Ankur Arora Murder Case

Group A9
Problem Statement
Dhanraj Jethani , co-producer of Ankur Arora Murder Case (AAMC), is faced with a
dilemma that whether he should take up the offer of producing a new movie
after financing a major box office flop. To solve the dilemma, we analyze the
entire Marketing plan of AAMC.
AAMC Box Office Disaster Problem Analysis

Scheduling
The release date was changed several times. It got postponed twice
before being eventually released on June 14, 2013. This left a lot of
audiences disinterested. The time of release was also not apt as there
were two movies scheduled to be released on the same date, one of them
being a heavyweight Hollywood blockbuster Man of Steel.

Star Cast
The movie did not have any celebrity star cast apart from Mr. Menon. It
was primarily due to low marketing budget. The cast was not strong
enough to draw in audiences into the theatres. Entertainment quotient
was lacking. There was a mismatch between the buzz it created through
media channels and what it actually transpired to be. Mr. Jethani was
inspired by the success of No one killed Jessica, but he failed to notice that
its star cast was the important factor behind its success, which was
lacking in AAMC.

Niche theme of movie

Mr. Bhatt thought that the theme of medical negligence and malpractice
would hit the mind of mass. But the majority of people who watch movies
at theatres are youth. This audience is neither able to connect with death
nor with the mother-child bond.

Controversies
AAMC ran into trouble with Britannia Industries, who sent a legal notice
claiming INR 10 million and an apology for misleading audiences by
showing product shots of their product Good Day being consumed by the
child,
whose
death
is
the
central
event.
With their print media campaign, focussing on prominent celebrities who
were victims of medical negligence, AAMC team ran into conflict with
Times of India, as they did not have any signed contract or agreement
with the mention of celebrities. These controversies were released in print
media
and
contributed
to
negative
image.

OOH Marketing
The OOH based marketing through billboards, backlit signage, and digital
displays were concentrated in two cities, namely Mumbai and Delhi. The
allocation of OOH could have been made evenly across the major cities to
garner interest in audiences.
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Free Commercial Time
AAMC team concentrated more on booking 30 seconds slots on FCT, while
completely ignoring the 45 seconds or longer slots. This could have been
used to engage with audiences for a longer period and foster their interest
in AAMC.
When Hope Kills
AAMCs positioning statement When Hope Kills, sent a negative vibe
across the audiences, as hope is associated with a positive feeling and
driver.
Public Relations Team
Mr. Dhanraj donated INR 100,000 to a cancer patient at the premiere
showing, which was covered by just one online publication. The PR team
should have ensured higher coverage of this act to propagate their
involvement in social works. The PR also should have had a tighter script
for their cast and managed them at their interviews, so that the interviews
were uniform and in sync with the positioning of AAMC.
Suggestions
1. The AAMC team should have looked to position themselves better,
by catering them to its viewers as a movie which deals in bringing
justice.
2. AAMC being a drama film should have gone for in-serial promotions,
which would have helped them to target the middle age population.
3. Organising promotional events at Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata, would
have helped the team of AAMC to leverage the regional popularity
of Kay Kay Menon, Trisca Chopra and Paoli Dam respectively and
build on audiences.
4. The campaign WHO WAS ANKUR ARORA? in social media, was
leveraged from platforms of previous movies. This could have been
capitalized in an effective way by using the platform of AAMC, and
with the support advertising, to create suspense and intrigue
among the audiences.
5. The two songs that were aired used only two music channels for
their promotion. The reach should have been increased by airing the
songs in other popular music channels like MTV, 9XM.
6. The team of AAMC should have gone into merchandising to promote
themselves.
The Dilemma
Mr. Dhanraj Jethani, should look to produce, finance, and market the
movie offer at hand. He should outsource the job of marketing to
one advertising agency, rather than have several agencies for
different channels. This would ensure efficient integration of

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promotion across all channels, and have a better sync of their
promotional strategies.

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