July 31, 2019

Marketing guru, Mark Ritson highlights the resurgence of the Cinema Medium and the opportunities it presents to marketers and brands in his Marketing Week column. For the first time in many marketers’ working memories, the fastest-growing ad channel next year will be non-digital, and it’s a testament to Cinema’s enduring audience appeal and emotional impact. 

The shrinking growth rate of Digital means that cinema advertising, which is forecast to surge more than 12% next year, will become the fastest-growing ad medium. Advertiser’s concerns over digital scandals and ads placed next to inappropriate YouTube videos may account for the slow down. Conversely, Cinema Advertising offers a risk-free space, unmatched captive audience, a premium cinema experience, and soaring attendance (last year UK Cinema attendance hit its highest level since 1970).

November 04, 2011

Cinema has 20 times the media return on investment for efficiency, per person, compared with TV, according to new research carried out by Digital Cinema Media (DCM) and Millward Brown.

November 04, 2011

Mark Mitchell has been elected president and chairman of the industry association, and Cliff Marks executive director. Effective immediately, they join Bob Brouillette and Laura Adler, returning as treasurer and secretary, respectively.

The CAC also announced that Lee Heffernan (Screenvision) will take over as chair of the Marketing committee and Sunil Soman (NCM) will take over as chair of the Research committee. Laura Adler will remain chair of the Public Relations committee.

November 04, 2011

The Cinema Advertising Council has appointed Mark Mitchell to be its President and Chairman and Cliff Marks to be its Executive Director. Mitchell will bring his industry experience from being the chief revenue officer for Screenvision and numerous management positions at ABC Networks to his new post. Marks is a former ESPN/ABC sales exec who was also named one of the 50 top executives in advertising and media in AdweekMedia's "Mediaweek 50."

March 28, 2011

The cinema advertising industry outpaced most other media last year in terms of revenue growth with total revenues rising 12.7%, from $584 million in 2009 to $658 million in 2010, according to the Cinema Advertising Council. 

March 28, 2011

Advertisers are moving more of their marketing dollars to the megaplex.

Revenue from in-theater ads grew 12.7% to $658 million in the U.S. in 2010, according to the Cinema Advertising Council, which revealed the results today at the CinemaCon confab in Las Vegas.

The figures mark the first time the CAC has seen double-digit growth from marketers since 2007, when they spent 18.5% more than in '06. Sales were up just 2% in '09, coming in at $584 million. Regional ad sales grew 8.2%, accounting for 19.8% of the total cinema advertising market.

March 28, 2011

Revenue from theaters rises to $658.3 million and outpaces the overall ad trend, up a healthy 6.5%.

March 28, 2011

One of the most dependable smash hits for movie house owners doesn't come from a Hollywood studio, but from a deep-pocketed source 3,000 miles away -- Madison Avenue. 

October 12, 2010

The Cinema Advertising Council (CAC) has elected Cliff Marks president and chairman and Loren Venturi-Miller executive director.

Bob Brouillette has been re-elected treasurer of the Council, the US trade association for cinema advertising sellers, the theatrical exhibition community and the advertising community, and Laura Adler secretary.

June 08, 2010

Unlike virtually every other category of media, cinema advertising actually rose in 2009, its seventh straight year of growth, driven by strong regional and national spending that made up for a dip in local.

Overall spending was up 2 percent, from $571 million to $584 million, according to data released by the Cinema Advertising Council (CAC) earlier this week. 

June 08, 2010

After Hollywood's record year at the box office, it should come as no surprise that cinema advertising was one of the few kinds of advertising to win more revenue in 2009 than in 2008. But even the cinema industry's lift in ad revenue, which increased 2% to $584 million according to a new report from the Cinema Ad Council, didn't keep pace with the movie-going audience, which increased 6%. 

June 07, 2010

Cinema advertising defied the rest of the market last year, growing 2 percent to $284.1 million, mostly on the strength of national and regional advertising, per figures released today (June 7) by the Cinema Advertising Council. 

