Film industry and metaverse: the promotion medium of the future
The film industry is known to come up with innovative campaigns to promote films. Be it actors wearing disguise or filmmakers releasing merchandise; filmmakers have often found the right idea to grab the attention of their target audience.
And these campaigns have mostly made the film stand out — unless it’s been summarily rejected for poor content. Now filmmakers are taking their marketing campaigns up a notch with the advent of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. They are trying to use the so-called metaverse and NFT space to create hype for their products.
For example, the creators of KGF: Chapter 2 have launched digital avatars of protagonist Yash on the metaverse, dubbed the “KGFVerse”. Initially, three digital avatars have been made available as NFTs – Bombay Rocky, Narachi Rocky and Toofan Rocky – based on Yash’s character in the magnum opus. In this metaverse, fans can build games and virtual environments using avatars.
Sales of these virtual characters went live on April 6, a week before the film’s release in cinemas on April 14 in multiple languages, including Kannada, Telugu and Hindi. The sale received a strong response, with the first 500 NFTs selling in just 10 minutes.
Before that, the creators of Prabhas starrer Radhe Shyam and Ajay Devgns Rudra also had their metaverse version. The makers of Jhund, starring Amitabh Bachchan, also had two NFTs created to celebrate the film.
When the film 83 was released, the makers had launched a range of collectibles, including autographed physical cricket memorabilia, video scenes, animated digital avatars, and invisible posters and graphics to promote the film.
Not only filmmakers, but also actors are increasingly attracted to tap into the rapidly emerging market.
Last year, Amitabh Bachchan joined the NFT bandwagon and launched his tokens including recording him and reciting poems by his father, Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
Later on, Salman Khan also ventured into NFT space.
