MARKETING PLAN OF A MOVIE Ra.One
Cast
Shahrukh Khan as Shekhar Subramaniam and G.One Kareena Kapoor as Sonia Subramaniam Arjun Rampal as Ra.One Armaan Verma as Prateek Subramaniam (Lucifer) Shahana Goswami as Jenny Nayar Tom Wu as Akashi and Ra.One Dalip Tahil as Barron Suresh Menon as Taxi Driver Satish Shah as Iyer Rajinikanth as Chitti (Guest appearance) Sanjay Dutt as Khalnayak (Guest appearance) Priyanka Chopra as The Desi Girl (Guest ( Guest appearance) Amitabh Bachchan (Voice-over)
Plot Jenny Nayar (Goswami), an employee of UK based Barron Industries, introduces a new technology in which objects from the digital world can be brought into the real world, using the wireless transmissions from multiple wireless devices. Shekhar Subramanium (Khan), an employee of the same company, faces his last chance to come up with a video game with a difference. In order to impress his son Prateek (Verma), and upon the request of his wife Sonia (Kapoor ), Shekhar takes his son’s idea that the antagonist should be more powerful than the protagonist. Akashi (Wu) provides the moves, Jenny the programming, and Shekhar gives his face to the protagonist G.One, whilst the main antagonist Ra.One is faceless, substantially overstepping the powers granted to G.One. The game has three levels, and either of the players can only be killed in the third level with his H.A.R.T. on their chests with a special gun that has only one bullet. While designing the game, Akashi notices some malfunctions, but ignores them. When the game is finally launched, it receives a standing ovation and Prateek loves it so much that he insists on playing it instantly. He logs in under the alias 'Lucifer' and gets down to the second level easily, but is eventually interrupted by Akashi as it is time to go home. Ra.One, never been beaten before and being unable to end his turn with Lucifer, swears that Lucifer shall die.
After the mainframe doesn't shut down, Akashi calls Shekhar who notices something seriously wrong. Ra.One (Rampal) uses the initially introduced technology to come to life, kills Akashi, and goes after Shekhar to find out who is Lucifer. Shekhar rushes home but is also blocked by Ra.One on the way. In an attempt to save his son, Shekhar claims that he is Lucifer. However, Ra.One scans his I.D., and kills him for trying to hide Prateek. Upon noticing the strange case of his father’s death, Prateek realizes that
Ra.One has come to life, and is after him. Along with Jenny, he tries to bring G.One to life. Sonia arrives and asks Prateek to leave with her for India. Ra.One, having taken the form of Akashi, chases them, but Sonia and Prateek are saved by G.One, who has entered the real world through Jenny's computer. G.One initiates a gas explosion which destroys Ra.One into constituent cubes, and takes his H.A.R.T. Finding it impossible to leave him, Sonia takes G.One to India with her through Shekhar’s passport. They
go to their ancestral house and G.One promises her that he will save Prateek from any harm. Meanwhile, Ra.One returns to life and takes his humanized form of a model on a billboard and goes after G.One. During Prateek's birthday party, Ra.One hypnotizes Sonia, assumes her form and kidnaps Prateek. He instructs G.One to give him his H.A.R.T. back and sends the real Sonia in an uncontrollable local train in Mumbai. G.One saves Sonia just at the nick of the time, and then goes back to save Prateek. The game begins with Prateek controlling G.One's moves. Following a lengthy fight, both of the characters finally reach the third level. With little powers left, the pair trick Ra.One into shooting G.One without his H.A.R.T. attached to him. Furious, Ra.One creates ten alternatives. Prateek is unable to differentiate the real one, until he asks G.One to quote one of Shekhar’s saying stored in his fold er: ("If you join the forces of evil, you will always haunt it's shadows "). The pair then realizes that only one of the ten Ra.Ones has a shadow. G.One shoots him and transports himself back to the digital world after absorbing Ra.One's remains. Several months later, Prateek and Sonia return back to the UK, where the former finally manages to restore G.One back to the real world.
