When it comes to cinema, we’re now in a very different world from where we were a decade ago. Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu have taken off in a big way and they’ve taken a big share of the audience that cinemas could traditionally rely on.
With this new reality to contend with, cinemas are having to be more creative and push harder than ever to fill seats. Today, we’re looking at just some of the techniques and strategies that are already in use.
Offers And Promotions
Special offers have been a staple feature of cinemas for a long time already but the scale and variety of them has increased dramatically. We’re now seeing a range of offers that you’d more expect from mobile apps or online casino sites. Other digital media industries are well-known for promotions and extras, especially iGaming, with many casino sign-up offers featured on larger sites. Cinemas seem to have taken a few cues from casinos as many have started offering limited VIP tickets or free snacks to those who join their membership programs.
Beyond signing up, things such as premium seat upgrades in the event of undersold shows, heavily discounted group tickets, and significant discounts on tickets bought well in advance are all now common. In fact, it is now often harder to find full-priced tickets than ones on offer, and even those usually have some promotions available with them including food and drinks.
Movies As Events
It has become increasingly common for cinemas to expand their customer experience beyond the movie itself. Particularly with larger movie releases, or at least those that have larger fanbases, cinemas will often create half-day or full-day events around the movie itself. Films that are based on famous books, for example, may have things like costume contests or big fan quizzes around them, while movies connected to sports may even have tie-in athletic challenges for them.
In the case of long-running franchises, another option is to have a movie marathon. Often done as a ‘series recap’ of the story so far, these are popular with horror franchises such as Friday The 13th or the Saw series. In most cases, these run over the space of a day, although some extreme cases have seen these occur as multi-day events.
Branching Out
Many cinemas have taken the approach of offering different services rather than just movies and have seen a lot of success with it. The most notable are the live events which use cinemas around the world for simultaneous shows in much the same way as a live stream online. Major events so far have included everything from Monty Python to the band Queen.
These are added on top of events like live theatre productions and other non-cinema events, and while movies still make up the largest part of a cinema’s offering, these now provide a significant extra income.
As it stands, cinemas still hold a lot of love for movie fans and many will defend the experience over streaming at home. What the industry will look like in a few years, however, is uncertain and we’d expect to see more out-of-the-box thinking in the near future.
