Marketing & Promotions

Marketing & Promotions

AUDIENCE & REACH
Marketing
& Promotions
Pioneering the art of marketing for Indian content — from the revolution of Ramayan on Doordarshan to today’s dharmic digital handles, we craft campaigns rooted in Bharat that resonate worldwide.
STEP 01
The Sagar Standard

Sagar World has always set the standards and pioneered the art of Marketing – whether it was the revolution that was brought about by the Ramayan series on Doordarshan or the innovative marketing and PR strategies used in all the various hit movies that Sagar Arts produced.

01

An Unsurmountable Vision

When late Dr. Ramanand Sagar wished to make the Ramayan series, it was an unsurmountable task that had never been done before. The genre was practically non-existent. Everyone from the industry told him that it was suicidal, but he believed in his conviction and knew the pulse of the audience very well.

02

Rooted In Bharat

Most of the "marketing gurus" in India are far too influenced by Western thoughts and culture, leaving them with no connect with the Indian masses - their primary target group. At Sagar World, we specialize in thinking out of the box, keeping the cultural ethos and values of the Indian people and "Bharat" at our core, and that has been the great success story that is Sagar.

STEP 02
Prem Sagar – The
Marketing Wizard
A pioneer for marketing “Ramayan” at a time when Indian content was unknown to the world.
01

From Photography To Marketing

Prem Sagar Ji was never into marketing - he realized it was a world in itself which required understanding the demography and psychography of an audience as varied as the languages in India. But one tete-a-tete with Papaji (Dr. Ramanand Sagar), where he was asked to leave his passion, photography, and take up marketing for Ramayan, was all that was required. After meeting Shunu Sen, the legendary marketing guru, he left his indelible mark in this demanding industry - so much so that marketing became the biggest feather in his hat after photography, if not bigger.

02

Record-Breaking Telecast

Starting with Ramayan, Prem Sagar Ji took complete charge of marketing the free commercial time in the telecast hour - a non-prime hour on Sunday at 9 AM. Owing to his innovative strategies, Doordarshan raked in Rs. 130 crores in telecast fees alone (roughly Rs. 1,556 crores today). His farsighted vision enabled the marketing of Ramayan in 55 countries, making it the world's most viewed television serial.

03

Merchandising & New Formats

The trend of merchandising and franchising was also set by Prem Sagar Ji, beginning with the successful experimentation around the merch of "Vikram Aur Betaal." He was also responsible for the Sagar family's successful production and marketing of VCD and DVD formats at a time when India was slowly turning the leaf towards digital consumption - achieving mind-boggling sales through innovative marketing.

04

Exhibitions & Programming

A noteworthy strategy was the year-long exhibition of Ramayan and everything "Sagar" across 70 districts of Uttar Pradesh through Cable Networks, Video Projections and charitable trusts fulfilling their dharmic obligations. Sagar Arts understood that people yearn for fantasy alongside mythology, and conceptualized one-hour blocks combining "Ramayan" with "Vikram aur Betal" and "Alif Laila" - bringing variety and audiences from all religions, social strata, castes and creeds.

05

A Costume Drama Monopoly

Sagar Arts has had a monopoly in the costume drama market in India for almost 35 years, owing to in-house studios, in-house creative talent and a relentless talent acquisition team launching new faces - Swapnil Joshi (Shri Krishna), Gurmeet and Debina (Ramayan 2008), Piyali Munshi (Jai Jag Janani Maa Durga), Tarun Khanna (Vikram aur Betaal), Rahil Azam (Hatim), Vikrant Massey (Dharam-Veer), Anas Rashid and Rajat Tokas (Prithvi Raj Chauhan). A family-like atmosphere ensures retention - a tradition still followed at Sagar World, with focus on content rooted in soul and bhakti.

STEP 03
Future Plans
Sagar World is keen to take the “Sagar” brand name to new heights and thereby help you carve out a niche for yourself with our proven track record when you come onboard with us.
01

Expanding Online & The Shop

We plan on expanding online starting with our much-requested shop to showcase our legacy and brand - helping us resonate with the current generation while keeping our cultural identity firmly intact.

02

Theme Park & Ramayan Museum

An idea of a theme park based on our history along with a "Ramayan Museum" at Ayodhya is under development which, with the blessings of Shri Ram, should see fruition very soon.

03

A Dharmic Digital Footprint

Our social media presence is also noteworthy - with our accounts garnering over 20 million impressions, we are one of the biggest dharmic handles out there. We are confident that with our keen and holistic marketing capability, we can offer brands something they could only dream of.

STEP 04
Our Approach
Recognizing who the audience is the most critical aspect of independent film marketing. What are their passions, where do they get their stuff, and will they be enthusiastic about your film? We help you identify and communicate with a core audience.
01

Building An Audience

Knowing the target audience is the most important aspect of a film, and we must advertise to them from day one of pre-production - or even since the time of ideation if possible. Connecting with the people who would take the time and effort to watch the film is what film promotion is all about. A publicity campaign for a film begins during the pre-production stage; a successful film marketing campaign ensures a strong start.

02

Movie Promotion

The distribution of the movie and the spread of its message depend on your media marketing. To propel the trailer to the top of YouTube results, we identify the keywords connected to the most popular videos and build on them - combining critics, word-of-mouth and targeted ads to keep the film afloat well past opening weekend.

03

Lateral & Vertical Integration

"Vertical integration" refers to a media firm's subsidiaries producing, promoting, retailing and distributing movies and associated items. Horizontal integration occurs when a behemoth works with smaller, independent companies to support advertising, sales or even video exhibits. We leverage both to give every project the widest possible reach.

04

The Right Marketing = A Hit

Without exposure, no movie will find success at the box office - a movie can't make money if no one knows about it. The marketing plan must obtain the publicity and positive feedback it needs. In essence, a film or serial's marketing will either make or break it, and a great show needs a great marketing plan and an even greater marketing team - yours truly.

PARTNER WITH SAGAR WORLD
Ready To Take Your
Story To The World?
From pre-production buzz to opening-weekend roar, our marketing team builds campaigns rooted in Bharat that resonate across screens, languages and generations.