Silver trail on your desktop

After film blogs, are desktop TV trailers the next big thing in film promotion?

Hi, I'm Abhishek Bachchan and you're about to watch the desktop premiere of 'Where's the Party Tonight?' from Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna."

Log on to msn.com and you'll find Bachchan Jr talking to MSN users before breaking into a dance to shake a leg with co-star Preity Zinta. Another trailer has actor Rani Mukherji inviting users to another "desktop trailer" of the film.

The promotional use of the Internet "" beyond official websites "" could make for a strengthening trend, now that films like Omkara and Kabhi Alvida... are actively interested in the cyberspatial audience. Expect banner after banner to unleash their trailers on desktop television.

Earlier, films had taken to blogs. So, in broad terms, "the trend is not entirely new",ac admits Rajnish, head, digital marketing revenue and strategic business, MSN.

"But the entertainment genre has started investing in this medium only recently." Advertising on the Net, overall, is placed at over Rs 170 crore, growing at a spiffy 64 per cent year-on-year. Films couldn't ignore the medium.

One way to look at it is as part of the increasing market-savviness of Hindi filmmakers, who have been adopting the "360 degree" marketing approach: which involves engaging the prospect at every possible touchpoint. So far, we've had Bunty and Babli reading a con-news bulletin on NDTV, Samay table-cards at Barista cafes, and much else.

MSN's own learning curve has been through a blog for Mangal Pandey, followed by another blog to spark off discussion on Rang De Basanti.

Blogs, of course, run the risk of turning into cyber-brawls. As for desktop TV trailers, MSN took John Mathew Matthan's Shikhar on to the web, leaving any dissension talk to people's own private blogs.

"We were just beginning then, and the trend really picked up only recently," says Rajnish, "especially as big banners have started approaching us too."

Anthony Kaun Hai is the next film that has its trailers on msn.com. "We've created a blog for this film too," he adds, "and we have some very interesting Indian films lined up for the desktop experience."

"Filmmakers want to reach out to the NRI community and the Net is proving to be a good tool," claims Rajnish.

Even otherwise, if the Net is frequented by people curious about the world beyond the rigmarole of daily life, it's just the medium any art form needs, no matter how commercialised.