Directed by S.S. Rajamouli, Baahubali is the most expensive Indian film with a budget estimated at 250 Crore INR. And when it released, Baahubali (part 1) was the 39th highest-grossing film of 2017, grossing over ₹14.169 billion (US$218 million) in India and over ₹2.896 billion (US$44 million) overseas, for a worldwide gross of ₹17.065 billion (US$262 million) by September 2017. How did an Indian film become India’s answer to Sparta or Ben-Hur? Despite such a giant budget, how did Baahubali gross such profits? In today’s case, we look at the factors for Baahubali’s phenomenal success.
Films like Magadheera and Eega, also directed by S.S. Rajamouli, were already in the mainstream. So what differentiates Baahubali from the rest of the films from India. With their prime markets being Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the rights to show the film in Tamil, Hindi as well as in the US were given to different producers including Karan Johar. Even today, 3 years after the release of the first installment in the series, there are books being written based on the series by Anand Neelakantan, one of India’s most eloquent and read authors. There were a few factors that contributed to Baahubali’s off-the-charts popularity. Let’s look at these.
Factors that differentiate Baahubali:
Pre Launch Hysteria:
Like Marvel, using merchandise for new films is a simple and masterful way to use art and the internet to promote a film. In the case of Baahubali too, from strategic partnerships with top brands to create an online game, from a TV show to an animated series on Amazon Prime, marketers of this film left no stone unturned. In fact, their digital marketing team started their campaigns 2 years before the release of this epic, owing to which it has become a classic case study for marketers. And then there was the famous “Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?” furore. Everywhere you looked, this was the question. Memes, videos, netizens took the question and made it into a phenomenon.
SS Rajamouli announced online auditions for the film’s casting through a post on Facebook and received over 5,000 applications to that call. Mystery and teasers played a big role in creating pre-release excitement. They also reminded the audience about the unrevealed part of the story especially for Baahubali 2.
Great Customer Connect & Relevant Content:
Baahubali's digital team used some viral marketing and engagement techniques as well as appealing content to enhance brand recall and followers. It all started with hashtags and images which started to trend on Twitter. These attracted the right kind of attention and generated curiosity for the film's release. Social listening was used to track, analyse and jump into relevant digital conversations. Moreover, the publicity of the film was marked with cool virtual reality (VR) experiences. It that even allowed viewers to determine the story's narrative, kinda like a precursor to Bandersnatch (Black Mirror)!
A Marriage Of Online & Offline:
A particular Baahubali poster, measuring 51,968 sq. ft., made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records and Limca Book of World Records. Just like Star Trek and Avatar, Baahubali even had a new language in it. Brand associations, half-a-minute snippets, 4K resolution content on YouTube, graphic novel books, fiction books written by Anand Neelakanthan, animated web series, interactive quizzes, offline merchandise and so on have kept Baahubali alive and kicking in the minds of its fans even today.
Deliver on expectations:
A legendary storyline, grandiose characters, powerful acts of politics and power, breathtaking visuals and action sequence, all at epic scales, made the film unforgettable, especially when it came to the actual movie! After all the hype, the film was expected to be lit. And it delivered spectacularly. It offered viewers a 360-degree experience in its truest sense. Thanks to their well-planned strategies, the makers of the film were not only able to build anticipation and curiosity, but also delivered on those expectations. Basically, they successfully delighted customers.
Based on these factors, answer the following questions:
- Why do you think Baahubali used such grand and long lasting pre-launch strategies?
- What digital marketing takeaways does Baahubali give us?
- Why do you think the film was distributed in so many geographies?
- How would you change the offline marketing if you were a part of the Baahubali marketing team?
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