Inox’s Saurabh Varma to join Reliance Entertainment as CMO

Saurabh Varma, Vice President-Programming and Film Distribution, Inox Leisure Ltd, has put in his papers. He will be joining Reliance Entertainment as Chief Marketing Officer from mid-November.

At Reliance Entertainment, Varma will be developing marketing strategies revolving around films produced, acquired or marketed by Reliance Entertainment. On his new role, Varma said, “It’s an exciting place to be in as I will be involved in ‘filmed marketing plan’ right from the conceptualisation stage, and see it through till the time it is launched on home video, cable or other platforms.”

He added, “This approach is something unique and although it has been tried abroad, filmed marketing is a relatively new concept in India. My interactions with the consumers have paved way for numerous innovations in this field. I see this as a great opportunity.”

With Varma onboard, Reliance is looking at aligning its movie marketing activities under one umbrella. This is a model which is prevalent internationally with large film studios like Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Paramount Studios, where an umbrella marketing division creates, controls, innovates, records and evolves various marketing ideas. The areas of marketing revolves around television, print, radio, outdoor, online and below-the-line, among others.

Varma brings with him over 10 years of experience in the entertainment industry where he has supervised and managed diverse areas such as advertising, promotions, marketing, content planning and acquisition of film products. Prior to Inox, he was Vice President-Marketing for PVR Cinemas and has also launched various cinema properties in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Indore, Lucknow, Mumbai and Hyderabad. He has also executed successful marketing and promotion campaigns with various Indian and Hollywood films all over the country.