"Pushpa" story to ₹300 Cr box office💰
And what any internet business can learn from it.
Welcome to the 66th edition of the GrowthX Newsletter. Every Tuesday & Thursday I write a piece on startups & business growth. Today’s piece is going to 94,400+ operators & leaders from startups like Google, Stripe, Swiggy, Razorpay, CRED & more
Myth : South movies are getting lucky 🤯
Fact : They have figured the process to be lucky ✨
Quick context 🗓
Back in 2000s, South movies never built for Hindi audiences. It was the niche (but highly profitable) play in the southern part of India. The only south movie I remember from my childhood was Aarya (that too in Telugu).
Fast forward 2020s 🏃🏻
Tollywood/Kollywood movies are the thing. Bahubali (₹3600Cr), KGF(₹1500Cr+) & the list goes on. So what happened in the last 2 decades that is making Tollywood win this wallet share from the pan India audience. This story needs to be told.
First, right ideal customer profile 🕵🏻♂️
They know two core audiences to target. Primarily, it's own South (Tier 2+ cities ) audience who believes in movies = {entertainment on the weekend}. Secondarily, the Hindi+South Tier 1 city audience which goes to multiplex. One gives them the high frequency of purchase, second drives higher ticket size.
Second, the trust elements ✨
Actors (majorly male) are the cinema single screen walk-in drivers in south. Stories + songs are the whistle drivers & group movie watching behaviour is the repeat purchase driver.
Third, the value prop <> audience fit 🤝
South movies love rags to riches stories. It's the bread and butter part of most movies. Take RRR or KGF for that matter. The Tier 2/3 audience still chimes on the rags to riches story. Tier 1 comes for the same thing but doesn't want to admit it. Just take a look at Multiplex collections.
Fourth, Bollywood's whitespace ☁️
Good stories has been a pain for B-Town. But, cineplex screens that were under utilised post the pandemic have been taken by south movies. The nuance is frequency of good story movies.
That's all for now ♥️
Did the Pushpa story add value to your thought process? Now think how you can nail the right marketing pitch, the right aha moment & the repeat purchase behaviour for your own product. That’s the point of doing this story.
Send this story to your south movie fan friends. Peace.
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