You may be thinking that this could have been the isolated effects of a single popular film, but consider that the headline in one of the main newspapers in India today is about two young men who died after trying to recreate a motorcycle stunt from the recently released film Dhoom-2, and there is even a vibrant discussion happening on indian blogs now about the case of a man suing actors Hrithek Roshan and Aishwairya Rai for indecent exposure because of a kissing scene (considered taboo in Bollywood films) between the stars in the film. Clearly, Bollywood films exert a special influence on the culture here, making or ruining the livelihood of thousands, inspiring youth to take stupid risks, and even ruling the top ten music charts with songs from films taking the majority of the spots.

If you haven’t seen a real Bollywood film, the typical formula is a three hour (minimum) extravagant films with several musical numbers (whether relevant to the plot or not), multiple outfit changes, and at least one Shaadi (Indian wedding). There really is no film experience quite like it, and despite the efforts of many to redefine Indian filmmaking as more than just films with the “Bollywood formula,” here in India, Bollywood is still king. In a media culture so driven by films, the marketing is also influenced heavily by these releases.

Everywhere on the street, you can see billboards, postings on auto rickshaws, and signs about films featuring photos and drawings of stars. On television, there are short 30 second (or shorter) segments from the large dance sequences of each film, used as trailers to encourage you to see the film and implant the signature song into your head. There are product tie-ins as well, with Coke running ads featuring Hrithek Roshan and a brand of engine oil advertising along with previews of stunts from Dhoom 2. Contrary to the US culture, which is moving towards a more fragmented media where niche channels are growing in importance, major Bollywood film releases (featuring all the top stars) still draw guaranteed audiences and offer huge marketing opportunities. The Golden Age of Hollywood may have passed, but Bollywood’s Golden Age in India seems to be here and now.

Note: This post is the first in a series of observations about marketing in India during my travels over the past few weeks in Delhi, Jaipur, Goa and Mumbai that will be published on the Influential Interactive Marketing blog over the next few days.

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Rohit Bhargava is the Vice President for Interactive Marketing with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.

http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com

Why, you go to any college campus, and you’ll run into at least one person wearing his face on their chest.

I’m sure a good communist like Che would love that he’s become the epitome of capitalism.

Now, according to the NYTimes article, interactive marketing is going to come to a bunch of products that have nothing to do with the Internet. Che save us – hey, get it?! No religion because of communism?! Oh … forget it.

Anyway, because of the wonderful success of the Subservient Chicken – at least on the Internet as a viral campaign – the thought is that everything should have an interactive campaign now. But, one thing I never really have read yet is how successful was the Subservient Chicken campaign really? Did it get a bunch of people into Burger King to buy chicken? I know I never got up to get a chicken sandwich there … and there’s a BK about 5 minutes from my office.

Now, the “best darn burgers” commercial (opens to Real Audio video) did make me want to go in, but I’m a sucker for jingles. Plus, I always did wish that life was more like a Rodgers & Hammerstein film or Bollywood.

But, thankfully, we now have an interactive campaign for Brawny Man at Innocent Escapes. Sorta like bad SNL soap operas. To me, this is an example of trying too hard for a guerilla campaign … especially since they have gone on an email campaign to let people know about it.

Now, the WB also has an interesting campaign … full, life-sized posters of various WB stars. Here’s the very-loved life-size Ashlee Simpson (blonde version). This, to me, is a creative campaign. I read about it online (can’t find the link), and if I were their target audience, I’d print out a few posters of the shows that I watch on the WB.

To me, this is a creative campaign. It’s viral, it touches on the desire of wanting to be part of the show, and it’s pretty cool idea to be able to print out a full life-sized poster. The only loser in this equation is the parents whose poor color printers die right after…

Okay, I’m going to go back and watch the Burger King ad again, and sing at the top of my voice.

Okay, I lied – instead I went over to read Robert Scoble‘s blog – and found this little ditty on another division at MSFT that’s trying to create a guerilla campaign … and bore the wrath of Scoble for trying to launch such a transparent effort. Scoble has an interesting take, and takes them to task for not making the site a smart marketing site.

Jeremy Pepper is the CEO and founder of POP! Public Relations, a public relations firm based in Arizona, USA.

He authors the popular Musings from POP! Public Relations blog which offers Jeremy’s opinions and views – on public relations, publicity and other things.