Set Max: Fear is the Key

Set Max has launched a marketing campaign to promote the premiere of the movie Darr@THE MALL.

Set Max, the movie channel from Sony Television, has launched a marketing campaign to promote the premiere of its movie, Darr@THE MALL on Sunday July 13. The movie stars Bollywood actor Jimmy Shergill and newbie Nusrat Bharucha.

The channel has installed a large format hoarding at Juhu junction in Mumbai surrounded by two larger than life ghostly hands blinking away in black and white. It is eye-catching stuff and onlookers can see it from a distance. The hoarding is painted in black with the name of the movie and time of the premiere printed in red.

In other activations, the channel has opted for lift and washroom branding across key points in Mumbai such as R City Mall, Imax Cinemas, Fun Republic Cinemas, Phoenix Market, Phoenix Mills, and Oberoi Mall.

The channel has creatively designed the washrooms in a way that makes it look as if a ghost has just killed someone. The mirrors of the washroom have bloodied handprints with DARR@THE MALL written alongside. The 'blood-spilt' floor is scary. The channel has also opted for lift branding, where a pair of bloodied red hands are positioned outside the doors.

Vaishali Sharma, head, marketing, Sony Max, says, "The idea was to draw as many eyeballs as possible. We have been trying to catch on the fear factor." The channel has drawn its social media campaign around the same. It is talking about places in Mumbai which people presume to be haunted. It is driving conversations around it on its Facebook page ( On Twitter, the campaign is further supported with #DarrDestinations.

The outdoor is executed by Storyboard Brandcom while the digital is executed by Tonic. In the past, Set Max has done innovative campaigns for the premieres of movies such as Aashiqui 2 and Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwaani.