Marketing specialist, Maggie Robinson, Director of Smart Thinking Consultancy, discusses the power of cinema advertising.
Cinema is set to become the fastest-growing advertising channel out there, even overtaking digital, which is where most businesses are focusing their time, money and effort. While it may not be an obvious choice for marketing your business, it’s definitely one to consider.
Obviously, the film and cinema industries have taken a hit recently due to distancing measures, and many households have done their best to replicate the experience with top-notch TVs and speaker systems. However, recent cinema releases have proven there’s still an appetite to see new releases on the big screen, and it’s something your business could benefit from.
The Perfect Audience
A cinema audience is sat down and ready to watch and it’s much easier to predict exactly who will be watching. Cinema audiences are particularly well-defined, more so than other forms of advertising, due to the huge amount of research they carry out into their attendees.
Every different type of cinemagoer has its own name and can be sorted demographically, and according to their emotional wants and preferences. Cinemas also know our interests, family make-ups and affluence levels in a greater depth than other businesses, and can use this information to make sure your message is shown to just the right kind of people.
Big Screen VS Small Screen
One area which may compete with cinema in terms of demographic information is online advertising. Website cookies mean advertisers know what we’ve looked at and build a picture of our lives to target us with huge accuracy. So why wouldn’t you look at advertising on streaming services, for example?
At home, streaming could be just one of lots of activities happening at the same time. You could be competing with other family members, someone at the door and probably at least one other screen. This means your advert simply becomes background noise rather than the star of the show, with no guarantee of your message getting across.
A huge advantage with cinema audiences is that they’re giving you their full attention – they’re even asked to turn their phones off. People make a conscious decision to go to the cinema, leaving behind distractions at home and handing over money for the viewing experience.
The combination of no phones, no external distraction and a huge floor-to-ceiling screen combine to give your advert a much greater impact than it ever could in someone’s home.
The research from top cinema advertising agencies shows that 95% of advertising shown in cinemas is also shown on TV, yet 85% of cinemagoers think that the average cinema advert is unique. This shows just how much of an impact cinema advertising can have, and how much more receptive audience members are.
Cookies or Popcorn?
We mentioned cookies earlier – the little pieces of data we leave behind us wherever we go online. As we become more aware of how and why our information is used, customers are become increasingly wary of leaving that trail. This fear of our data being misused is so great, it’s predicted that digital ad space will increase by just 10% in 2021 – the lowest increase since 2001. The fierce competition for this space, alongside concerns about fake news, data thieves and extremist content, means that getting your customers to engage with your ads online is becoming increasingly difficult.
Meanwhile, in the relaxed atmosphere of the cinema, there aren’t any concerns about personal data and people become much more receptive to advertising messages.
Lights, Camera, Action
Going to the cinema is a popular pastime because it’s a break from the norm, and the barrage of information we have to process every second of the day. This makes it the perfect opportunity for you to hold the attention of your potential customers – with just one message to concentrate on, away from the noise and distractions of the world, cinema advertising can have an impact on people in a way that’s difficult to replicate in any other format.
If you’re ready to try a new method of advertising which gets real results, try cinema advertising. To find out more about how this could work for you and your business, get in touch with us today for your free consultation.
Post sponsored by Smart Thinking Consultancy
