Facebook and Instagram can contribute up to 21% towards a Hindi film's first-day ticket sales

A look at the new report launched by Ormax Media and Facebook titled - 'Media Effectiveness in Hindi Film Marketing'.

Research company Ormax Media and Facebook India have a launched a report titled 'Media Effectiveness in Hindi Film Marketing' that studies and correlates the actual box office collections to a movie's marketing mix.

The research showcased much more than just the analysis of a film's marketing success basis facets like impressions and readership; it also considered awareness/ buzz generated among audiences, their intent to watch the film and the overall appeal of the movie itself. The study had a comprehensive scale with over 25,000 moviegoers surveyed across several cities, demographics and strata over a period of six months, assessing the performance of nine media basis the impact created in driving movie ticket sales. It covered three different tiers of movies ranging from large box office openers to niche releases with emerging stars. The six films that were studied were a combination of the big, medium and small scale varieties. Cumulatively, the whitepaper evaluated the impact of media on over 100 Crores of first-day box office collections.

As per the findings of the report, Facebook is one of the top two media when it comes to driving buzz and appeal for a film's campaign, achieving it through organic methods like link shares and conversations apart from initiatives like Facebook Live. Interestingly, Facebook and Instagram combined, proved to have delivered the highest impact with 21 per cent contribution to a Hindi film's first-day box office sales.

Indian movie marketers are already taking advantage of the functionality to engage desired audiences through Facebook to drive uptake at the box office. For them, Facebook can help in building a community and interest, generating real-time conversations and feedback and create a fan base even before the movie is released, which in turn, drives word of mouth and buzz. The platform offers not just large but relevant reach and, more importantly, high levels of audience engagement and interactivity through a movie's journey, thereby, delivering an ROI incomparable to any other media.

Gautam Jain

Saurabh Doshi

Commenting on the report, Gautam Jain, partner, Ormax Media, says in a press release, "This is a unique, one-of-its-kind study, developed exclusively for the Indian market. The research went beyond just media metrics such as impressions, readership etc. as a barometer for a film's marketing success and also focused on awareness or buzz and intent to watch or appeal, as key parameters."

On Facebook's impact on the Indian movie business, Saurabh Doshi, head - entertainment partnerships, APAC, Facebook, says in a press release, "Facebook is a great place for fans to directly connect with their favourite stars and movies and drive reach and more engagement. We aim to become the go-to destination for celebrities and movie marketers to promote and connect with their followers in an authentic way and experience the power of organic content and first-hand interactions."

When talking about traditional media versus new media and what role each plays in film marketing, a Facebook spokesperson has this to say, "Traditional media does have a role. It will continue to have a role. The order of importance and the function of each media has changed. What is the biggest trend in India? The smartphone adoption has gone through the roof and we are seeing a lot of regional content and a lot of Tier II and Tier III people using smartphones. What that means is that as digital gets mainstream, it will become more and more important for a movie's success, especially those movies with large box office ambitions."

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The spokesperson further adds, "Digital is no more an urban phenomenon; it is a mass phenomenon thanks to Jio and phones getting cheaper. You can see that table change very quickly as we go forward. India is one of the few global markets where TV and print will have a 10-year window, but what digital really does is allow these users (Hindi studios) to engage. That element is simply not possible on TV and print. So, TV and print will be used for awareness building. If they want to build a group, for example, if Fox Studios wants to build a messenger bot or they want to create a Facebook Live video where a talent is having a live conversation, that's simply not possible on any other platform. Smart movie marketers and actors have understood that. Akshay Kumar has understood that the 24 hour 'Padman' promotion that he did, led to a huge amount of impact about the cause of the film and what it stood for and I personally, think that a print ad can't achieve that."