Race 2, 2013’s most awaited sequel of 2012’s blockbuster hit Race got released on January 25th, 2013. The action thriller movie which has leads like Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor, etc. has already got mixed responses for the movie. According to a recent story done by Exchange 4 Media, the big budgeted movie had an extensive 360-degree marketing plan that included print, television, digital and social media. The social media initiative for the movie was carried out by WatConsult, a social media strategy consulting agency.
Social media campaigns for Race 2
On social media, Race 2 primarily focused on Facebook along with other networks such as Twitter and YouTube. The Facebook promotions for the movie were carried on the Tips Films Facebook page which currently has a fan base of more than 531K fans. The agency started promoting about the movie from the month of November. To start with, the agency interacted with fans on the popularity of the previous hit Race. Later on it shared the star cast, official trailer and interesting content related to the movie and its script. The idea was to create the buzz and increase the anxiety about the thriller sequel among fans.
In addition to this, the Facebook campaign also focused on initiatives such as creating interesting creatives released to promote various songs from the movie including teasers and lyric posters, dialogue posters promoting fans, favorite lines from the movie trailers, etc. These initiatives on the Facebook page got a good response from the fans that reflected the interest about the movie Race 2.
The movie also made sure that it arranged contests on Facebook so that fans get a chance to participate and win some exclusive merchandise. One of the major contests was ‘Race2 The New Year’ contest where one fan won a personalized New Year wish from the cast of the movie.
Twitter and YouTube have been the other networks that have been used extensively along with Facebook. The Twitter handle of Race 2 has more than 4K followers and has used the network extensively interacting with followers, sharing interesting thoughts about the movie and what fans are talking about the movie. On the release date of the movie, the hashtag #Race 2 was trending all day and the same trend followed the next day too. The TipsFilms Twitter handle that has more than 860 followers, also been used extensively to promote the movie. In addition to this ETC Bollywood on Twitter ran a quiz contest with regards to the movie. Fans were asked 10 questions on Twitter and 10 winners stood a chance to win exclusive Race 2 merchandise as shown in the below screen grab.
TipsMusic YouTube brand page was used to release all exclusive video content for fans. The brand page which has more than 175K subscribers featured all the videos from the official trailer to all the songs featured in the movie. The popularity of these videos can be judged by their viewership on YouTube. The official trailer got more than 5M views and the songs such as Lat Lag Gayee and Party On Mind also got more than 5M views.
Interestingly, Race 2 is one of those movies that has not released it’s audio in physical form, all the songs are only available in digital format.
Brand integrations with Race 2
Race 2, the movie also made sure that it integrated with other brands. Brands like Metro Shoes, Amul Macho, Audi India, Tanishq and Van Heusen were connected with the theme of the movie. Some of the brands went a step further and created social media campaigns to create buzz about their association.
Audi India’s association with Race 2 was not only in the movie but it also launched a Facebook contest “Act in Race 2.” The contest allowed a fan’s dream wish – to be part of a Bollywood film – to be true! To be that one lucky winner, fans had to imagine a situation where they are on a grand Bollywood award ceremony and all set to receive the “Best Co-star Award.” Eventually fans had to shoot their acceptance speech and upload on the Facebook app.
Like Audi, Tanishq’s IVA jewellery has been used in the movie by the leading ladies of Race 2. The brand also grabbed this opportunity and created a social media engagement. It ran a Facebook contest where it gave 3 lucky fans a chance to meet Deepika Padukone and win stunning Iva jewellery if they could match up the style quotient of the leading ladies of the movie.
In addition to this, brands like Metro Shoes integrated with the movie and carried out offline engagement on their stores.
Bollywood and social media synergy
This is not the first time and won’t be the last time that we witness Bollywood movie producers integrating digital and social media in their marketing plan. Recently we saw how Inkaar integrated social media for its promotion.
Race 2 definitely had a massive 360 marketing plan but the way it has used social media is interesting. When movies like Race 2 use social media so extensively, they not only raise the bar but also build faith for the medium, thereby motivating other players to use it more often and more innovatively in their approaches.