June 07, 2010

A ray of light for movie theaters struggling with a weak summer box office: Cinema ads are on the rise. The Cinema Advertising Council released a new report on movie theater ads. The crucial piece: Not only are ad revenues up by double digits in the first two quarters of the year compared to 2009, but the industry is seeing a "good beginning" to upfront ad sales for the next 12 months — which indicates to me, more double digit percentage increases. 

May 12, 2010

“Knock on wood,” says Michael Chico, president and chairman of the Cinema Advertising Council, with both pride and a measured dose of relief when asked about the state of the business that he represents. “We’ve not had one downturn since this whole economic crisis started. In 2008, we were up year-over-year. In terms of 2009, we’re up also. And in 2010, the industry is trending to budget, if not towards even more positive results. Knock on wood, there has been no downturn for us.”

The seven-year-old trade group of cinema advertisers that covers more than 82% of 38,794 U.S. movie screens and includes companies that provide related services and products did not yet have the official 2009 numbers available at press time—make sure to check www.filmjournal.com by mid-June—but Chico ventures that the positive trend is certainly continuing. “Overall the industry saw strong national, with regional up and local showing minimal increases.” On the global front, “we are hearing that international saw high single to low double-digit decreases, while in the U.S. revenue was up minimally.”

In his day job as executive VP, sales and marketing, at Screenvision, Chico recently spoke with Cliff Marks, president of sales and marketing at competitor NCM Media Networks, about the reasons behind such success. “The members of the CAC have been doing a very, very good job knocking on advertisers’ doors and presenting the positive attributes of cinema,” Chico says of their analysis. “We’ve been doing the same at the agency level and it’s just been working. The positive press that we have been getting in terms of admissions and the movies that are being released is obviously helping us. It’s like wind at our backs, but marketing cinema as a whole has been working really well for us.”

Along “with the bigger boost in box office, 3D technology as a whole just lifted the industry in terms of awareness,” he elaborates. “My kids and I have seen a whole slew of 3D films and have enjoyed every one of them.” From an advertising perspective also, “it’s been working well and is obviously a boost for moviegoing audiences overall.”

Chico prefers to leave the technical aspects to the experts in the field, but simply put, “it’s a flash drive that ships to the digital projectors.” Screenvision and NCM completed a handful of media attention-worthy 3D campaigns already featuring spots from ABC’s “Prep and Landing,” Skittles, U.S. Air Force, Samsung and Friskies. Cat food? “Yes, it was very, very well-done,” Chico confirms about the spot that was appropriately taglined “Feed the Senses” and fittingly placed with Alice in Wonderland.

Beyond the movie theatre, Friskies and the new batch of 3D commercials made waves in the advertising trade press as well. “In the past three months, we’ve seen more interest from advertisers than you can humanly imagine,” NCM’s Marks noted to Adweek. “We all have to agree that Avatar has changed the world.” Not to mention the Monster vs. Aliens that are currently promoting Samsung’s 3D television sets. “It shows a young girl taking the 3D movie experience home by cutting a cube of the action out of the screen,” Adweek wrote, “and replicating the experience on her family’s Samsung TV”—highlighting where the excitement all begins. “3D is here to stay, and consumers love it,” Marks is further quoted. “It is one of the most exciting opportunities to come our way in cinema in a long time…”

Back to the flat-screens, Chico offers an additional trend line that he observes at Screenvision. “We’ve gotten a lot of traction with our in-lobby Cinema Scene products. The lobbies will be playing a much more prevalent role in our future revenue stream,” he anticipates.

On the same note, Nielsen just reported huge numbers for such location-based video media. According to the researcher’s inaugural Fourth Screen Report, an estimated 237 million on-location ads were displayed each month from September to December 2009, including at health clubs, bars and restaurants, gas stations, in hotels and movie theatre lobbies. In comparison to the other three screens of television, Internet and mobile devices, the Report states that “video ad exposures to NCM’s and Screenvision’s movie theatre networks combined for an average 61.7 million, meaning that it took about 20 primetime [television] ads to reach the same audience.” In fact, NCM and Screenvision led the on-location pack at numbers one—before elevators and fitness—and four, with 35.3 and 26.4 million exposures, respectively.

