No Malayali who is a film lover would have missed ‘Premam’ that rocked the boxoffice even after 100 days. The fact that the film had three heroines was a suspense to the audience, who expected to see only Anupama Parameswaran, the lead actress featured in the songs and posters released initially. It was a delight for the audience to watch Nivin Pauly in three different ‘avatars’ and romancing three different heroines. What was even more amazing was that ‘Malar’, who never appeared in any of the initial promotional posters, eventually stole the show. The planned marketing strategy pulled off the suspense factor and added to the whole experience of watching the movie, which of course went on to create history. Although it was a team effort, ‘Premam’ was Digifaktory’s maiden venture in movie marketing. Digifaktory, the brainchild of Krishnabhaskar Mangalasseri, Sandeep Varma and Gokul Nath is a 360 degree film marketing company that offers both online and offline marketing for a movie. “From the very beginning, the director, Alphonse Putharen and his entire team were clear that there was a need for an element of suspense. So the promotions were planned in such a way that it was projected as a single heroine movie. The tactic worked!” says Sandeep, strategy head.
Gokul Nath, business head at Digifaktory, has over a dozen films to his credit. He was one of the masterminds behind successfully marketing films like ‘Neram’, ‘Om Shanthi Oshana’, ‘Oru Vadakkan Selfie’ and ‘1983’. The popular number ‘Pistah’ sung by Shabareesh Varma from the film ‘Neram’ was an experimental online marketing project for the Digi team. The song has since then crossed 98 lakh likes and has also won the ‘Most Viral Video’ award in the Social Media Day awards, 2014. The concept of marketing a movie online or offline is relatively new to the Malayalam film industry. Until recently film promotions stopped with printing banners, posters and flex boards. Companies offering online promotions took it to the next level by including the social media. Creating websites, facebook pages of upcoming releases, tweeting, releasing clips or trailers on you tube has now become a fad. “There is a need to combine the old and the new, to reach out to audience across all age groups through social media, WhatsApp, media houses and radio stations. Online promotion is just a fragment of marketing, controlling online content, crisis management, integrating various platforms, managing social initiatives like creating awareness about piracy or negative reviews are also part of our profile,” explains Krishnabhaskar, creative head. Although the concept of movie marketing is dominant in Bollywood and Kollywood, Digifaktory is one of the pioneers in Mollywood to offer a complete marketing package starting from day one with the Pooja up to the 100th day celebrations. “It is important to believe in the product that you are marketing. Quality of the product builds the brand and a brand name that promises quality entertainment is our core focus,” says Gokul.
‘Answer this question correctly and you could be the lucky winners to earn tickets for the first day first show!’ is a statement we often hear on the radio these days. But little do we know about an entire team of people who work on the game concept, execute it and coordinate the logistics behind the scene. The ‘first day first show’ is crucial for any movie and so it is vital to plan an effective strategy to attract a sizeable audience for the event. “When it comes to marketing a product that is worth a couple of crores, there has to be a collective effort from various quarters. This is a highly unorganised sector and there is a need for setting up proper channels of communication in terms of PR and marketing. Having tie ups with multiple platforms like TV, radio, online promotional companies and event management groups is very important,” echoes the trio. The ‘Monsoon Mangoes Micro film Mela’ is one such online game that the team has planned as a part of the marketing strategy for Fahad Fazil’s upcoming release, ‘Monsoon Mangoes’. DigiFaktory is also working on a lot of interesting ideas for Nivin Pauly’s new release, which is an action packed entertainer.
The ‘DigiFaktory brand’ is slowly making its presence felt in the Malayalam film industry. They have been invited to present their success story at various management summits like the TIE in Chennai, TKM Institute of Management and the TRIMA, trivandrum. When asked about future plans, the trio said that they hoped to step outside Mollywood, to set DigiFaktory as the thought leader in the movie space and in the long run, add a production wing to the company.
