Mumbai: Movie marketing has come a long way from static print posters advertising an upcoming blockbuster. In today’s attention-deficit times, the marketing of films has had to evolve to become more engaging and focused in order to grab the audience's attention. The way movies are marketed has been changing at a rapid pace over the past decade, and now, with the metaverse becoming one of the biggest platforms for marketing, it is due for a paradigm shift in the very near future.
The film industry is known to devise innovative marketing strategies to promote their movies. Filmmakers need to adapt or risk being left behind in ways to attract the attention of their target audience. Hence, filmmakers, in association with agencies, are now taking their marketing campaigns a notch higher with the advent of blockchain technology and trying to use the metaverse and NFT space to promote films using totally immersive experiences that take the viewers into a different world altogether.
Rediffusion Red Lab’s report titled "Web 3.0 – A new revolution in the world of Indian Cinema," which examined the link between web 3.0 and Bollywood, concluded that the convergence will be here sooner than we imagine.
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In the foreword to the report, Rediffusion managing director Sandeep Goyal says, "Bollywood needs to comprehend, if only to understand how the next generation of consumers hopes to be entertained and engaged." NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital identifications that are recorded on a blockchain. They certify an owner’s authenticity and rights to a specific piece of digital content, such as an image, a video, or a specific animated character in a franchise.”
"NFT holders can start to get fan club-like perks that might include wider access, early screenings, and, in many cases, the right to create their own iterations of the character or asset they own," further says Goyal. He points out, however, that the ethos could be a direct clash with the tight control that Bollywood studios have long enjoyed over content, while adding that the advent of web3 will change a lot of that.
The NFT rage seems to have taken over Indian cinema too. Many movies are riding the NFT wave for movie promotions, with actors launching their own NFT series to connect with their fans. Not long ago, Salman Khan ventured into the NFT space where he launched a series of 200 NFTs based on the “Dabang” film series. The actor also launched the $GARI token by Chingari, a short video app, and became the brand ambassador for the platform’s NFT marketplace.
Popular South Indian actor Rajnikanth too launched a series of NFTs based on his 2007 movie, "Shivaji the Boss," even as his peer Kamal Hassan went a step further and celebrated his 67th birthday by launching an NFT series and creating a digital avatar to enter the metaverse.
According to TheSmallBigIdea (TSBI) CEO & co-founder Harikrishnan Pillai, while the metaverse space is still evolving, it is just a matter of time before it becomes a big part of the movie marketing industry. "People today are aware that the metaverse is beyond just a buzzword. At the moment, a lot of the initiatives are short-term in nature, but soon things will become long-term and immersive in nature. Once that happens, things will become captivating," he says.
The TSBI agency recently collaborated with Ajay Devgn and Hefty Verse to devise metaverse marketing strategies for the "Runway34." On how metaverse marketing is emerging as a new means of movie marketing in the Indian film industry, Pillai says, "Marketing in the metaverse has two advantages. One, it allows you to connect with an audience set that is completely new. Also, it allows the current audience to immerse themselves in a much deeper manner. Both benefit the film marketing process."
In such times, when movies, OTT shows, and events are eyeing a similar audience set, the metaverse presents itself as an innovative solution for film marketing, he adds.
NFTs have also recently excelled as a tool for promoting films, according to the Rediffusion report. Two NFTs honouring the recently released Amitabh Bachchan-starring Hindi movie "Jhund" have been produced by the film's makers. These NFTs, which cost more than Rs 2,15,000 each, were created in association with the US-based NFT marketplace Superstar Xchange, says the report.
Additionally, the film "83," which celebrated India's victory in the 1983 World Cup, also introduced a line of "83" collectibles, which included tangible cricket memorabilia that had been personally signed, video clips, animated digital avatars, and previously unseen posters and photos.
VistaVerse partnered with "Rocketry – The Nambi Effect" to introduce some spectacular and desirable NFTs in the metaverse. This partnership resulted in the film going on to become the first Indian film with 10,000 NFTs claimed, says the Rediffusion report.
"This film represents my labour of love and the team gave it their all to make my dream come true. I’m ecstatic that the long-awaited "Nambi Narayanan" movie is now being shown on a grand stage with fans getting an opportunity to participate in the web 3.0 environment for a personalised experience," said the film’s director and actor R. Madhavan.
"The fundamental edge that the metaverse provides is the bragging value of doing things in a virtual dimension," says Pillai, talking about the opportunities the metaverse presents to movie marketing. "It allows you to do everything that you do in real life, but in a virtual avatar and setting. The other advantage is that it takes monetisation to a different level. It also cuts physical barriers and has the ability to teleport experiences to any environment."
Citing the example of the "Runway34" movie, he says,"For the "Runway34" game we developed, the audience could interact with Ajay Devgn’s character from the film and fly a plane with him, sitting in the comforts of their home. Or they could buy NFTs of Ajay Devgn’s glasses, or Amitabh Bachchan’s attire, or Rakul’s jacket, and also get the real physical item to own, with the NFT authenticating it."
"When we approached Ajay Devgn with the idea of him being in the metaverse space, he seemed quite enthusiastic about it," Pillai says, while talking further about the collaboration. The actor had the foresight to recognise that this was the next and a new approach to audience engagement, he adds. "Further, to bring to life this entire concept, we found the right technology partner in Heftyverse and joined hands with them. We launched more than a dozen NFTs along with an immersive "Runway 34" game."
Nevertheless, it's not a cakewalk, and challenges remain as the space is still evolving. "The effort versus the returns is probably not as high as it should be, but the buzz value is pretty high," says Pillai. "We have to move beyond the novelty of being first movers. There is still some time left as far as the metrics to convert and measure that buzz to a film’s success are concerned."
The Rediffusion report lists several ways in which the metaverse, along with NFTs, could potentially revolutionise the film industry: Even as NFTs can be utilised to crowdfund film projects, it can give a boost to the industry when movies do not do very well in theatres. Since November 2021, industry players have raised around four million dollars by selling NFTs, going on to show NFTs are here to stay and will add to the revenue streams of the Indian cinema industry.
The way we view films is also going to be changed by the metaverse, as they can potentially be used to create more immersive experiences and potentially allow viewers to become part of the storytelling experience.
"The novelty of short-term initiatives will fade away. Brands and films, especially film universes and studios, should become early entrants and build their space in the metaverse to provide an immersive audience experience and create monetisation opportunities," opines Pillai on leveraging the metaverse further as an important marketing tool for promoting films. The next and prudent step for marketers would be to think long-term, he signs off.
