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Bollywood actors have long been the face of many fashion labels. But nowadays it is the films that are seeking to cash in on the growing market of e-commerce platforms to promote themselves through their fashion content. The marketing strategy that was a one-off until a few years ago, is now widely used. The recently released film Zubaan tied up with the relatively young fashion social networking portal Roposo to retail its costumes. Airlift joined hands with the much popular portal Happily Unmarried to market its merchandise. Earlier, the Dil Dhadakne Do collection on Amazon turned out to be a major draw for customers looking to emulate the fashion statements of Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma in the film. A few small players too are coming into the fray such as Bewakoof.com that have tie ups with the giant banner Yash Raj Films. The arrangement is a win-win situation for both parties, as the concerned film gets to have a larger impact on viewer’s lives where they are not just sitting back and admiring the styles but they actually have a chance to emulate it too.

Telling us about the tie-up, Roposo’s Avinash Saxena says, “Zubaan is a film that featured some of the most fashion-forward looks ever seen in Bollywood. So it made sense for a fashion portal like ours to be its social media partner.” The film’s lead actress Sarah Jane Dias got a chance to even interact with fans and give out fashion tips. “The response to the film’s fashion was tremendous. The movie is still running across screens but everyday I get so many responses from fans on Roposo and even Instagram on my look in the movie. This also gives actors too an opportunity to interact with their fans, I would often answer queries on fashion issues and give them style tips.”

While it does help a lot in film promotions (which have of late become as important as production itself), the biggest takeaway is for the online retailers, says Amazon’s creative director, Narendra Kumar. “The demand for Bollywood merchandise is definitely higher as customers connect with their favourite stars much more deeper in India. The exclusive tie-ups with Bollywood movies for their merchandise helps bring fans closer to their favourite stars across the country,” explains Narendra.

Telling us about Amazon’s experience with Bollywood tie-ups, Narendra adds, “In the past we collaborated with movies like Dil Dhadakane Do and Bajrangi Bhaijan. Movie merchandising is fast catching up for both Bollywood and Hollywood movies in India as e-commerce is able to provide consumers access to such products across markets, which in the past was restricted to a few cities.”

Rajat Tuli, founder of Happily Unmarried that recently tied up with Airlift explains how such partnerships are different from having actors as brand ambassadors. Rajat says, “When you partner with a Bollywood actor you are actually paying them to endorse your brand. In this case the production house wants to increase their revenue stream so the approach is different. In a lot of cases the production houses pay money to get the merchandise done or sell off rights to merchandise like they would do for their music.”