The 'Ra.One' blitzkrieg: Shah Rukh Khan & his cracker of a Diwali release

The makers of Ra.One are on a marketing blitzkrieg, innovatively promoting their upcoming film on all possible platforms besides collaborating with over 25 brands, popularising its superhero characters while pushing for its merchandise on a vast scale to grab eyeballs and recover the huge investment ahead of its release on Diwali.

Considering that Shah Rukh Khan has ventured into an unfamiliar genre of super hero flicks, which has not received much appreciation from Indian public, the superstar is going all out to create awareness and interest in the genre.

Shah Rukh kicked off the promotions of Ra.One by releasing the first look of the film on Twitter in January this year, this was followed by ten second trailer of the film during World Cup match in the month of March.

The first theatrical trailer of Ra.One was released three months later during a five city tour and a 3600 ft long fan mail was collected with messages from audiences.

In early September, SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment launched a viral marketing campaign for promoting the film more effectively in the online arena.

"Overall marketing idea is of Shah Rukh. Considering the movie is first of its kind being made in India, extraordinary promotions were required. The idea is to create buzz about the movie," Shailja Gupta, digital & merchandising head of Red Chillies, told PTI.

An official customised Ra.One channel was launched on YouTube, a first for an Indian film, where audiences can see theatrical promos, songs, events, uncut footage, videos of Ra.One premiere and red carpet events.

Western Union, a leader in global payment services to launch a global campaign, joined hands with Red Chillies for international promotions. Through this, Shah Rukh is looking to target Indian families settled abroad. The makers have collaborated with Formula One races, as a part of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.

SRK launched the digital avatar of G.One, a character that he plays in his much-awaited film Ra.One. He roped in UTV Indiagames to design a social game based on the film, which serves the dual purpose of marketing and entertaining in digital space.

UTV Indiagames also developed digital comics based on the film's characters. Written by Shah Rukh, the comic has weekly episodes and serves as prequel to events in the movie.

Also, an official G.One store has been launched on the film's official website, where people could buy merchandises from the film.

The 45-year-old actor collaborated with several brands like Nokia, Godrej Consumer Products, Coca-Cola, Cinthol, Gitanjali Group, Horlicks, McDonalds and others to promote the film and its merchandise.

"On digital front, we have tied up with You Tube, UTV Indiagames, Sony playstation and others. Besides promoting on digital platform, we have tied up with several brands.. some of it are new and some with which Shah Rukh is already associated," Gupta said.

"Also, we have entered into stationary area with 'Back to School' theme where we have items like pencil, toy laptop, compass box, etc. We have tied up with international partners in places like Germany, Italy, US," she said.

Co-producers and distributors, Eros International has recovered money through in-film branding, media endorsements, music and satellite rights. The film has subsidised through brand ties-up with over 25 brands worth over Rs52 crore.

"Every movie has its own size so accordingly branding is done. Today marketing has become an important crux of film making business. One has to pull audiences to theatres, and needs to indulge in innovative marketing," Eros International, CFO Kamal Jain, said.

"It is an intelligent recovery move. Since investment is huge there is nothing wrong in recovering the money through effective marketing and distribution. In order to have a wider release of the movie marketing has to be effective. It is a five day weekend, the movie is getting released in over 3,000 screens in India and over 500 screens worldwide," he said.

From appearing on TV shows to collaborating with brands and using other marketing tools to promote his movie, Shahrukh however, refuses to be labelled as a marketing guru.

"These terms are all nonsensical. I think every actor talks about his films in some or the other way and like them I also do things when my film is about to release. I feel I am no marketing guru," Shah Rukh had told reporters.

"But I do feel in order to reach out to more people one needs to be innovative so that more and more people can be made aware about your film," he felt.

Trade Analyst Komal Nahta said, "I would call this clever marketing. It is a smart move to recover money much before the release. It is business like approach. I don't think he is going overboard with promotions. Since this movie has a huge budget, marketing plays a vital role...it has to be done on a vast scale."

"It is essential for Ra.One to pull up top line margins. The film stands out on Indian core like it has good songs, humour, family drama and etc," he said.

Ra.One is a science-fiction film, starring Shahrukh, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in lead roles, is all set to release on October 26.