VOX Cinemas opened its fourth location in KSA at The Roof in Riyadh on Thursday 14th March 2019.
The cinema features 8 screens with a total seating capacity of 558 seats, and includes a Kids screen – dedicated to young movie fans.
In addition to its signature Candy Bar, VOX Cinemas – The Roof also offers a range of F&B options such as a specialty Nutella bar, Pizza Al Taglio — a new concept serving freshly baked pizza slices, and Kitchen 35 — a grab-and-go café serving coffees, juices, sandwiches, salads and pastries.
VOX Cinemas presently operates a total 39 screens – 27 in Riyadh and 12 in Jeddah, and according to its country manager for Saudi Arabia – Mohamed Al-Hashemi, the cinema chain aims to have 110 operational screens in the Kingdom by the end of 2019.
As the exclusive cinemas advertising partner of VOX Cinemas – across the region, we at Motivate Val Morgan would like to congratulate VOX Cinemas on the opening of The Roof in Riyadh, and warmly welcome this new location to our circuit in Saudi Arabia.
Contact us for more information on cinema advertising opportunities in KSA.
For more information on locations and movie timings, visit https://ksa.voxcinemas.com/
Related Articles:
VOX Cinemas Opens at Al Qasr Mall in Riyadh
VOX Cinemas Opens at Red Sea Mall in Jeddah
VOX Cinemas Opens in Saudi Arabia at Riyadh Park Mall
Sources: Arab News and Images Retail ME
Wego – travel search website and mobile application, recently booked a cinema campaign (in collaboration with VisitBritain) through Motivate Val Morgan at Reel Cinemas (UAE), VOX Cinemas (KSA) and AMC Cinemas (KSA).
An engaging off-screen ‘Foyer Display’ embedded with augmented reality technology was installed at Reel Cinemas – The Dubai Mall in UAE from Wednesday 27th February to Thursday 5th March 2019.
Technique:
When a cinemagoer stands in front of the screen, the image of the cinemagoer, together with a background of one of Britain’s most iconic sites (Buckingham Palace, Big ben, etc.) would display on the screen.
Objective:
To encourage cinemagoers to search, compare and book a trip to Britain through Wego.
A similar display was also set up at VOX Cinemas – Riyadh Park Mall in Saudi Arabia from Monday 11th March to Sunday 17th March 2019.
Additionally, two Arabic on-screen ads were booked to screen at VOX Cinemas – Riyadh Park Mall and Red Sea Mall (Jeddah) and AMC Cinemas – KAFD (Riyadh) from Thursday 14th March to Wednesday 20th March 2019.
The first ad – which screened for a period of 3 days, features two female actors posting a video of themselves against the backdrop of one of the most cherished British icons – the Big Ben.
The second ad – which screened for a period of 4 days, features a male actor driving along Britain’s countryside when his friend unexpectedly appears by the side of his window.
Interested in booking a similar on-screen and off-screen campaign through Motivate Val Morgan?
Contact a member of our sales team for more information of cinema advertising opportunities across our circuit covering UAE, Lebanon, Oman, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
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Landmark | Pillar Branding | VOX – Mall of Egypt
Careem | Integrated Cinema Campaign | VOX – City Centre Alexandria
Carriage | Cinema Brand Activation | VOX Cinemas
Narciso | Rouge | Luxury Cinema Campaign
Dyson | Pure Link | Integrated Cinema Campaign
Source: Wego
Saudi Arabia made history in April 2018 with the launch of its first cinema at King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) – operated by AMC Cinemas, followed by a 4 screen VOX Cinemas at Riyadh Park Mall in May 2018 – featuring IMAX and Kids experiences.
