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NEW DELHI :In-cinema advertising witnessed a steep decline amid the continued sluggishness at the box office, especially in the Hindi-speaking belt. Trade experts said the lack of major star-studded titles, which typically attract top brands, is the primary factor behind the 30% fall in ad revenues, across multiplex chains and independent single-screen theatres.
In-cinema advertising witnessed a steep decline amid the continued sluggishness at the box office, especially in the Hindi-speaking belt. Trade experts said the lack of major star-studded titles, which typically attract top brands, is the primary factor behind the 30% fall in ad revenues, across multiplex chains and independent single-screen theatres.
Brands are also becoming more cautious and are monitoring box office performance before investing, in a clear departure from the pre-covid times when investments were made blindly, due to the massive change in perception towards theatre viewing.
Brands are also becoming more cautious and are monitoring box office performance before investing, in a clear departure from the pre-covid times when investments were made blindly, due to the massive change in perception towards theatre viewing.
Even the highly anticipated release of big-ticket movies like Adipurush has failed to cheer advertisers. “It’s been a mixed couple of months at the box office, despite the success of films like Pathaan and Ponniyin Selvan-2. Footfalls, in the Hindi-speaking belt , have particularly seen a dip and, overall, there is a perception that Bollywood is no longer drawing people to the cinemas, due to which brands are apprehensive," Yogesh Kapil, national sales head, Qube Cinema Network, a digital cinema technology provider, said.
The difference is that earlier clients would not keep track of how movies were performing, especially so, as some of them signed long-term deals of up to one year. However, movies are now being tracked on a case-to-case basis, and some categories like lifestyle have cut spending, Kapil said. That said, Qube enjoys major presence in the south, and the four states are recovering far better than Hindi. It is easier to sign deals exclusively for those territories, he added. Queries to PVR Inox didn’t elicit any response till press time.
There is clearly no doubt that in-film ads are directly related to the number of admissions, Amit Sharma, managing director-entertainment, Miraj Group, said. “Big tent pole Bollywood films with popular names work, but the only big-star release in April to June has been Salman Khan’s Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, leading to stress on advertising," he added. “We hope business will be at 85-90% of pre-covid as big Hindi films start releasing from August."
Agreeing that the release of major Hindi language content has to restart, Karan Taurani, senior vice-president at Elara Capital Ltd said the advertising environment has anyway remained sluggish post covid, and while mediums such as TV and print have bounced back, cinema, radio and out-of-home continue to struggle.
To be sure, while there are occasional surprise hits such as The Kerala Story, a majority of Hindi film producers are not even investing in major promotions in tier-two and tier-three towns in order to create buzz. “Brands are not willing to spend on small-budget or non-star films. Also, marketing will happen when producers expect footfalls in the first place, as in the case of Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan or Adipurush," said Pranav Garg, managing director at Maya Palace, a two-screen cinema in Muzaffarnagar. Garg said the current trend is for producers to focus on digital marketing or rope in influencers, if there is an intention to promote the film at all. However, such strategies haven’t helped in building anticipation around the past few releases. All hopes are now pinned primarily on the Independence Day weekend which shall see the release of Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal and period drama Gadar 2.
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