Cinema advertising growth is outpacing all other traditional media, as Netflix’s rise shows no notable impact
The global cinema advertising market is expected to be worth $4.6bn this year, representing a 6.8% rise from 2018. This is ahead of the all media growth forecast by WARC, the international marketing intelligence service, of 4.6% for 2019 (to $624.9bn), and places cinema as the second-fastest growing ad medium this year, behind internet as a whole.
Cinema’s share of global adspend is holding steady
While small, cinema’s 0.7% share of global adspend is expected to hold steady in 2019, making it the only medium other than internet not to lose share. Figures from WARC’s Adspend Database show that cinema’s share of global adspend has dipped only twice since 1980 (1994 and 2013) and growth in cinema ad investment has generally tracked ahead of other traditional media since 1981, and consistently so since 2014.
In Europe, advertisers spend 1.6 times more on cinema per admission than in the US. The UK leads the way, with spend per admission rising from £0.18 in 1980 to £1.43 last year, when 177m admissions were recorded – the highest on record. This despite 46% of UK consumers stating that Netflix is their first choice for watching movies, according to GlobalWebIndex.
China is driving global growth, US brands are under-investing
China is the largest cinema ad market globally, with RMB11.9bn (US$1.8bn) expected to be spent this year. This equates to a 47.3% share of global cinema adspend when measured in Purchasing Power Parity terms. Further, China has accounted for three quarters (74.9%) of global growth in cinema adspend since 2015, on average, and is expected to contribute 87.4% towards global cinema growth this year. IHS figures suggest that the number of cinema screens in China increased by 9,303 in 2018 alone, or 26 per day on average.
In the US, the world’s second-largest cinema market with a projected value of $735m this year, the medium draws less than half a percent (0.4%) of media budgets on average. Seven product categories allocate more than this, most notably food, for which cinema accounts for 1.5% of all media spend. Non-profit (1.0%), telecoms & utilities (0.7%), alcoholic drinks (0.7%), automotive (0.6%), transport & tourism (0.6%) and financial services (0.5%) also record investment levels above the US average.
DCM recommends that brands invest a minimum of 2.7% of budgets in cinema, with some sectors like travel & tourism seeing optimal levels of campaign ROI when allocating as much as 11%.
Attentive audiences ensure cinema ads get noticed in a brand-safe environment, while young audiences have a positive affinity with the medium
Captive audiences viewing high-quality ads in an emotional atmosphere is a draw for advertisers. Research by Ebiquity has found that Cinema outperforms all other media at triggering an emotional response, guaranteeing a safe environment, and getting ads noticed. However, the medium scores lowest in increasing campaign ROI, maximizing campaign reach, and generating short-term sales.
Cinema attracts a younger, more affluent audience who tend to be lighter TV viewers. According to IPA TouchPoints 6, cinema delivers a more positive emotional experience than any other AV channel (84% of time spent at the cinema is associated with positive emotions for 16+ adults, versus 60-65% for live TV, longform VOD and short online video). Kantar Millward Brown has also found that among ‘Gen Z’ (16-19 year-olds), cinema is the most popular traditional advertising medium with 59% feeling ‘positive about it’ (compared to 34% for print, 38% for TV and 50% for outdoor).
Consumers now spend more on streaming movies than visiting the cinema, but Netflix has yet to hit the box office
Data from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) show that the amount consumers spend on digital home entertainment, including on online subscriptions such as Netflix, surpassed the amount spent at the cinema globally for the first-time last year ($42.6bn versus $41.1bn). This landmark had already been reached in the US during 2015.
Over the course of an average year, a Netflix subscription will cost a consumer US$113.16. This compares to the $45.55 a North American will spend at the cinema each year on average, with the equivalent figures for the UK and the EU at $25.13 and $11.04 respectively.
In the US, a moviegoer visited the cinema five times on average in 2018, which roughly equates to 263m consumers going every two months. But with almost three-quarters (74%) of Americans now using an online subscription – and 84% using a pay TV channel – to watch a movie at least 2-3 times each month, viewership in the living room may have reached parity with the silver screen.
James McDonald, Managing Editor, WARC Data, and author of the research, says: “The experiential nature of cinema places it in a different bracket to SVOD services, which instead occupy a similar space to traditional TV. This, coupled with the exclusivity of box office hits – particularly franchises – should ensure any downward pressure from SVOD services is minimal in the short term.
