Movie promotion on Twitter may be affected under Musk regime

Changing dynamics at microblogging site Twitter after the takeover of Elon Musk as CEO may impact the way Indian film studios and producers use the medium to market and promote their movies. For one, there may soon be a need to flag paid collaborations which means reviews or marketing campaigns (which sometimes include staged fights and arguments) around a film motivated by the team will now come with the specific label. If a subscription model comes in, it could impact the conversations that fan clubs often carry out from different parts of the world on stars and films. With many brands pausing ad spends on the platform, movie brand collaborations may also take a hit.

“Under the new leadership, Twitter is aiming to level the playing field for all its members. Like Instagram has set out rules for paid collaborations and partnerships, Twitter will do the same to bring transparency. The audience will be given a choice to view the said paid content now on Twitter and it will be interesting to see how they navigate this,” said Rishabh Khatter, business head at The Rabbit Hole, the video content solutions agency owned by Zoo Media. Film reviews should get a lot more streamlined and the frequency of paid reviews impacted, Khatter added though it still may be possible to change the sentiment of reviewers through other mediums and barters. Khatter said creators will also start charging more since the paid label will come into play and they will want to proactively balance their organic and inorganic posting which in turn will lead to them generating more content on the platform of their own to maintain their followers.

Having a label of paid partnership, like on Instagram or YouTube, helps clearly define the boundaries of advertising the product or informing audiences of its features, said Himanshu Arora, co-founder of digital agency Social Panga. “Similarly, the label of ‘sponsored or motivated’ will play on people’s mind with respect to movie reviews and will help them respond to those with a pinch of salt, bringing more authenticity and transparency to the content produced by thought leaders or influencers for any specific industry,” Arora said.

Twitter has become a crucial platform for news and promotions in the present time, said Mitesh Kothari, co-founder and chief creative officer at digital agency, White Rivers Media. “Brands, especially filmmakers, use it for announcements, launches, and fun conversations with fans. Additionally, movie promoters host Twitter banters to generate buzz and organic conversations,” Kothari said adding that passionate fan communities on Twitter further propel movie promotions.

The new changes on Twitter can have several impacts on how films market themselves on the platform, Kunal Khandelwal, group head, outreach at digital agency SoCheers pointed out. “The $8 subscription in particular has been a point of concern as it allows anyone to have verified fake identities. Such accounts for actors have great potential to adversely impact their movie’s marketing efforts,” Khandelwal said adding that some brands have already been negatively affected since this new model was rolled out to the public and have also paused their ad spends on the platform owing to and predicting such issues. Similar reasons might also lead production houses and films to pause their marketing efforts on the platform, Khandelwal said.