Boxoffice Pro - December 2019

‘4K’ on a billboard doesn’t necessarily allow
you to charge more for a movie ticket,”
said Brian Claypool, V.P. of product
management of global cinema at
Christie Digital.
That doesn’t mean the technology
isn’t worth embracing; a
switch from xenon digital projectors
to laser projectors, for
example, simultaneously increases
the picture quality and
brightness levels and lowers
overall energy costs. “The real
benefit of laser isn’t going to be
its wider color gamut or higher
frame rates, but the fact that
you’ve got a consistent, high-quality,
and bright image that’s actually more
affordable for your cinema,” said Todd
Hoddick, chief revenue officer at Cinionic.
Tony Adamson, SVP of strategic
planning at GDC Technology of America, agreed with that
sentiment—adding the caveat that marketing any technology
investment is important for exhibitors. “I’ve seen laser [and
xenon digital projection] side by side, and where the consumer
gets stuck is that I don’t think they really care,” he said. “They’re
here to see a movie and I don’t think they care about what the
light source is. I think it’s incumbent on the exhibitor to market
the difference … to educate and let [audiences] know that things
are changing.”
Another ShowEast session, on broader marketing challenges,
addressed the influence of social media on digital ticketing, and
in particular the benefits (or not) of a title-driven marketing
strategy. Promoting studio content, after all, doesn’t necessarily
build awareness of any one cinema chain. In this age of expanded
amenities and premium cinema experiences, distinguishing one’s
own cinema has become nearly as important as promoting the
upcoming weekend’s new releases. “Let’s face it, the consumer is
going to find the studios’ content; it’s exciting and they’re going
to respond to it, and you have to promote your own amenities
in addition to that,” said Valerie Shortall, V.P. international marketing
at Cinemark. “It just depends what that experience is. You
have to examine these markets individually and how to get your
messages through in conjunction with the studios’ content.”
Engaging with moviegoers online has become a priority for
many of the companies who provide services to exhibitors. A
prime example is national cinema-advertising leader NCM,
which communicates with a mass movie audience every weekend
through its pre-show. “For the past few years we’ve moved
beyond and rebranded our pre-show to take a much greater
B2C focus,” said Steve Ochs, SVP of marketing and creative at
NCM. “We have a scaled audience of 700 million moviegoers
UNIC CEO Laura Houlgatte Abbott addresses the
ShowEast audience during a panel session on the
Global Cinema Federation
going through our 20,000-plus screens every
year, so we’re constantly asking ourselves,
how do we talk to them on a regular
basis? How do we drive them to the
exhibitors’ experiences?”
While social media platforms
represent the most visible
digital front in the marketing
battle for viewers’ attention,
older tools like email marketing
have made a resurgence
thanks to the rise of big data.
“It’s a channel that remains
incredibly relevant in specific
targeting, because you know
in advance what these customers
want to see, and that data becomes
extremely relevant,” said Cinemark’s
Shortall. “If you don’t have an email-marketing
platform, I suggest you get one, as
you’ll see an automatic uplift [in sales]. It’s a
weekly exercise aimed at loyalty customers. It’s all about tailoring
different messages to different people.”
“It has to be targeted; the days of mass emails are over,”
agreed Mark Malinowski, V.P. of global marketing at National
Amusements. “We’ll look at three to four emails per week,
each with different messages, to the same audience every week.
We target other emails to bring customers over to our loyalty
program and site; it’s all about delivering a specific message to a
specific customer.”
All these avenues of communication lead to the same goal:
increasing digital ticketing transactions. That part of the equation
is at the center of the efforts of companies like Atom Tickets
and Fandango, who specialize in bringing innovative e-commerce
solutions to exhibitors. Max Lynn, V.P. of corporate development
at Atom Tickets, believes movie ticketing is following in the
steps of ecommerce to become a mobile-native experience. “[We]
decided to tackle mobile ticketing from the standpoint of ecommerce,”
he said. “We asked, how do we get people from [content]
discovery into theaters as quickly as possible? That’s why we
invested heavily from the perspective of the social conversation
from the ground level: What are my friends talking about [seeing]?
And how can we reduce the friction [of ticket buying] as
much as possible when three-plus friends are involved?”
Tackling mobile ticketing as an ecommerce solution, Fandango
has expanded its ticketing operations beyond its own
website and app to include other web publishers popular with
consumers. “Our goal at Fandango is to be where the customer
is,” explained Melissa Heller, V.P. of domestic ticketing. “From a
typical ecommerce standpoint, we’ve done integrations across the
board—from Google to Apple—we’re not trying to change your
buying behavior, we’re trying to convert you [to purchase] where
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