Why Brands Should Make A Comeback To The Movies

With great movie content waiting in the wings for the cinema curtains to unveil, advertisers can unleash their Big Ideas on the Big Screen with targeted brand messaging.

The second wave of the pandemic caused immense suffering, devastating entire households with many losing their lives and loved ones. It caused the economy to collapse with widespread unemployment accompanied by series of localised lockdowns and finally bringing the country to a grinding halt. Post the first wave, the multiplex industry showed some signs of revival after cinemas reopened in October remaining shut for seven months with a spate of Regional, Hollywood and Bollywood movies being released. These movies performed well in the box office proving the fact that movie-goers wanted to return to cinemas if there was new content assured by the strong safety protocols followed by them.

Cinema advertising is directly proportional to footfalls or eyeballs that thrive on a diversity of content and India unlike western markets has additionally regional and Bollywood content to rely on. This ensures that multiplexes have constant visitor footfalls due to a steady supply of versatile content. 

During the pandemic, movie lovers had no choice but to consume entertainment at home in the first round of lockdown and then again in the second round.  This goes against the very nature of movie watching in a theatre where families, friends, peer groups, couples congregate and bond well over a movie either to celebrate an occasion or spend lighter moments. It is a well-known and established fact that a shared experience of a film rates much more than other entertainment avenues.

A pent up demand for movie consumption among passionate moviegoers to be fuelled by a huge backlog of blockbuster content from regional, Bollywood and Hollywood is waiting on the sidelines. Producers under pressure to release their movies are waiting for the covid wave to recede and the situation to improve. 

Out of the 1800 films that got released in 2019, 43% Hindi, 44% Regional and 13% English contributed to the box office collections. 

With regional movies starring megastars released in multiple languages, multiplexes do not just need to depend upon big Bollywood movies to garner footfalls ensuring advertisers get their due share of ROI in their long-term deals. 

In-cinema advertising thrives on a captive and receptive audience, uncluttered media environment, larger than life visual impact and better brand recall as compared to other media. It provides options to the advertiser to select geographies based on the value proposition as well as delivering nationwide reach. Cinema provides perhaps the ultimate opportunity for brands to stand out from the crowd, differentiate themselves and create an emotional connection with the audience like never before with a deep engagement with the message communicated.

Cinema offers 360-degree exposure to a brand targeting a heterogeneous audience ranging from millennials to elderly covering all touch-points of the consumer’s journey.

This includes the outer façade, box office, entrance area, lobby, in audi, restrooms, and the exit. There is a variety of advertising inventory to choose from such as gate arches, digital plasmas, danglers/tiltalkers, audi door, seat branding to the conventional on-screen advertising.

An increasing preference for cinemas is fast catching up with advertisers due to the immense opportunity that it offers for innovative areas of engagement with a targeted audience in mind. Whether it is the product sampling kiosks at the concession area, interactive zones at the waiting lobby area, the cinema offers the perfect platform for brands to curate a thought and get an on-ground activation campaign executed at the cinema.

Brands that have disappeared from consumer’s minds can be brought back to life with their message getting amplified through experiential marketing opportunities at the cinema. Multiplexes have started offering customised solutions by integrating on-ground campaigns along with social media amplification to engage with potential customers.

Cinema’s appeal is said to be much bigger than the actual film being projected onto the screen. That is why the audience mostly remembers the ad being playing along. Regardless of the popularity of the movie, it is the shared viewing experience that is hard to replicate in other advertising media. No wonder through a lot of audience research it has been brought out that cinema is an activity that people are keen to return to after lockdown along with holidays and meeting their friends as it is the cheapest source of out-of-home entertainment.

There are endless opportunities to portray your brand’s USP on the Big Screen. By choosing a non-traditional medium like cinema, advertisers can create a memorable impact of an innovative thought or approach whereby their brand message gets amplified. All this gets easily executed in the indoor setting of a multiplex without worrying about the logistics hassles of a roadshow or outdoor brand activation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meena Chabbria is a corporate veteran and corporate influencer with a stellar track record spanning more than a decade in the media industry, specialising in E2E Business and Marketing management. Presently serving as AVP Brand Alliances at PVR India, she commands authoritative experience in the multiplex business along with marketing, PR and sales and business development.