AdAge reports on its own in-theater marketing seminar
The extent to which some people don’t get it is sometimes just plain astounding.
Case in point, this report on AdAge’s Marquee Marketing at the Movies Conference (previous post on this). There’s lots of fluffy predictions and such from the attendees but there’s also a dramatic disconnect between two things that happened there.
First of all, National CineMedia CMO Cliff Marks was quoted as saying, “We must remember that nobody comes to the movies to see our preshow. Our most important role is to enhance the movie experience.”
Second, Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Factory” spot was voted the top overall in-cinema spot.
To all the attendees: Creating long-form glitzy spots that are supposed to seem like mini-movies DOES NOT enhance the movie experience. It’s frustrating. The audience is not entranced - they’re wondering how long this is going to go on before the movie starts. If you’d like to enhance the experience do something that adds value to the user, not to the theater owner.
Let me try to break this down for everyone.
Stay at home: 2 hours of free TV supported by 30 - 40 minutes of ads.
Go to a theater: 2 hours of a movie you paid $9 for that is also supported by ads. Not to mention $10 in concessions.
Which seems like the better value to you? Ads on TV are one thing since we understand - as annoying as they might be - that they are what’s allowing us to not pay for the programming we’re watching. But ads in theaters have added no benefit for the consumer. There’s no trade-off value because there is literally no trade-off.
One idea I’ve long had is tiered ticketing. People can buy a reduced price ticket and get into the theater first. They then will see the better part of the pre-show ad block. The second tier would pay regular ticket price but not be let in until 10 minutes before the movie starts. They are choosing to pay more for the value of not seeing the ads, but then have to accept that seating might be limited. There is then a savings that’s passed on to those willing to sit through your advertising.
So instead of patting yourselves on the back for creating such wonderful ads spend some time thinking about how you can create a value added incentive for people to come to the theater.
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Is sitting through pre-movie ads really that bad? I actually enjoy having content play while I wait for a movie - even if it is ad content. This is before the “lights go down”, mind you. If a movie is slated to start at 9:00pm and I get there at 8:30 to get a good seat, I want something to watch while I wait. Then the movie can start promptly at 9. Are there any studies of audience fatigue and its affect on thatrical attendance?