VOX Cinemas has subsequently cut red ribbons at 3 more locations in the Kingdom:
Red Sea Mall (Jeddah) in January 2019 – featuring IMAX, Kids and Gold Class experiences
Al Qasr Mall (Riyadh) in March 2019 – featuring MAX and Kids experiences
The Roof (Riyadh) in March 2019 – featuring a Kids experience
The Kingdom recently marked another historic milestone with both a private (Wednesday 13th March 2019) and public screening (Thursday 14th March 2019) of a Saudi film titled Roll’em at VOX Cinemas – Red Sea Mall.
Roll’em – written, directed, shot and produced over three years, features an all-Saudi crew (from the actors to the sound director). The brainchild of director Abdulelah Al-Qurashi, co-producer Abdulrahman Khoja, and screenwriter Yasser Hammad, tells the story of a Saudi filmmaker named Omar Nizar who meets a retired 1970s cinematographer while on a journey to discover his home city of Jeddah.
With diverse characters and an incredible cast, this family-friendly movie will show a different image of Jeddah.
“It’s a Jeddawi film to the core. The post-production was in Egypt. The areas where we don’t have expertise in we had to outsource, but everything that had to do with the creative work is purely Saudi,” said Hammad in an interview with Arab News.
“The idea (for the characters) came up from a joke actually. I was pretending to be an old cinematographer and using Hejazi words and the accent. It inspired me to create a character,” he said.
“We had our inspiration from actual film directors from the 1970s in Saudi Arabia that no one knows about. They tried to pursue the same dreams we had, but failed because of their circumstances.” he added.
Hammad said having the film screened in Jeddah “is like a dream come true,” adding: “Without this city, I wouldn’t be able to create art.”
Roll’em is the first of many more local projects to be released. Experts believe that Saudi Arabia could produce $1 billion in revenue over the next 3 years, and by 2030 it could be among the 10 biggest film markets in the world.
Sources: Arab News, Vogue Arabia and Variety
VOX Cinemas opened its second location – Al Qasr Mall, in Riyadh on Wednesday 6th March 2019.
The cinema features 15 screens – with a total seating capacity of 1,294, and includes Kids and MAX experiences.
VOX Cinemas presently operates 31 screens across Saudi Arabia – 19 screens in Riyadh and 12 screens in Jeddah, bringing them one step closer towards achieving their five-year plan of building 600 screens across the region and bringing world-class entertainment to the Kingdom.
According to Mohamed Al-Hashemi, Country Manager of VOX Cinemas for Saudi Arabia, the market reaction has been excellent and Saudi Arabia’s cinema industry has had a ‘good start’ – with audiences responding well to the ‘entertainment-plus cinema’ offering at the mall.
“We are also very pleased at the support we have received from the government so far, in everything from operating, to licensing and expansion,” he said.
Kelvin Kwok Han Sim, CEO of Dar Al Arkan – the property development company behind Al Qasr Mall, described this particular location as an important part of Saudi’s evolving cinema culture.
“The new cinema complex will meet the expectations of our discerning guests and will feature the next generation technology fit for the current sophisticated and tech-savvy Saudi movie-buffs,” he said.
As the exclusive cinemas advertising partner of VOX Cinemas – across the region, we at Motivate Val Morgan warmly welcome Al Qasr Mall into our cinema circuit in Saudi Arabia.
Contact a member of our sales team for more information on cinema advertising opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
For more information on locations and movie timings, visit https://ksa.voxcinemas.com/
Related Articles:
VOX Cinemas Opens at Red Sea Mall in Jeddah
VOX Cinemas Opens in Saudi Arabia at Riyadh Park Mall
Source: Gulf Business, Eye of Riyadh, Arabian Business and Construction Week Online.
Congratulations to the winners of the MVM Oscars Challenge 2019:
Having answered 7 out of 8 questions correctly, Gerald and Priyanka won 2 x VOX Cinemas luxury movie passes (each) to watch a movie of their choice at either a Theatre by Rhodes or Gold by Rhodes cinema.
This year, Bohemian Rhapsody led the 91st Academy Awards – which took place on Sunday 24th February 2019, taking home four Oscars in the actor, film editing, sound mixing, and sound editing categories, while Black Panther surprised with wins in production design, costume design, and original score.
