Shah Rukh Khan is on marketing overdrive. He is practically leaving no stone unturned in marketing his production Ra.One. He launched a YouTube channel for the film that will release on October 26. He will also use Google Plus to interact with fans and that should be a big boost for the social networking site.
In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18's Anuradha Sengupta, Shah Rukh and Rajan Anandan, managing director and vice president of Google India reveal what the unique association will entail.
While Khan says 'more the number of medium, the better it is for entertainment', Anandan holds that YouTube is the third largest country in the world.
Further, roping Khan for a first-time-ever interaction on Google Plus, Anandan says the Bollywood star will make the brand a household name, which is a much needed push.
Below is an edited transcript of the exclusive discussion on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.
Q: What do you expect from the online channel?
Khan: Indian movies are liked by people outside the country and lately more so and on the website, we had about a 170 nations, people of different nationalities coming and wanting to find about Ra.One.
I didn't know that there would be so many nations who would like to know about an Indian film. So, YouTube gives you channel and the platform for people to get access into it.
It is the number one watched video channel on YouTube. So, it is very interesting that you are able to create eyeballs for your film and of course finally the film will speak.
When YouTube actually features movies, and you have a deal with them, it helps you to monetize part of your product revenue in a different way. So, more the number of medium, more the platforms, and the better it is for entertainment.
Q: What is the kind of incentives that a film producer and film industry should see or expect from these kinds of associations?
Anandan: There are two billion users on the internet in the world and five years from now there will be three billion users. So, 40% of the world will be online in 3-4 years. What is incredible about this platform now is for producers, the medium provides an unprecedented level or scale.
The primary incentive, before we even get to YouTube, is this incredible reach that you can get with the internet — 175 nationalities. YouTube reaches a large number of users or as we say 'YouTube is the third largest country in the world!'
Q: Give us the nature of the relationship that you would have? I am guessing that the Ra.One channel that Shah Rukh is launching is sort of emblematic or symbolic of the partnership program that Google has and we believe advertising can stream on that. So does that apply here?
Anandan: What we have done with Shah Rukh and Red Chillies for Ra.One is very special. We haven't done anything like this in India before and the association with Ra.One really encompasses both YouTube as well as Google Plus.
All the promotional videos will be on the YouTube Ra.One channel. We are going to run a very exciting contest that engages users. We have live streamed a whole segment including the Red Carpet and the Premier in London and so on and so forth. And, on Google Plus Shah Rukh will interact with fans.
Q: And, Shah Rukh will actually then make Google Plus a household name and you really need that, isn't it?
Anandan: He is a household name so with Google Plus, we think it's going to be a great platform.
Khan: This is actually very symbiotic. I run businesses and I am a producer, a film maker but finally what an actor wants or an entertainer wants is a lot of people to watch him. The money finally doesn't matter, how many times you are written about does not matter but how many people I have in front of me right now matters to an entertainer. YouTube and Google Plus have 2 billion people, which I wasn't aware of, or I would have started performing more for Google!
Q: Will you be doing ads for Google Plus and the whole Ra.One association? Will Google be doing any advertising around this association?
Anandan: Yes, actually we are doing co-marketing. Both Red Chillies as well as Google will actually market the Ra.One channel on YouTube very aggressively starting later this week. You will start seeing lot of advertising both online as well as offline.
Q: And also, for Ra.One and Google Plus?
Anandan: For the channel, this marketing is specifically around Ra.One for YouTube, Ra.One for Google Plus but it's really centered around Ra.One and the Google properties that we want to associate with Ra.One.
Q: Film marketing has changed since the time you have got into the industry and today, isn't it?
Khan: I changed film marketing.
Q: You have changed film marketing and Ra.One which is perhaps your most ambitious production to date and has a huge and very wide canvas. How do you react to the fact that the internet needs new skills and how much of those resources do you think the film industry has?
Khan: The core of YouTube, a part of it is geared towards entertainment and so is our business. We have a common platform. As far as I am concerned, the screen and television are very innovative and but with Google, I have the choice to be a little more interactive.http://www.moneycontrol.com/video/special-videos/raone-+-youtube-srk-says-symbiotic-deal-isnumber-game_592865.html?utm_source=Article_Vid
Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/special-videos/raone-+-youtube-srk-says-symbiotic-deal-isnumber-game_592865.html
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