GSC's FB admin edges out MBO and TGV to be Malaysians' favourite, finds Webqlo

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GSC, TGV Cinemas and MBO Cinemas might all have admins that tickle consumers' with their witty posts and comments. However, there can only be one brand that stands out in the online world. Digital marketing agency Webqlo took it upon itself to find out which local cinema admin rules Facebook.

Marcus Lee, Webqlo's senior content strategist, told A+M that with cinemas being forced to shut down during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the team wanted to see how they would remain relevant. Using its social analytics platform Adqlo, the company tracked the cinemas' performance on social media between 1 January to 15 September 2020 and found that GSC was the most popular among consumers. The brand had 1.8 million Facebook page likes and 1,299 posts on Facebook during that period.

According to Lee, GSC is quick to jump on trending topics, such as the rice-cooking fiasco and the water disruption in Klang Valley last month. He added that GSC's admin is always on the lookout for pages that tag the brand and are quick to respond for collaborations, as in the case of Nando's, myBurgerLab and Inside Scoop. He added that GSC came out on top because the admin posts the most frequently and is getting the highest reactions, shares and number of comments. The brand posts about six to nine posts on weekdays and mainly focuses on movie trailers, posters, movie announcements and memes.

"We knew that GSC was getting very popular on social media and decided to see just how big the gap in performance was among the three local cinemas, as all Facebook pages were opened about the same time 10 years ago.  From the data collected, we were surprised to see that GSC's original Hello Cannot post did not reach the highest amount of shares or comments among their other posts in 2020. We also found that #HelloCannot was not used in that original post," Lee explained.

The Webqlo team then searched the hashtag #HelloCannot and found that GSC started using it during posts to promote its Hello Cannot t-shirt and face mask. The hashtag was used in 453 posts on Instagram and was even used in South Korea and Taiwan, Lee said.

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Meanwhile, Lee said TGV and MBO have also taken a page out of GSC's book when it comes to promoting the movies they are screening. In terms of community engagement, MBO tries "emulate GSC slightly more than TGV" with the use of jokes and memes. Like GSC, MBO also posts about its movies, including the trailers and posters. However, the brand only boosts 9% of its posts, compared to GSC (32%) and TGV (14%), which explains the lower amount of engagement and likes on MBO's page, Lee said.

The three cinemas have struggled to stay afloat during COVID-19. MBO, for example, said in a website announcement that it has closed its cinemas in 17 locations until further notice. They include MBO Central Square SP, MBO Falim Ipoh, MBO Kepong Village Mall, MBO Melaka Mall, MBO Seremban, MBO U Mall Skudai and MBO Citta Mall. The Edge also recently reported that MBO is experiencing liquidation following cash flow problems since the Movement Control Order came into effect.

Similarly, TGV said it is currently experiencing "in upwards of a 90% decrease in revenue year-on-year", Malay Mail reported. The cinema chain added it is "in active dialogue" with government authorities. GSC has also tried to remain afloat by coming up with new business strategies, such as offering GrabFood delivery for eight of its cinemas including IOI City Mall, MyTOWN Shopping Centre and Mid Valley Megamall.

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Photo courtesy: 123RF

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