An Empirical Study on Film Marketing Practice in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Film is an art form which is basically to entertain people through visual storytelling. On the other hand, it is a business which has been a huge revenue driver in the entertainment industry. However, not all films achieve box office success with high profit margins. Success of a film depends on various functions and Film Marketing is one of them. There is also a need to focus on marketing in all the stages of a film’s life. Despite the very high number of Sri Lankan film halls, audience and film sales are very low. Moreover, it has been proven by researches that a majority of Sri Lankan film audiences prefer to consume foreign films including Hollywood, Bollywood and Kollywood films instead of Sri Lankan films. However, a cinema without an audience does not make any sense. This research study mainly examines the contemporary situation of film marketing practice in Sri Lanka. The need for a thorough investigation into the film marketing phenomenon was particularly evident from the literature review and exploratory research undertaken, as it showed that there are significant research gaps like methodological gap and practical gap. In response to these gaps, the research was performed based on qualitative strategy under deductive research approach. Primary data were gathered using in depth interviews with the key stakeholders of film industry. Sample was selected according to purposive and judgmental sampling technique and collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis method. In order to take particular account of the nature of film marketing practice in Sri Lanka, it combines the insights from contemporary production and consumption practice in the film industry with theoretical perspectives from Communication, Marketing, Film Marketing, Branding, Public Relations and Film Studies. Based on the data gathered from exploratory research and literature review, it was proven that though world’s most lucrative film industries have provided interesting case studies for Film Marketing, many Sri Lankans even those within the film industry, have no idea about the bigger picture of Film Marketing.