WEEKLY CINEMA BUZZ REPORT - 5 July 2013

Cathay's Movie Promotions Set The Standard

I have given kudos to Cathay Cinemas novel and varied ways they promote movies, and they continue to impress and set the bar ever higher.

Examples of their marketing skill can be seen in several of their recent ads (inserts).  These ads not only cement the strong bond with their patrons but convey to new customers that with Cathay you get more than a movie for your admission - its all about the value added

Cathay is run by a  young (late 20s) mostly female management team. When consulting, however, I'm very aware that I'm addressing a  team with defined goals that puts great effort into keeping their finger on the pulse of the demographic they serve.

Although located in Singapore, Cathay's movie promotion techniques and programs are universal and should be copied by very cinema with a desire to keep themselves as the center for "local" entertainment.  

A good example is The Smurf promo which is  targeted to parents.  It is geared toward offering an 'experience' for small children, in which, you get two movies, and concession, and costumed Smurf characters for photo taking, and a take-home toy for one price. It is a whole evening of entertainment for parent and child.

In the RUSH promo , the cost of which is shared with Coke and Imagine Entertainment (the film's distributor),  a trip for two to attend the Los Angeles red carpet premier of RUSH is the grand prize. To qualify you only need to purchase a Regular (medium) popcorn combo. Other prizes include winning  a pair of tickets to the RUSH opening in Singapore (10 pairs to be given) or a free case of Coke (25 cases to be given). Obviously teens and young adults are the target for this promotion. For Pacific Rim, the promotion is targeting couples (any age group) for an evening of entertainment which includes a full dinner and a movie for a one price package.

Cathay pushes all of the right buttons in its promotions and varies them, targeting all age and gender groups.  This is the way to promote a cinema. It is constant. It is ever changing. And it has reached a point where moviegoers await the next promotion.

The Cathay model of movie promotion is just that, a model. However, any cinema can take advantage of  promotional tie-ins available for almost all Hollywood distributed films - T-shirts, key-chains, toys, soda cups, etc. etc. are available upon request.  Just make sure you request them well in advance. Cinemas need to be proactive in their marketing.  It's not enough to just exhibit movies. To be really successful a cinema needs to exhibit showmanship, and take a page out of Cathay's marketing book.

3D TV - Another One Bites the Dust

Last week we reported that ESPN would be shuttering its ESPN-3D network by year's end.  This week it's the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) that announced it was going to cease 3D broadcasting by year's end at least until 2016.

Kim Shillinglaw, BBC's Head of 3D stated, "I have never seen a very big appetite for 3D television in the UK.  I think when watching TV people concentrate in a different way.  When people go to the cinema they go and are used to doing one thing - I think that's one of the reasons take-up of TV 3D has been disappointing".

It was originally thought that sports and old movies would be major draws for 3D TV but it hasn't turned out that way, as consumers never warmed to the format.  In the cinema, 3D films have failed to live up to the Avatar (released in December 2009) model and after a great 2010 (3D films generated a fifth of all U.S. box office admissions that year) the format has waned even as the number of 3D equipped screens has doubled. See insert of bad cinema 3D - Clash of the Titans.

It appears that 3D TV, for the time being, is in limbo.  For cinemas, I think the format has appeal but only for the high-impact blockbuster, others steer clear.

Best
Jim Lavorato