Click here to access a comprehensive list of Oscar Winners in 2019.
Source: Variety
Globally there are more than 150,000 operational cinema screens and the GCC accounts for 1,300 of them. Research by PwC estimates that more than 1,000 cinema screens are expected to launch over the next three to five years, and the total number of cinema screens are expected to increase by 38.4 percent in the MENA region.
Another study by PwC indicated that the box office revenue in the MENA region exceeded $500 million, which accounted for approximately 1.25 percent of the global box office revenue (US$39.92 billion) in 2017 – up three percent from 2016. With a growing population across the GCC and an increasing level of investment by both regional and international cinema exhibitors, the cinema industry is set to thrive over the years ahead.
The deregulation of Saudi Arabia’s film industry in 2018 has opened up a billion-dollar market for cinema exhibitors and film distributors. The undoing of this law will also present movie distributors with a tremendous opportunity – to exhibit in an additional market which happens to be the largest of all GCC countries, and allow brands to add cinema – a new, effective and unrivalled platform, to its media mix for greater reach.
According to Cameron Mitchell, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas, VOX Cinemas – which presently operates 355 cinema screens, will invest Dh2 billion and add 600 cinema screens in Saudi Arabia.
“All eyes in the industry are on Saudi Arabia right now,” he said. “We will invest $100 million in a year to open 100 cinema screens – part of the Dh2 billion plan to open 600 cinema screens in Saudi Arabia in the next three to five years. Overall, we will operate around 1,200 cinema screens across the region in five years’ time. With the Saudi market opening, we see a lot of opportunities in the region’s cinema and entertainment industry.”
With Arabic being the predominant language amongst Saudi nationals, local filmmakers and content writers – with the help of other creative talent across the region, will also be encouraged to produce more Arabic movies.
Image credits: Abu Dhabi World Online
Not only is cinema an ideal environment – distraction and disruption free, to watch new movie releases, but it’s also a place where movie-lovers frequent when wanting to experience unique concepts and technology on offer – 3D, 4DX and Dolby Atmos to name a few. Cinemas across the region also offer luxury experiences – which include a selection of fine food and drinks, for movie lovers with higher spending power.
Going to the cinema has now become a popular pastime across the GCC, with cinemagoers also watching more than one movie per week, which can be attributed to the promotions by both banks and telecom providers across the region – similar to that of ‘Buy one, get one free’ with HSBC, ‘50% off on Saturdays’ by Visa in Bahrain and ‘du Tuesday’ in the UAE. With audiences now being able to watch the latest movie releases in an affordable, comfortable, luxurious and memorable way, cinema admissions across the region can expect to witness steady growth over the years ahead.
Despite the proliferation of movie streaming platforms and the abandonment of cable, population trends indicate that cinema is still the preferred platform to watch new movie releases – premium first run content. Aside from being one of the fastest growing regions in the world, it is also one of the youngest, with over 50% of the region’s population under the age of 25 years. The younger generation tends to spend more on watching movies at the cinema, and in years to come, it will be this segment of GCC ‘s population that will drive the region’s cinema industry to new heights, allowing it to capture a larger share of the global box office.
With a mega line-up of blockbuster releases – such as Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Lion King, X-Men, Fast and the Furious, Toy Story 4 andStar Wars (to name a few), 2019 is predicted to be another record-breaking year – most likely attracting larger audiences between the ages of 16-34 years.
Motivate Val Morgan offers advertisers a regional cinema circuit – spanning across UAE, Lebanon, Oman, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and has the expertise to strategically plan a marketing campaign to engage cinemagoers at every stage of the cinema experience.
Find out more on our offerings – onscreen, offscreen and cinevations, and contact us to bring your brand to life on the big screen.
Source:Arab Health and Khaleej Times
On Monday 28th January 2019, VOX Cinemas opened its doors to the very first cinema in Jeddah at Red Sea Mall.
