- September 20, 2023
Ja’won’: How the Movie Leveraged Unconventional Marketing for Record-breaking Success.
5 minutes to read
5 minutes to read
In the early Sept ‘23, the anticipated movie Jawan starring Shah Rukh Khan was about to be released in theatres. On a record-breaking spree, the movie begins breaking records from the very first week of launch. The film’s remarkable success has amazed industry experts and fans by its performance. Every day, it keeps reaching heights, breaking records, and leaving a lasting mark on the world of cinema.
The unconventional marketing strategy played a role in Jawan’s success. It combined social media platforms, creative offline techniques and strategic partnerships with known brands.
In the years, there has been a significant increase in the importance of social media in promoting movies. This surge is mainly due to smartphones and high-speed internet use in India. Notably, even Shah Rukh Khan has shifted his focus from media. Embraced the power of social media for promotional purposes. Many industry friends such as Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Kajol and even his children Aryan and Suhana have also contributed by sharing posts about Jawan.
The response and interaction generated by these posts have already resulted in a number of ticket bookings for Jawan on the popular online ticketing platform BookMyShow. The film has had a start with a remarkable 750,000 advanced tickets being booked on the platform. This clearly indicates the growing anticipation surrounding the movie. It is worth mentioning that as advance bookings opened in cities, the Tamil and Telugu film versions also received support since they were released in vernacular languages on the same day.
To add to the buzz, Nayanthara, an Indian actress and the film’s main star, made her debut on Instagram during the movie’s release. In 10 hours, she gained over a million followers. Shah Rukh Khan also cleverly utilized his Twitter presence by engaging with fans through #AskSRK and injecting his trademark humour while #Jawan trended.
This strategic use of media turned out to be incredibly successful for the movie.
Since Jawan was scheduled to premiere around Janmashtami, a festival that holds significance for Indians, the film team decided to make the most of this occasion by organizing a special celebration. They joined forces with Govindas to host a Dahi Handi event, with a Jawan theme elevating the spirit to levels. The response they received surpassed all expectations.
In the cities, theatres were decorated with posters of Shah Rukh Khan, attracting the interest of fans and people passing by. At the time, the busy streets and buses of Mumbai displayed Jawan advertisements, making sure that everyone noticed the film. Additionally, excited fans started imitating SRK’s appearance, from the movie becoming a topic in town and unknowingly supporting Jawan’s promotional efforts.
And it didn’t end there; organizing a pre-event in Chennai was a strategy to connect with the South audience, which greatly contributed to the popularity and impact of the movie Jawan. This unique and innovative offline marketing approach played a role in the film’s success. It did not capture the essence of the festival. Also sparked curiosity and excitement among fans all over India, ultimately leading to its triumphant performance at the box office.
The release of Jawan showcased the strength of co-marketing and its ability to expand the reach and influence of a film.
The Merchandise Mania
In order to reach out to Shah Rukh Khan’s fan base, Jawan made a move by collaborating with the shopping platform Fully Filmy to release official merchandise. This initiative went beyond the film industry’s boundaries, allowing fans to accessorize with phone covers, t-shirts, hoodies and other items.
Zomato’s Creative Twist
Zomato, the food delivery platform, cleverly joined in on the excitement by releasing an advertisement that creatively played with the movie’s trailer. In a manner, they showcased their partnership with Jawan. Effectively merged the film into the world of food delivery. This extended Zomato’s campaign, ‘Zomaito v/s Zomaato,’ beautifully aligning their brand message with the essence of the movie.
Brands X Jawan
Other companies from different industries saw the opportunity to capitalize on SRK and Jawan’s popularity. Bisleri launched a special edition line of Bisleri X Jawan bottles, which would be distributed nationwide in over 70,000 stores. This daring marketing move linked a beverage brand with the film’s theme.
Astral Ltd, a building materials company, featured SRK in an advertisement promoting their adhesive product. They showcased how co-marketing can blend industry products with the charm of a Bollywood superstar.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) understood the potential to expand its reach and visibility by partnering with Jawan. This collaboration allowed the brand to align itself with a film and connect with an audience.
The case of Jawan demonstrates how social media, innovative offline marketing & co-marketing techniques have an influence on the film industry. It goes beyond methods by combining different brands, themes and celebrity star power to market a movie and expand its impact across different sectors. This highlights the branding that can be accomplished when brands and cinema collaborate in a creatively harmonious manner.
