#ByInvitation: 'You will learn more marketing from Bombay Times than you ever will from the Economic Times '

He auditioned. He nailed it. He brought star value. She still didn’t cast him. You’ll learn more marketing from Bombay Times than you ever will from the Economic Times – (this is not the first time I have said this).

Because the movie business is the most brutally honest marketing playground out there. You can spend all the money. Cast all the stars. Launch a campaign that floods every screen. But come Friday, your fate is sealed. One weekend, you’re a star. The next, you’re a has-been. Just like that.

And that’s why the entertainment industry teaches us more about marketing than any business ever can. It lives and dies by understanding the audience, riding the cultural moment, and constantly reinventing the formula. You can’t rely on last year’s playbook. Take Laapataa Ladies – a film that became one of the most streamed Indian movies on Netflix in 2024. Kiran Rao had a choice. She could’ve cast Aamir Khan as the morally grey cop. In fact, he auditioned. Aamir – the ultimate headliner. A clutter-breaking star. A guaranteed splash. But she didn’t cast him. She went with Ravi Kishan. Why? Because the cop in the film has a twist – a redemptive turn at the end. A surprising show of heart.

And with Aamir, that twist would’ve been predictable. We expect Aamir to do the right thing. He carries a persona of righteousness. His presence would’ve diluted the surprise and softened the story’s punch. And I really don’t care what Aamir Khan can say about his acting skills – He will always carry baggage no matter how good his acting skills may be. That’s his stardom. This is also when it hit me – this is exactly how marketers misuse celebrity endorsements. Would you pass on Aamir Khan for your campaign (I assume he came cheap)?

We often throw big names into ads just because we can. To “break clutter.” To justify a budget. But stars aren’t just faces – they’re stories. They come with public narratives, pre-loaded meaning, and a psychological shorthand that audiences instantly decode. So yes, they’ll get you attention. But what are they making people feel? What is their presence doing to your story? If you haven’t thought that through, all you’ve got is a 6-second head turn. And the half-life of that attention is brutally short.

Salience alone is noise. Salience with meaning is memory. So yeah – read Bombay Times. Not for gossip. But to understand what the best storytellers in the country are obsessed with. What makes an audience care. What makes a twist land. What makes a character unforgettable. Because the best marketers aren’t chasing attention. They’re crafting memory. And memory comes from meaning. This ain’t stuff that AI can buy. This is years of reading Bombay Times with a marketer’s eye. Beat that, Sam.