The multiplex, with a seating capacity of over 1,400 seats, features 12 screens in total and includes Saudi Arabia’s largest IMAX viewing experience, three Gold Class screens and a Kids screen.
Cameron Mitchell, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas, said Saudi Arabia has the capacity for high audience numbers.
Speaking at the opening ceremony at Red Sea Mall, Mitchell stated: “If you look at Dubai we have some 15 million customers there per annum. On the short-term goal in Saudi Arabia we are expecting the market to reach about 30 million customers.”
Research from PwC Middle East in November 2018 estimated that that total cinema revenue in Saudi Arabia would reach $1.5 billion by 2030. The forecast was based on a projected 2030 population of 39.5 million, and 6.6 screens per 100,000 people.
Last year, VOX Cinemas announced it would be investing $533 million to open 600 theaters in the next five years.
“Some 95 percent of our employees here are from Saudi Arabia. In any country where we operate cinemas, we localize the team. We have an Egyptian team in Egypt and a Lebanese team in Lebanon and of course Saudis in Saudi Arabia,” said Mitchell.
“We expect the cinemas in the Red Sea Mall to be showing…a mix of films, probably about 300 films per year with at least six new movies every single week. It will take a while for us to have enough cinemas for everyone to get to go to the cinema whenever they want to.
“In my opinion, the cinema is a good place for families to spend time together in a social environment, especially in hot summer days, when outdoor activities are limited.”
The new multiplex in Jeddah will offer cinema enthusiasts the opportunity to watch some of the world’s biggest blockbuster movies, and according to Mitchell, there would be no issues in relation to gender segregation as there are cinemas for families and separate ones for bachelors.
Here’s the walk-through video of VOX Cinemas – Red Sea Mall:
And a glimpse of the opening ceremony of VOX Cinemas – Red Sea Mall:
تم افتتاح ڤوكس سينما، أول سينما في جدة!
شكراً لضيوفنا الكرام الذين حضروا حفل افتتاح ڤوكس سينما #رد_سي_مول. تم افتتاح أول سينما في جدة ونحن متشوقون لخدمتكم جميعاً ابتداءً من اليوم! أضخم الأفلام وأفضل التجارب في انتظاركم في ڤوكس سينما، رد سي مول. احجزوا تذاكركم عبر https://voxcinemas.info/2ScvAh4 #ڤوكس_سينما_السعودية #ڤوكس_جدةThank you to our esteemed guests who attended the grand opening of VOX Cinemas, Red Sea Mall, and those who tuned in! The first cinema in Jeddah awaits you with the biggest blockbusters and amazing experiences. Book your tickets now at https://voxcinemas.info/2ScvAh4 Jeddah
Posted by VOX Cinemas KSA ڤوكس سينما السعودية on Tuesday, 29 January 2019
VOX Cinemas- Riyadh Park Mall has been operational since May 2018, and Motivate Val Morgan is the official cinema advertising partner of VOX Cinemas at both locations in the Kingdom.
Contact us for more information on cinema advertising opportunities in KSA.
For more information on locations and movie timings, visit https://ksa.voxcinemas.com/
Related Articles:
VOX Cinemas Opens in Saudi Arabia at Riyadh Park Mall
Sources: Arab News and VOX Cinemas
VOX Cinemas recently added two new locations to its portfolio – Al Jimi Mall in UAE and City Centre Suhar in Oman.
On Thursday 24th January 2019, VOX Cinemas opened its first location in Al Ain (UAE) at Al Jimi Mall. The cinema is home to 8 screens with a total seating capacity of 646 seats, and includes MAX, Kids and Theatre by Rhodes experiences.
On Tuesday 22nd January 2019, VOX Cinemas opened its second location in Sohar (Oman) – City Centre Suhar. The cinema is home to 9 screens with a total seating capacity of 996 seats, and includes MAX and Kids experiences.