“Cinema offers advertisers access to younger, more affluent audiences who have an affinity with the medium. This enables ads to be screened in a brand safe environment where they will be noticed, often in a location that is close to a retail outlet and, by extension, a point of purchase.”
Global media analysis – Cinema
Other key media intelligence new on WARC Data
Global Ad Trends, a monthly report which draws on WARC’s dataset of advertising and media intelligence to take a holistic view on current industry developments, is part of WARC Data, a dedicated online service featuring current advertising benchmarks, forecasts, data points and trends in media investment and usage.
Download a sample report of WARC’s latest Global Ad Trends report on Cinema.
Source: WARC
From the lift of a 35-year ban on cinemas in Saudi Arabia, which has paved the way for cinema exhibitors to unveil six cinema locations (single screens and multiplexes) in Riyadh and Jeddah – with more on the way across the Kingdom, to a paradigm shift across the rest of the region where exhibitors are investing in opening new locations, renovating existing locations, offering innovative ways to watch a movie – luxury cinema seating and F&B options to suit a variety of moods, the overall ambience of cinema has redefined movie going experiences in the Middle East.
Superhero and action movies are no doubt the most popular with audiences of this region. Nevertheless, irrespective of the movie genre, cinemas continue to have a consistent line-up of blockbusters throughout the year – delivering impressive admission figures.
Whether launching a new brand or product, marketing a special event or new residential complex, promoting a special offer or advertising a brand awareness campaign, cinema is the ultimate platform for memorable storytelling, helps advertisers target specific audiences, builds deeper audience engagement and delivers valuable incremental reach when added to a brand’s media mix.
Check out Motivate Val Morgan’s Cinema Update for 2018, and make cinema an integral part of your media plan in 2019!
Spotlight on Motivate Val Morgan
Cinema – A Force to Reckon With (Section 1)
Cinema – A Force to Reckon With (Section 2)
Cinema – A Force to Reckon With (Section 3)
Contact a member of our sales team for cinema advertising opportunities in 2019
Brand activations go beyond the typical ‘buy-sell relationship’ between brands and customers. They create emotional connections by using experiences and interactions – which in turn increases brand recall and recognition, and are a great stepping stone for brands looking to build long-term relationships with consumers.
Carriage – leading food delivery service in the Middle East, recently booked a cinema brand activation campaign (through media agency Starcom Middle East) at VOX Cinemas – Mall of the Emirates from 4th – 6th October 2018, which coincided with the release of Hollywood blockbuster Venom.
As part of the novel campaign, 6,519 takeaway boxes – which included branded communication and a ketchup sachet, were placed on the seats inside the ‘Top 3 Screens’ of VOX Cinemas – Mall of the Emirates (prior to the start of each movie session). The ketchup sachet had a special code ‘VOX’ on it, entitling cinemagoers to receive AED20 off their first two orders when booking through the Carriage app.
Motivate Val Morgan offers a host of off-screen advertising activities to compliment on-screen advertising ranging from:
Contact a member of our sales team for more information on off-screen advertising opportunities.
2.0 – the sequel to Enthiran (2010), will unite the best of talent from Kollywood and Bollywood – Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar. The movie is set to release in cinemas (worldwide) on 29th November and will undoubtedly be one of the biggest Indian language movie releases of 2018.
Trivia:
Both Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar have a devoted fan base across the region, with their movies being well received.
Here’s a look at movie successes starring Rajinikanth:
Kaala (2018)
Kaala was released (worldwide) on 7th June 2018 in three languages – Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. In the UAE, the film earned AED 3,403,631.
Kabali (2016)
There was a different kind of hysteria among Rajinikanth fans as Kabali was the first movie in which the action hero played a role of his own age.
In the GCC, over 200 theatres (including 100 screens in the UAE) screened the movie, and advance online bookings received overwhelming responses with many sessions running house full. According to a local distributor, there were approximately 151,000 tickets sold for in the first two days of release across the UAE.
The film had earned US$11.20 million in its first four-day weekend overseas, breaking the record previously held by Dhoom 3 (US$10.32 million) as the highest-grossing first weekend for an Indian film in overseas markets. According to International Business Times in May 2017, the film’s final overseas gross was US$15.65 million.
