Housefull 4 has released today, on the occasion of Diwali, and the producers left no stone unturned to promote the film. Be it Bala challenge or the train promotions in Housefull 4 Express, let’s look at how their marketing has fared when it comes to creating buzz for the film.
Trailer:
The trailer was released hardly 3-4 weeks before the film’s release, but it has enough entertainment packed to get audiences hooked. It reflects in its trailer views, which are whooping 76 million views only on YouTube. Though initial response was mixed – diverse opinions, some found it hilarious but some found it cringe-worthy. Like:Dislike ratio on trailer is 14:1 which is average, which again indicates mixed response. Having said that, it’s a mass entertainer which never receives high-acclaim. The main pull of the trailer is the novelty of a period era and reincarnation angle. Also the scale, size, grandeur which is not very familiar before in a comedy genre.
Bala Challenge:
Since the release of the first song, Bala/Shaitan Ka Saala, the Bala Challenge seems to have taken the internet by storm. Many celebrities such as Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurrana, Varun Dhawan and others have already taken the Bala challenge and if that’s not enough Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and others have come up with a tutorial:
Promotion on wheels:
You’d be living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Housefull 4 Express. In an unique initiative by IRCTC and Indian Railways, an entire train was given for the promotion of Housefull 4. Social media was buzzing with the fun videos from the ‘Housefull 4’ Indian Railways train. That the cast and media put out across their digital platforms. However, this concept is not new, and has been done by Raees and Tamasha to promote the films in the past.
The painting and mounting charges for a 8 coach train costs around 12 lakhs, that’s according to the numbers coming in from DMRC data. Also, 46 lakhs have to be expensed for a month, which totals to 58 lakhs for a train having 8 coaches. This is an initiative by the government of India and Indian railways in collaboration with the Housefull 4 team.
IRCTC will benefit too from the movie promotions.
While it’s unique, interesting and seems to have created a lot of buzz online, there was hardly any buzz on the ground. A source says that there were hardly any fans waiting at stations. Stations where the cast was supposed to interact with them. Is it because of lack of any announcement or a result of average stardom?
Sneak-Peeks & Fun:
It seems like Housefull 4 team had a lot of fun. Not just on the sets and promotions but during the screening also. Which fan wouldn’t like to see what the stars are upto behind the scenes?
Marketing Campaign Analysis
Thumbs Up
- Posters and Trailer Packaging
- Trailer Response
- Fan engagement through Bala challenge, sneak peeks, fun BTS, etc
Thumbs Down
- No new promotional strategies
- Dialogues in trailer / promos