More good news comes from a second independent study that gives equally high marks to cinema advertising. “Consumers are highly attached to the movies and they went to the cinema in record numbers,” confirms Gary Reisman, principal at NewMediaMetrics (NMM), a company that offers a patent-protected approach to measuring Emotional Attachment (EA) of consumers to brands and media properties. “Our study shows that movies are a powerful part of the media mix and an excellent way for brands in key categories to connect with customers.”

NewMediaMetrics’ EA scale represents “the research system that a lot of the networks use to determine the emotional attachment that their prospective audiences have for the new shows they are watching,” explains Chico. “A lot of money is placed on that bet of which shows to launch.”

Chico and colleagues liked what they saw in the NMM presentation. “This is a great CAC initiative because…who doesn’t like the movies?! We ran the numbers and, lo and behold, they were phenomenal,” he says. “Our average recall outside of emotional attachment is somewhere between 40% and 75%. That’s very, very high already. If you put emotional attachment on top of that, you can see how our audiences are perceptive and receptive to the ads that are running.” All in all, “this is probably the highest that’s achievable in the media business.”

For levels within the media mix, too, the movies have a higher EA rating (41.5%) than watching major televised sports and entertainment events (see graph). 44.5% of health and beauty customers and 43.9% of those purchasing consumer packaged goods and foods are emotionally attached to the movies, compared with 29.6% and 28.9% for television, 21.2% and 20.5% for radio, and 20.6% and 19.2% for magazines. It comes as no surprise then that these and “many, many more categories are breaking into cinema.”

Chico mentions another few that “are just turning into big, big” opportunities. “The categories that we predicted would be breaking are breaking. And that is why this year is shaping up to be very, very positive so far.” Both the domestic and imported auto segments are “growing like crazy,” and electronics and quick-service restaurants display “tremendous growth” as well.

In closing, the CAC chairman and president lauds the increased quality of cinema advertising as well. “When somebody is launching great creative, they’ll do so in cinema. I’d say 70% of our ads now are just the best creative that is used everywhere.” Although Chico doesn’t think “folks are building too many creatives just for the cinema,” he would venture “the percentages are high for both launching their best creative and using their best creative in cinema.”


The 360 About NewMediaMetrics 
NewMediaMetrics’ 360 Cross Platform Study is a syndicated industry-wide study that helps marketers identify consumers who are emotionally attached to measured brands and then creates the optimal strategic messaging and media mix in order to reach these targets. The 2009 study commissioned by CAC had a base of over 3,000 persons 13 to 54 who ranked their EA (Emotional Attachment) to brands and media on an 11-point scale (where 9 or 10 = “Emotionally Attached”). Media measured included television, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, radio, cinema and non-cinema out-of-home (OOH) media.

GROSS MONTHLY DIGITAL VIDEO AD EXPOSURES, P18+
(September-December 2009) 

Rank, Network, Venue, Persons 18+, % 18-34 
1 NCM Movie Theatres 35,301,188 47%
2 Captivate Elevators 31,332,148 55%
3 Zoom Fitness Health Clubs 29,396,229 43%
4 Screenvision Movie Theatres 26,390,071 47%
5 Zoom Social Bar/Restaurants 25,165,269 84%
6 AMI Bar/Restaurants 22,609,400 53%
7 The Hotel Networks Hotels 22,196,922 34%
8 GSTV Gas Stations 21,306,028 44%
9 indoorDirect Restaurants 14,146,853 43%
10 RMG Fitness Health Clubs 9,548,019 35%
TOTAL: 237,392,127 50%

Source: The Nielsen Company 

April 22, 2010

You know those ads on movie screens prior to the Coming Attractions and the Feature Presentation? Turns out they have more of an impact that many of us thought. A new report from the Cinema Advertising Council (CAC) found that ads at the cinema engage consumers' emotional responses, always a good thing.

