Of late, assessing the pre-release buzz of a Malayalam movie is simple. Count the YouTube hits that the trailer or teaser generates. While the ‘Poomaram’ song went viral with over five lakh clicks in a day, Angamaly Diaries proved how effective the platform could be in the promotion of a movie, with no poster face to boast of. However, You Tube is aware of the potential, and so does producers like Vijay Babu.
In an interactive session, held in Kochi the other day, Satya Raghavan, Head of Entertainment Content at YouTube in India, talks about how You Tube plans to attract more Malayalam producers into using the platform effectively.
“Malayalam does feature in our top five fastest-growing content-creators and users. We are riding the crest of that wave now,” says Raghavan. Actor/Producer Babu, of Friday Film House, adds: “While promoting Angamaly Diaries, we felt it would do no good releasing the first-look of the actors, as they were all new faces. Instead, we released the trailer to the target audience on You Tube and followed it up with more content and it reflected well in the box-office collection.”
Raghavan agrees. “We have been seeing the trend in Bollywood for some time now. Even our objective is to ensure that the You Tube views translate into box office returns. For this, the marketing or promotion should ideally begin at least 60 days before the movie hits the theatres.”
According to him, You Tube ensures that the content hits the right target groups. “For a famed outfit like ‘Friday Film House’, there will naturally be a large subscriber base. But, even without subscribers, one can ensure that its contents reach the right audience by using the sales services provided by the platform. You Tube has tie-ups with outfits that use their channels to relay the content to the target audience,” says Raghavan.
Cost-effective
Babu says that using You Tube as a marketing tool is cheaper, as compared to traditional media. “It is just that the producers don’t realise it,” he says.
Moreover, the revenue generated by the hits go to the channel owners, too. But, Raghavan says the income generated doesn’t really matter.
“As far as movies are concerned, our aim is to ensure that it shows in the box-office returns, which it does. In fact, there is a positive co-relation between You Tube views and a movie’s performance at the box office,” he says. Babu adds, “Using You Tube, we can create a perfect kingdom for the movie.” Raghavan also met the Malayalam producers and explained the potential of You Tube as a marketing tool.