Yes, as the nation lines up for ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ to find the answer of the most asked, meme and viral question in India i.e “Katappa ne Bahubali ko kyu mara?”, I am trying to decode the marketing genius behind it.
SS Rajamouli’s Bahubali Series has captured the imagination ever since the first installment was released.
Yes, the first part ended in One Gripping Climax, it was the use of this Climax to market the movie that is much more interesting to me.
Seldom have we seen, that the climax being disclosed and discoursed in the open by the makers of a movie. But in Bahubali’s case, not only was the climax disclosed but marketed well which led to make Bahubali one of the highest earning movie in India Cinematic History, crossing all boundaries i.e. Southern India as well as Northern India.
THE MARKETING PRINCIPLE BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN
There is very common marketing principle which was utilized by Team Bahubali i.e. Create anxiety among your Target Audience…
Why Anxiety?
Anxiety as per Google, means: strong desire or concern to do something or for something to happen
Anxiety’s role in Human Psychology is important! We as individuals don’t enjoy to be in a state of anxiety. We have reptile brains, and hence we want to be in a state of certainty and hence need to be sure.
WHERE DID THE ANXIETY COME FROM ?
Anxiety was about the climax! This worked in two ways!
- Anxiety about who is Kattappa in Bahubali? And why is his discourse so important for the nation to know?
- Now that Kattappa is important, Why exactly he killed Bahubali? ( Katappa Ne Bahubali Ko Kyu Mara? )
This is the exact human psychology that worked here…
- Create Anxiety among the masses which they want to alleviate
- And hence push them subconsciously to visit the theatre.
Of course this has to be supported by an intriguing plot and good visuals.
Creating such an Anxiety is not easy, it requires a well-planned and thoughtful execution on a large scale.
KEY FACTORS THAT HELPED THE CAMPAIGN
I believe that the following were the key factors that helped the cause and made Bahubali 2 the most awaited movie in recent times.
FINDING THE PUNCH (LINE)
Anything you want to make Viral, must be easy to understand, easier to recall, easiest to share!
This is where, having a punch line is important.
“SS Rajamouli perfectly summed up the entire climax of the first installment in a perfect punch line i.e. “Kattappa ne Bahubali ko kyon maara?”
GOING BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE MOVIE :
The second job was to go beyond the movie.
First lets understand why going beyond the movie is important?
Movie is not real! Plus the story is also set in historic times. Hence the fizz behind the climax would have faded soon. So what is the solution?
The Solution was simple! Convert the climax Punch Line in an emotional essence!
Let’s look at some examples to understand it better!
Example 1 :
[porto_blockquote footer_before=”Punch Line has been associated with Irritating Questions asked by Individuals!” skin=”primary”]”Mera Dost Mujhse Puch raha tha ‘Kattappa ne Bahubali ko Kyun Mara?’
Ab Police Mujh se Puchh rahi hai ‘Tumne Apne Dost ko Kyun Mara?”[/porto_blockquote]
Example 2 :
[porto_blockquote footer_before=”Punch Line associated with a Brand” skin=”primary”]”Kattappa ne Bahubali ko Kyun Mara?
Kyonki Wo Bar-Bar Puchta tha ke…..
Ye Melody Itni Chocolaty Kyun hai??[/porto_blockquote]
Example 3 :
[porto_blockquote footer_before=”Punch line is associated with Frustration.” skin=”primary”]”Q. Why did Kattapa Kill Bahubali?
A. Bahubali showed ‘Himmatwala’ movie to Kattapa[/porto_blockquote]
Similarly, the entire question was taken beyond the conventional story of the movie and was made to be associated with lot more things, which the audience is emotional and have an opinion about!
USING THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA :
Once the marketing masala was ready, it was time to promote it and give the mouths to spread the word.
Social Media became a good contributor towards this.
WhatsApp was flooded with such messages, jokes, comparisons, brand promotion centered around the Punch Line.
From CID to Rajnikant, Rahul Gandhi to Kejriwal, everything had something to with either Katappa or Bahubali.
Private Groups in various mediums were discussing, commenting and reacting on it to different lengths.
Such was push of the Punch Line, that finally annoying use of “Katappa ne Bahubali ko kyu mara?” became a joke!
ENGAGING BRANDS IN THE STORY :
Let’s look at this example,
[porto_blockquote footer_before=”Punch Line associated with a Brand” skin=”primary”]”Katappa ne Bahubali ko Kyu Mara?
Kyonki Wo Bar-Bar Puchta tha ke…..
Ye Melody Itni Chocolaty Kyun hai??[/porto_blockquote]
When you let brands leverage your punch line, they invest in promoting themselves. And whenever this happens, you become a parasite to their promotion.
You gain whenever they are promoting themselves.
TIMINGS OF CAMPAIGN :
This is probably the single most important thing that worked wonders here, THE TIMING…
As per a TED talk, timing contributes largely to the success of an idea.
If you guys go back, the question of Kattappa killing Bahubali never surfaced from the day movie was released.
It was only after a couple of weeks, that a word of mouth base was prepared.
Any inorganic campaign is never sustainable in itself. To make it sustainable enough we need advocates who take it forward by themselves.
Some notable campaigns which use the logic of using advocates are:
1) “Fogg Chal rha hai” Virni
2) “Thanda Matlab Coca Cola” by Coca Cola
3) “Chaunk Gye” by Tide etc
The marketing team waited for the anxiety to take its time among individuals about the climax and then pushed their punch line.
Timing of the push was spot on!
Yeah, the question is important! Why does Kattappa alike protagonist turn rogue?
But more important is understanding the marketing brain behind this and use it for your own campaigns.
There is another key learning from this entire campaign! i.e. You have to use basics of Human Psychology to your marketing campaigns.
Marketing is all about understanding how individuals perceive things and then to speak about a particular product/service to good effect.
We as marketers have been using this to great effect for variety of campaigns for long, however, nowadays we get so engrossed in the tactics and execution that we miss the entire point of putting marketing aspect to our campaigns.
If you are missing the marketing in your online campaigns, email us at hello@growthpixel.com to put human psychology in good effect for your marketing campaigns.
PS: I Know “Katappa Ne Bahubali ko Kyu Mara” … Click here to know WHY!
Wow… Never thought of it like this… Great Read… Especially to highlight how one brand can leverage others.
Thanks for sharing.
Amazing read. Never really understood the marketing behind the dialogue! Now I get it
Superb take on the strategy. Great post Devashish!
Never really thought it this way!
Great marketing depiction!