The NewMediaMetrics 360 Cross Platform Study found:
• 44% consumers who purchases health and beauty products were emotionally attached to movies
• 29% of health and beauty purchasers were attached to television
• 43% of CPG consumers were attached to movies
• 28% were attached to television
• 43% of Casual Dining consumers were attached to movies
• 28% were attached to television

"Over the past 10 years, Emotional Attachment has been proven to be a predictive means of measuring consumer product purchasing and media behavior," said Gary Reisman, NewMediaMetrics principle. "On a brand by brand basis, different media are more effective at reaching a brand's high-value targets. Consumers are highly attached to the movies and they went to the cinema in record numbers in 2009. Our study shows that movies are a powerful part of the media mix and an excellent way for brands in key categories to connect with customers."

Researchers studied the responses of more than 3,000 people between ages 13 and 54. They measured cinema, television, radio, magazines, Internet and 'other' out-of-home media such as billboards.

April 13, 2010

A new report from the Cinema Advertising Council and NewMediaMetrics details consumers' emotional attachment to different media, as well as brands appearing in various media contexts. The findings suggest that cinema advertising can compete effectively with television for video advertising dollars. 

Movies fared better than most other media in terms of emotional attachment, reflecting their immersive quality, and the fact that consumers will pay a fair amount for such an experience. 

CAC found that 44.5% of consumers that buy health and beauty products reported emotional attachment to movies, versus 29.6% for magazines, 21.2% for radio and 20.6% for magazines. 

Similarly, 43.9% of survey respondents that buy consumer packaged-goods and foods said they were emotionally attached to movies, compared to 28.9% for TV, 20.5% for magazines and 19.2% for magazines.

The data, summarized in CAC and NewMediaMetrics' "360 Cross Platform Study," were gathered in survey of more than 3,000 people ages 13-54, categorized by the type of products they consume. It asked them to rate emotional attachment to media and brands in media on an 11-point scale, with 9-10 considered "emotionally attached." The survey compared consumer ratings for TV, magazines, newspapers, Internet, cinema and a variety of other out-of-home channels. 

Across all consumer categories, the overall attachment rating of 41.5% for movies ranked ahead of televised sports and major entertainment events, such as the Super Bowl (39.7%), Summer Olympics (26.3%), World Series (22.8%) and Oscars (16.1%). 

Last year, the CAC released a study from Integrated Media Measurement showing that cinema advertising plus TV more than doubled consumer conversion rates when compared with TV alone. 

The digital out-of-home industry in general has been working to bolster its measurement capabilities with new, more precise metrics in the hope of winning spending usually allocated to cable and broadcast.

April 13, 2010

People may complain about the idea of watching advertisements before movies. But even they admit the medium commands more emotional attachment than other types of media, such as television, print and out-of-home, according to the Cinema Advertising Council (CAC).

A survey of 3,000 people between 15 and 34 conducted by the council, used an 11-point scale (0-10, with the top two responses as the highest) to rank consumers' emotional attachment (defined as something they care deeply about and were not willing to give up) to both brands and media. The findings showed that across several categories, consumers who were emotionally attached to certain brands felt the same way about movies, according to Steve Siegel, chair of the CAC's research committee. 

"For a lot of key categories, [consumers] are going to be very emotionally attached to the movie-going experience," Siegel tells Marketing Daily. 

According to the research, 45% of health and beauty consumers (consumers who used products in the category within six months of the study), said they were emotionally attached to movies, compared with 29.6% who felt the same way about television, 21% for radio and 21% for print advertising. 

Among consumer packaged goods and food consumers, 44% were emotionally attached to the movies, while 29% had the same reaction for television, 21% for radio and 19% for magazines. Similar numbers (43%, 28%, 20% and 19%, respectively by media) followed for restaurant consumers, according to the study. 

