Marketing Men Say Films Are Booming

 

TV screens – plasma and LCD- are getting wider, DVDs are becoming cheaper and the market for illegal downloads and pirate DVDs is booming. In this scenario it would be easy to predict cinema's terminal decline. But the latest analysis shows that the new digital screens will allow cinemas to show more independent films - and entice advertisers.

 

The latest annual Caviar research from the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA) makes welcome reading for the industry It shows cinema is reaching a broader audience than ever before - not only did the number of over-45s visiting the cinema rise by 27% from 2000 to 2005, but 23% more four- to 14-year-olds went to the movies over the same period.

It now must be recognised that more TV movie channels and increasing DVD sales do not equate to a decline in cinema visits. The true picture is rather more complicated according to Carlton Screen Advertising commercial director Nicolette Homes: “ People who enjoy watching films enjoy doing so on different platforms..

“According to the research, heavy cinema-goers are 8% more likely than average to have access to Sky Digital, 42% more likely to watch DVDs every week and 42% more likely to be members of a film rental club,” she says. “The fact that Sky invested heavily in cinema advertising this year is testament to this.

     MORE OF THE SAME PLEASE

“Sky shows live football, but that does not mean that people won't go to live football matches. It's the same with cinema and the small screen,” says Homes. She points to the box-office success of Ice Age 2, saying that families who saw the first Ice Age movie on terrestrial TV the week before the sequel's release, went out in droves to see the second instalment in cinemas.

Overall, though, 2005 was a mixed year for UK cinema. There was a strong finish to the year but despite this, total admissions were down 3.8% on 2004, although revenue remained the same, according to Nielsen EDI.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) estimates that £277m in box-office takings is lost due to copyright theft, including file-sharing, home burning of films onto disc and the borrowing of fake DVDs. The industry takes the threat of online and DVD piracy seriously, and a campaign promoting the physical experience of going out to the cinema, using the strapline 'Cinema - it's the experience that counts', has received broad support.

Other organisations are also promoting cinema. Film marketing body All Industry Marketing launched the Eat Cinema channel on Sky at the end of February. Featuring information about current and forthcoming releases, it is backed by a £2m investment.

Starcom group media director Erica Taylor says the job ad sales houses are doing in promoting cinema is resulting in a higher brand count on screens.

     DELIVERS A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE

'Cinema is a fantastic medium that delivers a captive audience,' she says. 'However, the rate card is far higher than for TV, and for brands that don't have a clear route to cinema, this can be difficult.'

This higher cost makes it essential for cinema to differentiate itself from TV. The CAA's research compares consumers' frame of mind when watching TV and at the cinema. It claims viewers are more engaged at the cinema, making advertising in cinemas much more impactful.

The CAA's research predicts that adopting digital format for distribution will be a key driver of cinema growth, with 200 digital screens set to be installed by 2007. For consumers, this could mean the chance to see a greater diversity of films, because lower costs of digital production and distribution will allow more independent films to make it onto the big screen. The UK Film Council has invested £3m in promoting specialist independent film in the UK.

Digital cinema will also reduce lead times for cinema advertising, as it will no longer be necessary to convert ads to special formats, a factor that will also result in lowered costs.

If this alone is not enough to attract new advertisers, Bruce McGowan, head of cinema at ZenithOptimedia, adds that smaller independent films are a key market. 'You can buy an upmarket audience through those films, which has been a key strategy for companies such as Channel 4, Beck's and BBC Radio 3.'

     PRODUCT PERFORMANCE COUNTS

Media Planning Group trading manager Rob Lynam says that, more than any other medium, cinema's success depends on the performance of individual products. 'If The Da Vinci Code doesn't go down well, it could have a disastrous impact,' he says, pointing to the number of advertising packages which are tied to actual cinema admissions.

A reduced reliance on blockbusters driven by a rise in independent films is almost certain to help temper this. More films are already being screened in the UK than ever before: 476 titles were shown in the UK in 2005, compared with 349 in 2000, according to Carlton.

Odeon marketing director Luke Vetere says his company is now screening a wider variety of films to reach a more diverse audience. 'We are doing this with "senior screen" and "director's chair" slots for older audiences, kids' clubs and mum-and-baby screenings for families,' he says.

In a fragmented media landscape, catering for niche audiences and driving creativity will be just as important as a solid run of blockbusters and sequels, making the success of films such as Syriana and March of the Penguins just as vital as The Da Vinci Code and X Men: The Last Stand.