Cinema struggles for share

With all the buzz around digital, outdoor and online advertising, is cinema losing its appeal as a media channel for marketers? Adaline Lau reports. 

Ad spend for cinemas in Hong Kong remained a tiny portion of total advertising although the medium recorded a significant year-on-year increase of 68%, the figure only reached HK$16.2 million in 2007, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. Nielsen data shows one third of Hong Kong people visited a cinema in the past three months, with regular cinema goers aged between 15 to 24 years.

In 2007, Fancl House came up as cinema's top advertiser, followed by PCCW and Coca Cola.

Dorothy Tay, marketing manager for Fancl Hong Kong, said the company started advertising in cinemas in 2001.

"It creates a unique channel for Fancl and creates a high recall rate for our brand to people who go to the cinemas often," Tay said.

She added that the cinema audience has a similar profile to its target customers, specifically those who are willing to spend to enhance their quality of life.

As the skincare brand targets females, Fancl usually screens its ads when the theatres are showing romantic genres. The company will also insist that its ads are screened right before the movie starts so that the audience are settled in their seats and focused on the screen.

Stanley Ngai, business director for Mediacom, in charge of the Nokia Gashapon execution, said cinema advertising represents less than 1% of its media budget.

He said factors he would consider before advertising on cinema include the nature of the movie and whether or not the film was a blockbuster, seasonal periods such as Christmas, Chinese New Year or Easter holidays and joint promotion marketing activities.

Jessica Pang, ad sales manager for Silver Screen Media, said cinemas allow marketers to reach out to higher spending and middle to upper income audience between 20 to 40 years of age. She added the key difference launching a campaign at the cinema compared to online is that cinema provides a platform for the brand to interact tangibly with audience.

Tourism Australia kicked off a branding campaign early this year using cinemas as the key channel to promote its beach culture to the so-called ‘experienced seekers segment'.

The campaign was executed across different cinemas in the territory with UA Times Square and Golden Gateway key cinemas featuring stunt shows, pavement art drawing and washroom decorations.

One stunt included bikini-clad females and male models dressed in wetsuit and scuba-diving gear invading cinemas across the territory.

To entice young people and add cheer to the Christmas season, Nokia rolled out giant Gashapon vending machines at teen hangouts which included UA Cinemas aimed at promoting its N81 handset as well as for brand building purpose. Gashapon vending machines that dispense capsules containing mini Nokia key chain straps were placed at the cinemas and the promotion included screen ad and standees.

Coca Cola launched the sequel to its "Happiness Factory" campaign through an interactive marketing aimed at teens. The audience was split into two groups where they compete by moving their cheering sticks. A sensor would detect the intensity of their cheering that was reflected on cinema screen.