Boxoffice - October 2016

VENDOR CHAT > CINEMA ADVERTISING
STANDING OUT
I believe we offer a very balanced show. We have a great local
presence in most of our markets and I believe that is important. An
all-national show could alienate a small or midsize market so we
focus on getting good local representation in each market we serve.
People that own these small businesses really light up when they say,
“People come up to me all of the time and tell me that they saw me
on the big screen.” It means something to them. They feel like they
are speaking to people in their community, and they are! Including
local merchants in the show is important for the theater, too, as it
increases revenue and cements them within that community. It does
not matter if it is a luxury, discount, or a commercial theater. What
is important is that the theater is part of the community and we like
highlighting that.
ADVERTISERS
Since we are still a growing medium and have barely hit our stride
as an industry, it is still evolving. In terms of local advertising, it varies
by market but it is all over the board: everything from restaurants
to real estate, from hospitals to ice cream and yogurt shops, from
water agencies to libraries—it is really all over the board. National
is a bit different; companies like Chevrolet, Mercedes Benz, Revlon,
BMW, Apple—you name it. As they begin to realize the power of
cinema, they begin coming out in droves. We are looking forward to
another record-breaking year, and next year is already looking like a
blockbuster.
EVOLUTION
Theaters are changing in many ways. You might say the industry
is growing and becoming a bit more fragmented. Digital is
here and the vast majority of theaters have made the conversion.
Many of my circuits are now installing the “fat” seats, and some
are including food and beverage service. It seems like the focus is
right where it should be, on the theater guest. A well balanced preshow
that plays to that particular audience and not above or below
them is the goal. We employ a vast amount of technology on our
end including high-tech delivery systems that make it easier for the
theaters to get our show on screen, contact management software
to enroll, and keep small businesses in tune with BeforeTheMovie
and their local theater. All in all, I think technology will continue
to evolve, and BeforeTheMovie will continue to invest. Like the
theater owner, it is important to know who your customer is, and
if you want to be successful you need to find out what they want
and give it to them.
MOVIO
Matthew Liebmann
Senior Vice President,
North America
ENTERING THE BUSINESS
We first became involved about one year ago.
This was driven by the same needs as Movio’s
exhibition and studio clients: to be able to better
segment cinema audiences in a rich and multifaceted way in
order to target them with relevant communications and then
quantitatively calculate the financial impact of those communications.
Matthew Liebmann
RECENT PARTNERSHIPS
NCM is one of the leading industry players with access to the
Movio Media Research console. This console provides studios, distributors
and screen advertisers with comprehensive
data on over 14 million active U.S. moviegoers aged
14-plus, making it the richest source of demographics
(age, gender, ethnicity), behaviors (recentness,
frequency, spend, attendance patterns, film/actor/
director preferences) and film-viewership history.
EVOLUTION
Technology can capture a wealth of cinema
guest data—transactional, demographic, behavioral—and data
analytics can make ready sense of it in a way that allows screen
advertisers to make an emotional connection with moviegoers by
communicating with them in a relevant way. At the upcoming
SAWA Convention, I will highlight how a data-driven strategy
enables screen advertisers to better understand moviegoing audiences,
create targeted media plans for brands, and demonstrate the
value of cinema advertising with attribution.
NCM
Cliff Marks
President
Cliff Marks
CATCHING UP
This year, our focus in the advertising marketplace has been all about millennials,
content, and data. Everyone is looking to reach millennials, and for good
reason—over 80 million strong, they are the largest generational group in U.S.
history, edging out the baby boomer generation by more than 3 million. Millennials
are definitely changing the media landscape, but the good news for us is that the
one media-consumption habit they do share with past generations is that they love
to go to the movies. Millennials are 50 percent more likely than the general population
to say that movies are a passion of theirs, and our vision at NCM is to be the
connector between brands and these young, passionate movie audiences. And data
actually plays a huge role in that. NCM is embracing “big data,” and we’re looking
at everything from box office data to proprietary studies conducted with the top
research companies in the industry to genre targeting to beaconing and geo-fencing
68 BoxOffice ® OCTOBER 2016