Enthiran (2010)
As of January 2018, Enthiran is the fourth-highest-grossing South Indian film of all time after S. S. Rajamouli’s two-part historical fiction films Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) and Baahubali: The Beginning (2015).
According to a February 2015 report by Hindustan Times, the film has grossed approximately US$34.8 million (worldwide) in its lifetime.
Below are UAE statistics for movies featuring Akshay Kumar:
Brothers (2015) – screened for 4 weeks and did approximately 130,500 admissions
Rustom and Airlift (2016) grossed a total of AED 6,565,596 and 4,408,681 respectively
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017) – screened for 3 weeks and did approximately 103,200 admissions
Jolly LLB 2 (2017) – screened for 5 weeks and did approximately 114,000 admissions
Padman (2018) – grossed a total of AED 3,162,845
Based on the success of previous Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar movies (as indicated above) and the fact that Indian language movie fans (in this region) are not restricted to the expat population from the subcontinent, 2.0 is guaranteed to usher in large cinema audiences.
Don’t miss out on advertising alongside one of the biggest Indian language movies of 2018.
Contact a member of our sales team for more information on cinema advertising opportunities across the GCC.
Sources: YouTube, First Post, Wikipedia, The National and Gulf News
Serenia, The Palm is an exclusive residential community development by Palma Holding featuring beachfront living at its finest on The Palm Crescent.
Designed by American architect Hazel Wong – the famous architect behind the landmark Emirates Towers, Serenia promises an unrivalled lifestyle and invites residents into a world of architectural excellence and contemporary interiors with an array of outdoor facilities and bespoke services.
Other remarkable projects by Palma Holding include Silverene Towers and Infinity Cayan Tower.
Palma Holding recently booked a 30 sec. on-screen ad commencing 23rd October 2018 on the premium screens of VOX Cinemas – Mall of the Emirates and ROXY Cinemas – The Beach (for a period of 4 weeks) and the premium screens of Reel Cinemas – The Dubai Mall and the top screens at Reel Cinemas – Dubai Marina Mall (for a period of 8 weeks).
As a first-time advertiser of Motivate Val Morgan, Sarah Derbas – Marketing Director of Palma Holding shares a testimonial on cinema as medium for advertising and why cinema advertising should be an integral part of a marketing plan:
Why did Palma Holding choose to advertise in cinema?
“We created a world-class video for our latest residential project – Serenia Residences The Palm and we wanted to showcase it in a cinema environment – big screen and great visual and sound effects.”
How does cinema fit into Palma Holding’s media strategy?
“Clients of Serenia are of a certain demographic and lifestyle. Therefore, cinema fits well into our media plan as it gives us the opportunity to target specific audiences – cinemagoers who frequent premium screens at prominent cinema locations in Dubai.”
Was the cinema campaign booked for brand awareness or as a tactical promotion?
“A bit of both. Brand awareness is always important when launching a new property. Tactical because want to inform our target market that Serenia is ready to move into and is offered on sale or rent basis.”
Was cinema the best fit for a specific commercial/campaign?
“Cinema Advertising was a great fit for a commercial campaign such as ours. We look forward to some positive feedback and results.”
View on the medium – how cinema competes or complements other advertising mediums used by Palma Holding?
“Any good marketing plan has to be an integrated one that utilizes various mediums, and cinema fits in well with our current plan.”
How efficient was it to book/deal through Motivate Val Morgan?
“Motivate Val Morgan is efficient and professional in their approach.”
Source: Palma Holding
Four interesting campaigns are presently screening across our cinema network in Oman.
National Museum
The National Museum in Oman booked a 35 sec. ad – following the movie Mission: Impossible – Fallout, at VOX Cinemas – City Centre Muscat and City Centre Qurum.
Oman Hotels
Oman Hotels booked a 45 sec. ad on all screens at VOX Cinemas -Shatti for a period of 5 weeks and MAX and IMAX screens at City Centre Muscat and City Centre Qurum for a period of 4 weeks.
Start Date: 2nd August 2018
As Seeb International School
As Seeb International School booked a 30 sec. ad on the MAX screen and screens 3,4,9 and 10 at VOX Cinemas – City Centre Muscat for a period of 4 weeks
Start Date: 18th August 2018
Royal Opera House Muscat
Royal Opera House Muscat booked a 30 sec. ad for 37 weeks on MAX and IMAX screens at VOX Cinemas – City Centre Muscat and City Centre Qurum.
