Selling cinema advertising ain’t so bad these days. The Cinema Advertising Council claims the industry has not suffered the same losses that other media have in the past few years. President Michael Chico says, “We’ve not had one downturn since this whole economic crisis started. In 2008, we were up year-over-year. In terms of 2009, we’re up also. And in 2010, the industry is trending to budget, if not towards even more positive results.” That sounds like a challenge to me! Here are some tidbits for you to hit those numbers this year:
Avatar not only saved movie theaters, but screen advertising as well. With the swell of 3D releases, audiences are flocking to the movies for the novelty of the 3D commercials! All kinds of advertisers — from Skittles and the U.S. Air Force, to Samsung and Friskies — are lining up for their turns in the spotlight. “In the past 3 months, we’ve seen more interest from advertisers than you can humanly imagine,” NCM Media Networks’ Cliff Marks says.
And the quality of what’s shown pre-previews has changed tremendously. Better technology has upped the ante for better creative. Chico says, “When somebody is launching great creative, they’ll do so in cinema. I’d say 70% of our ads now are just the best creative that is used everywhere.” This can only lead to a better connection for viewers, and we know it’s all about the connection.
According to Gary Reisman, principal at NewMediaMetrics, “Our study shows that movies are a powerful part of the media mix and an excellent way for brands in key categories to connect with customers.” The emotional attachment that NMM measures for brands is extremely high for cinema ads. What better way to approach your clients? Use these stats: “Our average recall outside of emotional attachment is somewhere between 40% and 75%. The movies have a higher EA rating (41.5%) than watching major televised sports and entertainment events. 44.5% of health and beauty customers and 43.9% of those purchasing consumer packaged goods and foods are emotionally attached to the movies, compared with 29.6% and 28.9% for television, 21.2% and 20.5% for radio, and 20.6% and 19.2% for magazines.”
And lastly, a growing trend for cinema marketing and out-of-home is that in-lobby products are contributing more heavily to revenue streams. “Nielsen just reported huge numbers for such location-based video media. According to the researcher’s inaugural Fourth Screen Report, an estimated 237 million on-location ads were displayed each month from September to December 2009, including at health clubs, bars and restaurants, gas stations, in hotels and movie theatre lobbies.”
[Source: Fuchs, Andreas. "Stronger Attachments: Cinema Advertising Impacts Emotions and Revenues." Film Journal International. May 12, 2010.]
Friday, Jul 2, 2010
Courtney Huckabay