.e, Internet and it is advantageous to promote new movies on networking sites as large chunk of members on these sites are youth, who relates themselves with the character," says an official spokesperson from Yash Raj Films.
On Orkut and Facebook, the community has forums and polling booths to discuss Jimmy's (Saif) new mustachioed avatar or Pooja's (Kareena) size zero figure. It has more than a thousand members and the owners have placed themselves with the name of Bachchan Pandey, Jimmy and Bhaiyajee, the names of the characters in the movie.
"We achieved the desired results of the activity by getting people together on an online space by creating official online 'Tashan' community on social networking sites.
The target audience for 'Tashan' lent itself to the Internet," says the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, an official spokesperson for Google, which owns Orkut and You Tube, says recently there have been changes in strategies followed by production and media houses which have taken up aggressive marketing through social networking sites.
"Be it movies, programmes or projects, currently orkut and other social networking sites seem to target the 15-24-age bracket- a very coveted demographic for media and lifestyle goods consumption," the spokesperson adds.
"An Internet "audience" now didn't wait for teasers to come on television, but is now actively viewing the promos or video, new looks of the stars in the movie and information about movie through discussions by accessing social sites."
So, what's the strategy behind promoting it on social networking sites?
Promoting new products not only helps them to find a niche audience but also helps to create awareness faster and at a minimal possible cost. It allows Internet "audience" to have text, graphics, database and even live videos.
Networking sites also provide a platform to engage with the audience by enabling interaction in fun and interesting ways ranging from allowing the audience to leave their comments, throw open discussions.
"In fact, at times promoting on social networking sites can also help production houses find distributors for projects. It's more cost effective and simpler to alert a distributor to a web page than to send a videotape and promotional material through post and can nearly eliminate the possibility of projects falling into the wrong hands or not arriving at all," says Google spokesperson.
"I am an active member of Salman Khan's next venture 'Wanted Dead or Alive' and Akshay-Deepika starrer 'Chandni Chowk to China' on Orkut. We discuss characters, their new fashion statements, hit or flop, and watch latest video uploaded on these sites. Who waits for trailers on TV," says Anurag Yadav, member on a Orkut site.
Another thing is these communities are not restricted to filmmakers, but channels like MTV, Channel V and Sony entertainment are also active on these sites with MTV's famous youth programme "Roadies" community active on Orkut site and others are in the pipeline.
"Orkut has several thriving communities, and is an open platform for dialogue, creativity and self expression. MTV has had an active Roadies community on orkut for a long time, and is continuing to build on this to engage their community further on Orkut," says Google spokesperson.
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