Director’s Goal
To make a movie which will be the first superhero-based movie in the world in which the superhero lives in a family. Want to prove that Indian superheroes can also be as cool as the international ones.
Target market ―Ra One‖‗s primary target audience is eight to fifteen year olds. And it packs in plenty of ―gaming stuff‖, very well executed special effects and ―condom‖ tee-hees and other juvenile ―adult‖ gags that eight to fifteen year olds find insanely funny (I did when I was that age). In this, it does perfectly what it set out to do. The other target audience is SRK fan-zombies. Though Shahrukh Khan is present in glorious rapture in almost every frame, sometimes with the new Ravindra Jadeja haircut and sometimes as a body-suited G.One, he does take one pretty big risk. By becoming a digital entity controlled by the kid, he lets the child become the driver. This of course is a device that helps him connect with the primary audience, the 8 to 15 year olds, who appreciate no doubt the importance given to one of their kind. But this also had the potential to alienate those who expect Him (intentional capitalization) to be the sole mover of the narrative, second to none.
Ra.One Marketing Strategy Ra.One being the most expensive movie (INR 160 crore) till date in India – its setting its new records for most advertised (engaged) movie in India too.
Ra.One is the first movie ever in Bollywood to utilize the full potential and power of Digital Media (Internet marketing) to its next level.
Western Union is expected to launch a million dollar Global-Mass-Media campaign for Ra.One. It embraces TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising as well as local activities at Western Union’s agent locations.
Some of the innovative marketing strategies which have caught the imagination of a population of over a billion Indians and others are discussed below.
Promotions
The producers of Ra.One set a record marketing budget of around 52 crore (US$10.55 million), of which 15 crore (US$3.04 million) was used for online promotion, making it the highest ever for a Bollywood film. Often described as the "longest promotion in Bollywood history", as well as "the most comprehensive and all-pervasive among people's lives",the term "promotional blitzkrieg" has often been used in connotation with the project's extensive marketing campaign. Promotion of the film officially began as early as December 2010 when the first poster was published in all leading news papers across the country. The film's first look was later unveiled by Khan on his Twitter page on January 1, 2011. Several months later, director Anubhav Sinha announced that he would be launching two teaser trailers of the film during the 2011 Cricket World Cup, a prior nine months before the film's actual release date. Asked about why he was launching the film's trailer so early, Sinha
commented, "Ra.One is not a Bollywood film that [the audiences] have seen before. The kind of size and magnitude that the film has requires it to be slowly introduced to the audience and that is the very purpose why we are starting the whole communication so early."The film's first theatrical trailer was released three months later to the public. As a way to promote the theatrical trailer, Khan was accompanied by the director on a five city tour, which included such places like Delhi, Chandigarh, Indore and Ahmedabad. During the same event, a 3600 ft long fan mail collecting audience wishes and messages for the film was also launched. On 3 June 2011, the official website of the film was hacked by suspected Pakistani cyber criminals who stated that the act was a form of revenge to a similar attack on a Karachi press club website, three days after the launch of the page. They also left a note threatening the Indian Press Club, defacing the homepage. In early September, Red Chillies Entertainment (RCE) launched a sizeable viral marketing campaign for promoting the film more effectively in the online arena. The company launched the official customized Ra.One channel of the film on YouTube (a first for an Indian film) where several song and theatrical promos were released to the public, along with videos of the film's making, events and uncut footage. The channel also hosts games, including the first social game from India, and contests where participants can create promos from clips, music and dialogues of the film. In addition to YouTube, Khan announced that the film would also subsidize through major brand ties-up worth over 52 crore (US$10.55 million), some of which included the Formula One races, Nokia, Godrej Consumer Products, Coca-Cola, HCL, Horlicks, HomeShop18 and multiple live chats conducted on Google Plus for which Khan became the first Indian film personality to utilize. Three weeks before the film's release, a mass media campaign was launched by Western Union for international promotions. Encompassing platforms such as the radio, television, print media and outdoor advertising, it was launched in the U.S., Canada, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific as a way to connect with the millions of non-resident Indians across the world. Co-producers and distributors of the film, Eros International, released an official statement stating that along with RCE, they have recovered a major portion of their investments through in-film branding, media endorsements, and other music and satellite rights. The look of the film's titular character, Ra.One, portrayed by Rampal, was heavily guarded and kept under strict wraps, with the entire filming unit required to keep mobile phones away from shooting locations, and signing non-disclosure agreements. The first look of the character was initially scheduled to be revealed on the eve of Dussehra. According to the producers, the time was chosen to show the symbolism between Ra.One and the mythological villain Ravana (of the Ramayana), both of whom are supposedly "equally bad". Due to certain technical glitches, it was later revealed in the film's final theatrical trailer to a positive response. Commenting on the response to his look in the film, Rampal noted: "The response has been phenomenal. People have liked my look. I am glad I have not disappointed anyone as there was so much anticipation for the film. I was petrified initially, wondering if my look would be appreciated and accepted. But it has been worth the wait.
