Will Hollywood go mobile?

While the world is going gaga over cellphone advertising and marketing and the experts are predicting a helluva competition for the tiny little space of the cell phone, a certain industry which can exploit the world of cell phone advertising and marketing better than anyone else is yet to wake up.

No points for guessing it - the answer is Hollywood. It really surprises me how Hollywood has still not stepped into the world of cellphone marketing. Hollywood is, without a doubt, the most sophisticated film industry in the world and we all know how well they market their movies not just in the U.S.A., but all over the world. In fact, the reason behind the unbelievable craze for Hollywood movies all over the world is primarily good marketing, content comes only next. With marketing playing such a big role in Hollywood and a lot of corporate players entering the market, it’s only normal to assume that they would have tried out the hottest trend of ‘em all – cellphone advertising and marketing. But surprisingly, that’s not the answer. Barring 20th Century Fox, no other major film company has tried out cellphone marketing on a large scale yet.

It’s not that the idea has never been tested. 20th Century Fox tried its hands on cellphone marketing with Borat and The Simpsons Movie and released short video clips, wallpapers, and ringtones and had a good response. In fact, you’ll be surprised to know that Hollywood is quite late to catch up with international players when it comes to cellphone advertising. Or, make that very late.

India, as many of you might know, is the fastest growing mobile phone market today and it is also one of the biggest markets in terms of volume. What you don’t know is that it is also one of the hottest markets for cellphone advertising and marketing. Bollywood, as Indian film industry is popularly referred to, is certainly the pioneer in cellphone advertising and marketing. Over the past couple years, Indian film makers have promoted their movies through the cellphone and have succeeded big time. In fact, the film makers of Om Shanti Om and Saawariya, two of the biggest films in India this year, had tie ups with Nokia and Sony Ericsson respectively and promoted their movies unbelievably well. In fact, mobile marketing companies in India have also gone one step further and have introduced games based on Indian film stars, which has also got tremendous response from cellphone users.

If Bollywood, with a limited global presence can be so successful with cellphone advertising and marketing, what makes Hollywood think twice to take the plunge? Wake up guys – the people are ready. It’s you guys who need to kick yourselves for not waking up in time.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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