Six Marketing Lesson I Learned from Hindi Film Award Functions

Every year, different TV channels and film magazines host more than dozen award ceremony put together. These award ceremonies are often criticized for being glossy, not reflecting and respecting the real talent, manipulated and what not. And these things become evident because, normally whoever attends the function gets the award. If some heavyweight superstar attends the function and he is not getting any award for his films, then a special category of award is constituted just for him. So, it seems like these functions are please all function. 

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But, along with being please all function, it teaches some marketing lessons as well, which makes a perfect business sense. Lessons of marketing, which I learned from these film award functions, are as follows:  

1)      Make your product grand: These award functions make true talent of film industry visible or not can be debated, but looks and gloss factor can’t be debated. Every award function looks grand, with lots of entertainment value and lots of beautiful people. Every award function becomes a multi-starrer blockbuster movie in itself. And that’s why; every film award function attracts top advertisers.  

2)      Your product should enthral users: Accept it not, as I mentioned in point number:1 that these functions are multi-starrer movies of their own right, are actually meant for higher TRP and more noise value for the channel in general and programme in particular. Indian audience loves music, dance, drama and these award functions provide these things in aplenty. That’s why, these programmes get repeat telecast many a times on that particular channel, which gives away these awards.

3)      Engage your audience: Viewers go to watch cinema for entertainment. Very few of them bother about story and technical details, if it provides them entertainment. So, their verdict is often different from the experts, who are famously known as ‘Film Critics’. And viewer’s positive review means financial positive review. So, film producers often focus more on providing what suits to audience then the critics and financials have driven many art house performers to become entertainer-performer. Similarly, film award function organizers also engage their viewers through enabling them to select their best star, movie, music etc. This engagement model works well, because everybody wants to see the fruit of their labour.

4)      Communicate it well: To make it viewed and accepted by the audience, these award ceremonies are promoted very effectively through all communication tools and all media platforms well in advance. Since most of the award ceremony organisers claim the results are reached at through public voting only, viewers participation and engagement is anyways guaranteed.

5)      Launch it opportune time: All the award functions are telecast on Saturdays and Sundays to ensure that it is viewed by maximum number of people. Since these award functions normally stretch for four hours including all the advertisement slot and runs up to 12.00 of the night, Saturday is the most opportune time for it’s telecast to enable viewers to watch TV late and wake up late.

6)      Care about what you have and not about what you don’t: These award ceremonies are often criticized for being please all function. I also used to believe so, but seeing from investment and entertainment angle, what would be the benefit of giving award, who is not present in the function. It will only speak about deficiencies of organisers and will not present any entertainment value. In marketing field also, we work on our core competencies, choose our niche and play our game on them. We also don’t go looking for all those things, which will make producing the product tough, costly and unviable in the market. There are at least 8-10 top film stars in the country, who are very competent actors and if their movie fails, it fails due to some other reasons and not because of their acting. Now, if all of them are present in any award function, and it is matter of acting, then who can be rejected on the basis of acting capability; probably none. So, some of them not attends the award ceremony makes hosting it more easy and convenient. And it should be like this only.

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-          Mukul Bhartiya, Digi Age