1) Get your budget right
Most of the startups (including mine) allocate major chunk of their budget to product development and spend left-overs on sales and marketing. Lets look at the breakup of Chennai Express’s budget.
Production Cost: 50 Crore
Print and Advertising Budget: 30 Crore
Rohit Shetty and Team Fee: 15 Crore
Red Chillies & SRK Distribution Share: 40 Crore
So, out of 135Cr project, product development cost was just 50Cr or 27% and major chunk was allocated to the sales and distribution activities. This shows how success can be achieved by focusing more on activities for taking product to the end users.
Its important to note that expenditure on distribution channels was more than the total advertising budget and this strategy seemed to have paid well. Chennai Express was distributed in more than 3700 screens which fetched higher revenue in short time.
Lesson: Allocate atleast more than 50% of the project budget to sales and marketing activities. At the end of the day, it’s the revenue that counts.
Bonus tip for founders – Don’t forget to pay yourself well because its you who is running the show.
2) Good is good enough
Critics gave maximum 3 stars to this movie which normally translates into ‘Good’ rating. Now, lot of movies that get 4-5 stars fail to cross even 5Cr mark. This makes me wonder, do we really need to build a 5 star product to achieve success? Chennai Express packs all the masala that common man likes to watch and that was enough to get people buy the movie ticket.
Lesson: Its no denying that the product should be great but a good product that can address even 70-80% of the target market is good enough. Nobody can create a product which is perfect and satisfies everyone’s need.
3) Every small thing counts
Shah Rukh Khan promoted this movie in every possible media – no matter how big or small it is. He was seen twice in ‘Comedy nights with Kapil’ and even appeared in less popular ‘Diya ur Bati hum’. He was spotted walking on a ramp in a Fashion Show and was also seen running in a small ‘Independence Day Rally’. He promoted the film at IIFA Awards in Macao and was seen at a small shopping mall in Bhopal as well.
Lesson: Don’t underestimate any media. Promote your product on Techcrunch as well as on your friend’s blog that has 100 visitors a month. Don’t focus only on Facebook because its popular and ignore Google Plus because its yet to catch up. Remember, every small thing counts.
One of my interviews published in local newspaper fetched more visitors on ProfitBooks site than a coverage on popular tech blog.
4) Ride on the shoulders of giants
Shah Rukh Khan associated with top brands to promote the film. His team even used Rajnikanth’s brand value which made ‘Lungi Dance’ song immensely popular. The film was promoted on top television shows that attract huge audience.
Lesson: While starting up, when you are new, find an opportunity to stand on the shoulders of a giant. Try to associate your product with already established brand.
5) Get Innovative
This is a very important point because every promotional activity costs some money and only innovation can help reduce the cost of reaching out to the market.
Did you know that there is a game based on Chennai Express film? Available on Android and Java based phones, users can fight goons and score points. How cool is that?
Promoters of the film even launched Sarees with designs similar to Deepka’s Sareers in the film. There was even a ‘Raksha-Bandhan’ offer (Buy 1 and get 1 free movie ticket).
Lesson: Often startups are on a tight budget and are bootstrapped. Innovative techniques like these not only help create awareness at a lower cost but also establishes a different image of the company. Wouldn’t you buy from a company having innovative marketing strategies?
