MARKETING OF A BOLLYWOOD FILM: ANKUR ARORA MURDER CASE
From:Syed Sohail
Roll No: 15/087Section: C
Overview of Movie• Ankur Arora Murder Case (AAMC) is directed
by SUHAIL TATARI.• The story was written by VIKRAM BHATT• The movie AAMC was Bollywood’s first
medical negligence drama and inspired by true events.
• Initially it release date is February 2013, and it was released on June 14, 2013.
• In the movie the first half plotted at hospital and second half the audience witnesses a Courtroom
• DR. Asthana (Menon) the chief of surgery at the Shekhawat Hospital• Dr. Romesh and Dr. Riya (Singh) was Co-Intern.• Ankur Arora ( Eight year old boy was admitted to the hospital for the
treatment and died in the theatre because of Dr. Asthana’s negligence, • Dr. Romesh realised that a good surgeon may not necessarily be a good
human being.• The hospital and Dr. Asthana attempted to cover up the incident by
blaming it on organ failure at the time of operation. In fact the child has consumed biscuits a few hours before the operation.
• Dr. Asthana is a very busy surgeon had decided to go ahead with the surgery despite the alleged contravention of surgery regulations.
• Nandita Chopra is the mother of Ankur Arora• Nandita and Dr. Romesh started journey to fight for what he felt was
right.• They were helped in their fight by prosecution lawyer Kajori Sen.
Characters
Ankur AroraDr. Asthana (surgen)
Nandita (Mother)
Dr. Romesh
Dr. RiyaKajori Sen Lawyer
Chronology of Events• AAMC’s releases date changed several times like from 22
February 2013, 05 April 2013, 24 May 2013, at last they releases on 14 June 2013.
• The dates of the other milestone events concerning the marketing of the movies are as follows:
- April 16: The first look of the movie, in the form of three publicity posters, which were unveiled on the internet
- April 17: A special screening for Taran Adarsh, a prominent trade analyst for the Bollywood film industry.
- April 24: Theatrical trailer released on the Internet.- May 18: Fourth official poster released- May 26: Music videos released on the internet.- May 28: Pre-release press conference held.- June 7 to June 20: Start of campaign in the print media, television,
internet and OOH
Objective
• When it’s brand Vikram Bhatt, the first association is Horror and the second is Thriller. AAMC was a medical negligence drama that was inspired by true events and addressed an urgent and disturbing social issue, Medical Negligence. The key talk points were:
• Death & suffering due to Medical Negligence is a crime & the criminal shouldn’t go unpunished
• A death in the Operation Theatre due to negligence is plain Murder
• Not only the poor, anyone can be a victim of Medical Negligence – the Rich & Affluent, the famous & powerful… It could be someone living next door… It could be you!
• The communication plan revolved around highlighting mother and child bond. Also, real-life medical negligence cases that have been reported in the recent past were shared with the audience to sensitize them. This seemed to work initially; a polll created on Facebook initiated a debate between medical students and others. A few physicians also agreed that medical malpractices prevails and the country needs to act swiftly!
Positioning & Key Challenges
• Movie Positioning – Meaningful Cinema based on true events • Key Messages & Talk Points – Death & suffering due to
Medical Negligence is a crime & the criminal shouldn't go unpunished – A death in the Operation Theatre due to negligence is plain Murder – Not only the poor, anyone can be a victim of Medical Negligence – the Rich & Affluent, the famous & powerful… It could be someone living next door… It could be you!
• Key Challenges – No prominent Star Cast & small marketing budget – Niche Concept; Lack of mass appeal
• Audience for Indian movies is predominantly the youth. They neither connect with death nor mother-child bond. – Go-to-market was delayed multiple times
Campaign 1 – Who was Ankur Arora?
In the initial phase, IntelliAssist ran a campaign – WHO WAS ANKUR ARORA? We made use of old movie pages & Twitter handles to promote the upcoming movie. The objective was to create awareness on the movie and get the name registered in minds of prospective audience.
Campaign 2 – Meet the cast• Since the movie had relatively fresh faces (other
than Kay Kay Menon & Tisca Chopra) it made perfect sense to introduce the cast to the audience and also tell a story in a subtle manner.
Campaign 3 – Victims of Medical Negligence• There are several reported cases on Victims of Medical Negligence
(celebrities and common man). These were shared on Facebook & Twitter pages; the idea was to sensitize audience & help them relate with the movie theme and the social evil that needs immediate attention.
• The campaign did gain momentum initially but there was something that was required to do differently to enhance engagement.
Campaign 4 – Do you remember• This was a short three-day campaign to reinforce key findings from
the recent show Satyameva Jayate. They made use of some facts, quotes and numbers to establish the fact that medical malpractices and medical negligence has been affecting several!
The Twist• With slow and steady increase in fan base they were observing a drop
in the engagement levels; a fresh campaign was roped in to boost performance. Our analysis reveled that the youth, which comprise of active users of social media and are also a majority of movie ticket purchasers, are neither able to relate with death nor with mother-child bond (most teenagers tend to turn rebellious). They further affirmed that an idea of being part of a CHANGE for a better world for a brighter tomorrow excites and motivates them. They made use of this key insight and launched fifth campaign – Light a Candle for Justice.
Campaign 5 – Light a candle for Justice
• They created a virtual event on Facebook, Light a Candle for Justice. Rather than developing any fancy and expensive application, the idea was to make use of a simple in-built Facebook feature and create engagements. The five-day campaign made use of 15 posts to invited audience to light five candles:
• • Day 1: Candle of Awareness. It was established that the crime has happened and the offender should not go unpunished
• • Day 2: Candle of Hope. Hope is the only thing that this mother who has lost her child has!
• • Day 3: Candle of Courage. “Aaj Kuch Toofani karte hai”. Jumping off a mountain cliff is not necessarily courage. It takes courage to speak truth and expose those who are guilty.
• • Day 4: Candle of Protest. Audience was encouraged to join a virtual event and voice their anger against medical negligence by lighting a candle online.
• • Day 5: Candle of Justice. Audience was encouraged to join a virtual event and voice their anger against medical negligence by lighting a candle online.
• A Twitter contest was run at the same time. #LightACandle was trending for over 36 hours across cities in India. Tweeple helped in increasing views of theatrical trailer and also event RSVPs. Average engagement (Like/ Comment/ Share) per Facebook post increased by about 2.5 times. Many people joined the event and also left back comments – expressing their frustration, anger and support to the cause.
• Online portals like SantaBanta.com and Friday Release covered the campaign as an innovation. The headline read, “A Bollywood Movie is asking its audience to Light a Candle for Justice”.
Twitter & Other Portals
THANK YOU
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