With the addition of these two new locations, VOX Cinemas presently operates 200 screens across 18 locations in the UAE and 58 screens across 12 locations in Oman.
Contact us for more information on cinema advertising opportunities across all locations operated by VOX Cinemas – UAE, Oman, Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
MENA Cinema Forum – the first-ever business conference of its kind in the region, organised by GM Events was held in Dubai on 28th – 29th October 2018.
The 2-day conference covered a range of industry specific topics – with focus on the growth in the cinema industry in the Middle East, and was attended by more than 45 speakers, 450 delegates and 90 sponsors.
Cinema is the fastest growth market in the MENA region witnessing tremendous progress as a result of rapid population growth, urbanization, focus on development across leisure sectors, and the emergence of Saudi Arabia as a new market. Additionally, cinemagoers in the region demand the best movie experiences, stimulating upgrades and innovation across existing and upcoming facilities.
The MENA Cinema Forum brought together a spectrum of stakeholders within the cinema sector, including but not limited to local and international governments, investment companies, mall owners, cinema operators and exhibitors, suppliers and industry leaders.
The forum addressed areas required for successful establishment and operations of cinemas to meet growing regional requirements:
*Another key topic for discussion was global recognition of Arab Cinema, and how strong strategies and supply chains can further improve its acceptance.
As part of the Speakers’ panel, Avinash Udeshi, Chief Operating Officer – Motivate Val Morgan together with Deena Al Mansoori, Founder and CEO – Aljoori for Cinema Production and Advertisement and Anil Pattani, Director – Awan Media was invited on Day 2 to discuss the development of models that guarantee profitability of movie theatres.
Day 1 focused on:
Day 2 focused on:
Key Information from MENA Cinema Forum 2018
Other event features included: technical presentations, product showcases, roundtable discussions, workshop and break-out meetings, networking, awards ceremony, major announcements of upcoming movies in 20198 by 21st century and a special screening of First Man at Reel Cinemas – The Dubai Mall (Dolby Screen).
MENA Cinema Forum 2019
The next forum will be held in November 2019, with a focus on the exhibition industry & cinema infrastructure, and on MENA production.
For more information on the MENA Cinema Forum visit www.menacinema.com
Sources: Emirates 24|7, Forbes Middle East, Zawya, The Arab Weekly and MENA Cinema Forum
Motivate Val Morgan offers 360 degree exposure and innovative opportunities for brands utilizing both on-screen and off-screen advertising.
Launching or promoting a new product/service?
Combining on-screen advertising with in-cinema sampling will increase brand reach and recall, and is pertinent to brands targeting mass or niche (luxury) audiences.
Narciso Rodriguez – designer perfume brand, recently booked a cinema campaign for Narciso Rouge – through media agency Carat MENA. The campaign included:
On-Screen Advertising
A 30 sec. on-screen ad was booked to screen on the premium screens at Reel Cinemas (The Dubai Mall) VOX Cinemas (City Centre Mirdif, Mall of the Emirates, Marina Mall Abu Dhabi and Yas Mall – Abu Dhabi), Roxy Cinemas (The Beach) and Oscar Cinema (Al Wahda Mall) for a period of 4 weeks – 20th September to 17th October 2018.
Off-Screen Advertising
A sampling stand was set up in the concourse area of Reel Cinemas – The Dubai Mall (in close proximity to the premium screens) over weekends 20th – 22nd September and 27th – 29th September 2018, and at VOX Cinemas – Mall of the Emirates (in close proximity to the lounge area of Theatre by Rhodes) over weekends 4th – 6th October and 11th – 13th October 2018.
Activation stand at Reel Cinemas – The Dubai Mall:
Activation stand at VOX Cinemas – Mall of the Emirates:
For more information on niche (luxury) audience targeting, refer to Cinema Remains an Important Touchpoint for Luxury Brands.
Examples of mass market sampling activities:
Contact a member of our sales team for more information on integrated cinema campaigns targeting both mass and niche cinema audiences.