Video games
In July, Red Chillies Entertainment declared a tie-up with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) to build a full cycle game of the film on PlayStation. Released on October 5 at an event in Mumbai, "Ra.One - The Game" offers more than 20 game environments, features original voice-overs from the actors and is available on PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3; the former being available for the Indian market and the latter for the international market. Khan volunteered to write the game script, dub for the game, and even oversaw the entire technical development. The project boasts of a series of firsts: a first full cycle PlayStation 3 blu-ray disc game developed with an Indian developer; first console game to be dubbed by a leading Bollywood actor and also the first Bollywood title to appear in a full cycle video game. SCEE has invested around 4.5 crore (US$0.91 million) to license the Ra.One IP and an additional 3 crore (US$608,400) in the marketing and promotions of the game, which includes offline promotions and television advertisements of nearly 250 ad spots. At the time of its launch, 21,000 game consoles were sold and 100,000 units are expected to be sold across India alone. On October 14, a gaming tournament titled "The Ra.One Nvidia GeForce lan" was held in Mumbai. The event, which hosted over 1000 gamers competing against each other, featured several popular games such as FIFA, Counter- Strike and Call of Duty , and was telecast live on YouTube, showcasing digital innovation by means of live interactive contests, puzzles etc. In addition to launching the video game, Red Chillies also collaborated with UTV Indiagames to design a social game based on the film named the Ra.One Genesis . The game reached the No. 1 position on the iTunes store within 24 hours of its launch, becoming the first ever Bollywood movie app to be top-featured on iPhone and iPad. It also became the most downloaded game in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Malaysia within 24 hours of being launched. An investment of around 4.5 crore (US$0.91 million), the storyline of the game is not borrowed from or similar to that of the movie though it is based on the character of G.One. The game was launched across platforms like mobiles, tablet PCs, the direct-to-home platform and social networking sites like Facebook. According to the company's digital and new media head Shailja Gupta, the idea behind the digital marketing is to create a franchisee for Ra.One . She explained, "Social gaming is just one part of the digit marketing strategy. The unique part of the social game is the integration of merchandise and gaming.
Merchandise and comics As a way to promote the film and increase its franchising business, Shahrukh Khan tied up with Seventymm to market a variety of merchandises related to the film. Products included original G.One tee shirts, coffee mugs, wrist bands, watches, mobile pouches, video cameras, as well as many other things. Similar products were also available for purchase on the official G.One online store, which was launched alongside the film's official website. 90% of the 400,000 stationery items and toys were sold in 15 days and an additional 100,000 were ordered. The makers spent 1.5 crore (US$304,200) on the mold for the G.One action figure. In addition to this, a jewelery line inspired by the symbol of "Ra.One",as well as a series of HCL laptops with customized integrated Ra.One skin were also made available to the public. Moreover, Red Chillies Entertainment collaborated with UTV Indiagames to develop digital comics based on the film's characters. Written by Khan, the comic featured weekly episodes and served as a prequel to the events happening in the movie.
