Media

You may have to think twice to recall the first movie you saw in a cinema hall, but the Vicco Turmeric ad that played out during every movie remains fresh in the memory. Such is the power of in-cinema advertising, a sector that saw a phenomenal growth of 25 per cent in 2016 alone.

From coffee, chocolate, instant noodles to health drinks, in-cinema advertising is the perfect place for brands to create visibility for themselves, claims a 58-page elaborate report compiled by GroupM owned Interactive TV, the largest player in theatre advertising of cinemas in the country. The propensity to purchase is higher in theatres, claims the report titled, At a Theatre Near You.

The report cites industry sources and claims that with a growth rate of 25 per cent in 2016, the sector has made it imperative to have a monitoring tool like CAM to strategically assist the advertisers. The report cites another GroupM report - This Year, Next Year - which found that in-cinema advertising has been growing year on year by 20 per cent over the last three years.

Experts believe that this steady growth rate has made in-cinema advertising a big talking point amongst the media agencies which are now betting high on the sector.

Here is a table where the report elaborates 32 advertising touchpoints in a cinema hall.

Factors leading to the boom

Experts believe there are many factors leading the boom, but primarily it is the increase in the number of multiplex screens. Also, there has been an awakening in the advertising and media buying community that in-theatre advertising offers a proper target audience which is captive during the time ads play out.

"This means that cinema advertising has a good chance of creating recall value in the minds of potential consumers. As the multiplex segment offers different pricing to attract different segments, ads can also be diversified to reach different segments cleverly. The relatively lower costing of theatre advertising as opposed to other media is also something that adds to its effectiveness at the moment," says Rahul Puri, Managing Director of Mukta Arts for Mukta A2 Cinema.

Prashant Verma, Director Marketing, Grofers, agrees that cinema allows a certain geo-targeting that TV cannot replicate and even generates impact that digital videos cannot create. "The key is not to evaluate absolute CPV of cinema ads, but effective CPV over a period of time. Being an enclosed captive medium, cinema also leads to higher recall of brands and provides incremental reach effectively," says Verma.

Improved infrastructure and growing footfall is another key reason, claims Sanjiv Pandey, Marketing Manager, Subway South Asia. "Massive private investment in infrastructure has also transformed the cinema-goers' experience. Given the ever increasing footfall of prime audience and reach, cinemas are emerging as a highly potential advertising medium. Production houses are investing in innovative marketing and promotion activities prior to any release, thus creating pre hype and anticipation," says Pandey.

Source: Exchange4media.com