Start Date: 23rd August 2018
Here are three interesting campaigns that screened across our cinema network in Oman in 2017:
Oman Arab Bank
Oman Arab Bank advertised several of their banking products/services in cinema – the latest being their simplified digital banking app.
Screened at:
VOX Cinemas – City Centre Muscat and City Centre Qurum
City Cinema – Sohar, Salalah, Sur and Buraimi
* All screens – last spot in the normal on-screen ad presentation
Campaign duration:
15 Sec. Commercial for a period of 34 weeks (13/4/2017 – 3/1/2018)
Off-screen advertising:
2 LED boards in Foyer area of City Centre Muscat and 1 LED board in Foyer area of City Centre Qurum
2 LED boards in Foyer area of VOX Cinemas City Centre Muscat featuring Oman Arab Bank
LED board in Foyer area of VOX Cinemas City Centre Qurum featuring Oman Arab Bank
Other banks in Oman that have previously advertised with Motivate Val Morgan:
*securing the SOLUS ad spot (playing right after the Motivate Val Morgan ad presentation)
Atana Hotels – Musandam
Atana Hotels Musandam – located in the northern tip of the Musandam peninsular (bordering United Arab Emirates), screened a promotional ad in cinema.
Screened at:
VOX Cinemas – City Centre Muscat and City Centre Qurum
*All screens
Campaign duration:
60 Sec. Commercial for a period of 17 weeks (31/8/2017 – 27/12/2017)
Royal Opera House Muscat
The Royal Opera House Muscat advertised in cinema – promoting ballet and other performances which took center stage in 2017.
Screened at:
VOX Cinemas – City Centre Muscat (MAX screen) and City Centre Qurum (IMAX screen)
Campaign duration:
30 Sec. Commercial for a period of 37 weeks (13/8/2017 – 16/5/2018)
Interested in launching similar cinema campaigns? Contact a member of our sales team for more information.
In advertising, reach is not everything. A media strategy that aims for maximum reach at all costs may sacrifice creativity, positioning and engagement – it won’t necessarily generate the optimum ad spend return on investment (ROI). Cinema provides a platform that can target specific market segments in terms of both demographics and psychographics. Cinema advertising fulfils many of the objectives that a reach-oriented strategy misses out on, such as impact, high recall and audience engagement.
In an Adweek article from 2017, James Cooper, the editorial director, speaks about Screenvision Media unveiling a new creative launch pad ad unit at the 2017 Cannes Lions. Brands taking part in the initiative are eligible for the Hegarty Awards – to honour the best in cinema advertising. Cooper notes how “cinema provides a highly memorable impression in media, reinforced by a 59% ad-awareness statistic.”
Cinema has the benefit of a captive audience, and commercials on the big screen cannot easily be ignored. In addition, niche markets can be catered to. Take for instance a brand selling exclusive sports cars. Mass reach should not factor into their media plan. Instead, carefully crafted content delivered to the correct audience is a superior strategy for marketers and maximum reach should not be the default goal.
The same rule applies when scheduling movies at cinemas. Showing a film at every cinema in the country won’t necessarily produce best results. Reach is not everything — the relevance of a brand’s message to their target market being delivered through the correct channel, is what matters. Cinema provides quality audiences, rather than aiming for quantity.
Besides reach, other brand marketing goals might be awareness, brand positioning, brand affiliation, or short-term impact and hype. What’s important is to have a clear objective of what job the campaign and media should do and be able to measure it.
The need for integrated campaigns
Industry analytical tools are evolving, following the end of Amps and the imminent emergence of new media measurement methodologies, media currencies and segmentation models, marketers need to be clear about their campaign objectives. At the same time, we need to define and understand our audiences better. For instance, in the cinema space, there is a huge correlation between moviegoers and mallgoers, simply because a majority of movie houses in the Middle East are in shopping malls. This opens up possibilities for campaigns using cinema and out-of-home (OOH) activations around malls and in the broader cinema space. This also provides a fantastic opportunity for brand owners to keep their products top of mind within the retail environment. Besides this, there are collaboration opportunities between retail, brand and cinema.
For example, let’s look at Dubai – home to more than 55% of the world’s top international retail brands as well as world-class shopping malls such as The Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates. The retail potential of about 2.4 million Dubai residents was valued at Dh63 billion, or Dh26,137 per head in 2015, and was set to grow by 8.5 per cent per annum.
