AdAge arranges for people to be lectured to about in-theater marketing

Bill Green apparently got the same invitation I did from AdAge to attend a session in New York or LA on in-theater advertising options. Bill got his reaction up first and covers most of the reasons I wouldn’t attend this (unless it was free – and in Chicago – and at a time that was convenient for me) but there was one thing I wanted to point out: The information you could get from a session on this is likely available in large part online at no charge. Cruise through the archives of some of the bigger advertising sites and blogs on the ‘net and you’ll hear all about the options available to you for in-theater advertising.

In addition to Bill’s points – and he’s got some great ones – I wanted to add the following:

Let me buy movie-related swag on my way out. Buttons, stickers – heck, a DVD of the movie itself. This is when the moviegoer is thinking about the movie and hasn’t had a chance to think about how badly it sucked yet. So hit them while they’re hot on it. This is what bands do at concert venues. A passionate crowd is there and looking for ways to get rid of their money on items that express their interest in the band. Why isn’t this done for movies?
Theaters do almost no marketing of themselves and yet they’re shocked they’re becoming irrelevant. Note to theater owners: There’s very little brand loyalty your multiplexes enjoy. People are there because you’re the closest/cheapest house playing the film they want to see. Either make yourselves into a more pleasant experience or prepare to file for bankruptcy.
Charging me $9 for a ticket, $4.50 for a soda AND forcing me to watch ads on the screen for 15 minutes makes me feel like I’ve just been in the Shawshank shower room. You obviously only my eyeballs. This is not the feeling you want to engender in your consumer base.

Between Bill, myself and a 15 minute Google Blogsearch you should be all set and don’t have to be $100 lighter. Congratulations.