Marketing goal’s
The movie Ra.one to open approximately in 5000 screens worldwide to make it biggest Bollywood release ever. Ra.One to be released in both 2D and 3D formats across 3,200 screens in India which is more than 30 percent more than the last big release Salman Khan‘s Bodyguard.
Selling Ra.One Shah Rukh Khan, with his latest marketing blitzkrieg, for Ra.One, seems to have overshadowed the former‘s efforts of various actors. The promotional activity, that started on a small-scale seven months ago, has hit an all-time high now. Shah Rukh, who is popping out of every hoarding and advertisement across the country, has also toured 10 cities in India, interacted with his fans, danced with them, distributed Ra.One figurines and mesmerised them with his wit and charm. In the last one month, he has appeared on three reality show finales — India‘s Got Talent, Just Dance and Sa Re Ga Ma Li‘l Champs. A couple of days ago, he was on the hot seat of Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan. He launched the Ra.One game on Sony PlayStation and social games on Indiatimes to attract children. If this is not enough, the G.One online store is selling merchandise related to the film. Products include pencil box, piggy banks, lunch box, notebooks, limited edition toys and sippers. The actor will be hosting three premieres for his film in Dubai, London and Toronto on October 24, 25 and 26 respectively. The relentless marketing for Ra.One is a classic case of integrating a film into every aspect of people‘s lives — from clothing, toys and games to sports merchandising. Ra.One, the most expensive Indian film to date, could end up becoming the most advertised film as well. According to sources, the movie‘s marketing budget is around Rs 35-40 crore. This apart, the film has spent around Rs 150 crore on its making. Ra.One‘s first look was unveiled by the star on his Twitter page on January 2011. Shah Rukh then kicked off the promotions with a 10-second trailer during the World Cup semi-final match between India and Australia. The first theatrical trailer of Ra.One was released three months later, during a five- city tour and a 3,600 feet long fan mail was collected with messages from fans. This was followed by the music launch in association with Star Plus. With Shah Rukh being a brand to reckon with, finding collaborators wasn‘t a difficult task. The 45-year-old actor found takers with several brands like Nokia, Godrej Consumer Products, Western Union, Coca-Cola, Cinthol, Gitanjali Group, Horlicks, McDonalds and websites like Youtube and Google +. According to a brand analyst, the movie could have brand associations worth Rs 30-35 crore, the highest for any film so far, which could also help its earnings.
Ra.One, Marketing and Madness Ra.One. With the power of money, a promotional budget of 50 Crores, collusion with others in the industry, Ra.One has managed to create a madness - a monopoly. It also have a feeling that even the critics have been bought to put good reviews. Businesses would like to remember Ra.One as the greatest promotional campaign in the history of movies. It spend a lot of money to make more (made profit after 3 days of release). It exploited the festive season, colluded with others in the entertainment industry and made people sing the tune of Ra.One. Ra.One has been promoted using what is called as - Carpet Bombing . Carpet bombing is not effective. World War II was characterized by destruction of entire cities by the Allied and Axis forces by bombing them to ground. The problem is that it definitely killed the enemies (victory) but it also killed civilians who had nothing to do wi th the great war. Carpet Bombing
promotional strategy used by team SRK in promoting Ra.One has also created a lot of antifeeling against the movie. Subcultures of consumption are created b y branding practices followed by companies. Intrusiveness is one aspect that simply puts off a lot of people. As a result there is a lot of anti-activity against the movie. By monopolizing the market Ra.One has taken away a lot of power i.e. power of choice from people. Powerless consumer will retaliate by boycotting. Ra.One's promotional strategy has created a hysteria about the movie - Simple Madness. On the contrary carpet bombing strategy used by SRK has resulted in the creation of a subculture that is boycotting the movie. Their word-of-mouth is expanding the number of people in this subculture and creating opposition brand loyalty against Brand SRK. In the long run this can be detrimental for the movie, brand SRK and propagation of art in particular.