Dubai’s retail sector has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years and the emirate was named the second most important international shopping destination globally after London in 2015 – according to real estate consultancy firm CBRE.
Consumer purchase decisions can be influenced using the various advertising opportunities within malls — including cinema. Hence, there is a need for integrated campaigns that creatively unlock these opportunities. These should be targeted campaigns that don’t aim for reach alone. Cinemas, if you think of it, are more than just the big screen – they are auditoriums and versatile spaces. They can also be used for live broadcasts and conferences to reach a wider audience than just moviegoers.
Cinema is innovating in the marketing of products and services as well as on the entertainment front – a medium open and flexible to collaborating with innovators in all parts of the media space. Cinema advertising complements other media and advertisers and brand managers will find better ROI if they get that science right. The key is to use the versatility of cinema to drive and execute campaigns.
Cinema is uniquely immersive
As a recent Millward Brown white paper points out, one of cinema’s unique selling points is its minimal distractions compared to other media. Multi-screening is still not socially accepted in movie theatres, and ads can also not be skipped or muted.
With wall-to-wall screens, surround sound and its dark environment, cinema is uniquely immersive, so cinema viewers process movie advertising more consciously, which yields results other advertising mediums cannot.
Millward Brown research also shows that the impact of cinema advertising is boosted substantially when people see ads on cinema plus one other screen. This cross-channel synergy contributes on average 20-35% of overall brand effects. Particularly with TV.
For brands wanting their message to have impact with high recall, cinema is the perfect platform. It also provides an opportunity to stretch a campaign creatively, because advertising content has got to be great in the cinema space. The cinema space pushes the boundaries of creativity.
The big screen alone won’t give brands the reach of TV or radio, but a multi-platform strategy offers the best of both worlds. Combining cinema and TV is unparalleled in terms of ROI. The two-visual media complement each other.
In the US – always a bellwether of industry trends – there are already indications of advertisers moving from TV to cinema. The US saw a 1-2% decline in national TV advertising in Q1 2017, according to Pivotal Research Group, while cinema advertising reported 5.8 percent year-on-year growth in 2016.
As advertising budgets get tighter, we need to focus on offering marketers value, and strategists need to create innovative media plans to help achieve their goals.
There have long been a few dominant media types that every media strategist and media buyer recommend. But, some media types are oversubscribed, and now provide less attractive returns. Perhaps strategists need to look to supplementary media to stretch budgets further and move into areas with less clutter.
Opportunities for experimental, experience activations
Gone are the days when cinema advertising was just about screen time accompanied by a call-to-action. An integrated campaign can now embrace branding on popcorn boxes, cinema lightboxes and plasma screens, screens above the candy bar, and sampling stands and activities in the foyer, concourse and auditoriums of cinemas (to name a few). Cinevations (cinema activations which engage audiences) are another popular form of advertising in cinemas.
Media strategists can bundle this high-impact, experiential advertising with another media like TV, radio or print. TV will give you reach, and you can deliver the experiential elements at cinemas.
Cinema makes up 3.41% of the total advertising revenue in MENA as of 2017, according to Zenith. Although cinema advertising in MENA has gone down by 5%, Motivate Val Morgan’s turnover has gone up by 2% in the UAE in 2017. Cinema may not be a huge share of the market, however, it’s one of the only mediums, apart from digital, that hasn’t seen a drastic decline over the years. It is also a medium that can be regionalised or localised — advertisers have the opportunity to limit their campaigns to just a few relevant sites.
Courtesy: Zenith
Courtesy: Zenith
Cinema is all about the experience – the smell of the popcorn, nachos, slush, dimming of the lights and sound, which brands need to optimally embrace to their advantage.
Cinema doesn’t compete with other advertising mediums, it complements them and remains a powerful, targeted, high-impact media experience with a highly responsive audience. Brand owners would see results if they take a broader and more integrated view which incorporates cinema when bringing their products/services to the market.
Cinema is the unique ingredient that brings targeted, quality, creative expression to campaigns, filling in the gaps of a one-size fits-all approach. With growing interest and innovative solutions, the medium is returning to take its rightful place as a key weapon in the targeted advertising arsenal.
The big screen is limitless in bringing campaigns to life!
Sources: SAWA, BIZCOMMUNITY (Cinema News), Emirates 24/7 (Business) and Zenith