"It mixes and matches," Siegel says. "We can show that people who are emotionally attached to brands in other categories are emotionally attached to [certain] media." 

The survey also found movie advertising has a higher emotional attachment rating (42%) than lived televised sports and entertainment, including the Super Bowl (40%), Summer Olympics (26%), Oscars (16%) and Grammy Awards (15%). 

April 13, 2010

Consumers are more “emotionally attached” to movies than they are TV shows, newspapers or the Internet.

So says the Cinema Advertising Council, which on Tuesday released results of a 2009 study by third-party research firm NewMediaMetrics revealing that nearly 44 percent of “consumer packaged goods and foods” consumers identify themselves as emotionally attached to movies, compared to just under 29 percent for TV.

The study polled 3,000 persons ages 13-54 and asked them to rank how impacted they are by various media platforms on a “Spinal Tap”-like scale that goes from 1-11.

The study claims that 44.5 percent of health and beauty category consumers identify high emotional attachment to theatrical features (meaning they posted a 9 or higher for “movies), compared to only 29.6 percent for TV, 21.2 percent for radio and 20.6 percent for magazines.

In the fast food/casual restaurant category, movies led again, with consumers registering a 43.9 percent strong attachment to the medium.

Also of note: according to the study, the movies have a higher EA quotient (41.5 percent) than the Super Bowl (39.7 percent), the Summer Olympics (26.3 percent) or the Oscars (16.1 percent).

Of course, while the veracity of engagement metrics are difficult to confirm, the Cinema Advertising Council remains on a mission to prove itself to Madison Avenue, and those grow a fledgling revenue stream for theater chains.

In 2008, advertising revenues for CAC members grew 5.8 percent to $571.4 million, with figures for 2009 still pending.

January 02, 2010

Jan 20, 2010

-By Katy Bachman 


The Cinema Advertising Council announced Wednesday (Jan. 20) new committee chairs for the two-year term running through Dec. 31, 2011. 

Steve Siegal, research director for Screenvision, was elected research committee chair. Laura Adler, president of A&G Marketing Group and secretary for the CAC, was elected public relations committee chair. 

The two new chairs join returning committee chairs John Missale, chief technology officer, who serves as chair of the technology committee; and Michael Sakin, senior vp of sales for Landmark Theatres, chair of the marketing committee.

Michael Chico, vp of sales and marketing for Screenvision, is the current president and chairman of the CAC.

January 02, 2010

OUT-OF-HOME

By Janet Stilson


If there's one word that characterizes the out-of-home industry in 2010, it's transformation. This year will be when a greater proportion of signs are converted into digital opportunities; a larger quantity of advertisers will see the OOH light; and the entire industry will tap new research that paints a much richer picture of the sector's value.

In general, the out-of-home industry is fairly optimistic. The downer at the end of '08, when advertiser cancellations were rife, wasn't repeated at year's end 2009. And while it's still a bit of a "hang on tight and wait for better times" situation, forecasters at Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Magna and Zenith Optimedia expect that the business will reverse course in 2010.

Overall, the year-over-year revenue decline that was experienced in 2008 and 2009 probably won't be replaced by much more than a flat scenario in 2010. Occupancy rates will go up this year, but the pricing still won't reach 2007 or 2008 levels. But greater expectations are on the horizon. Revenue will rev up in 2011 and 2012 when the category is expected to deliver single-digit annual gains, according to the three firms.

Just about everyone in the business agrees that the sector will receive tremendous momentum from new research data emanating from Traffic Audit Bureau's Eyes On service. "You'll see more advertisers start to test the [OOH] waters in order to take advantage of the targeted demographics, which they couldn't do before," says Damon Peirson, svp, director of out-of-home and local print at Zenith Optimedia, regarding Eyes On.

The service made an initial splash in 2009 and, as of Jan. 1, became the industry's primary ratings currency. By spring, most agency planning tools should be integrated into the system, and Eyes On will gain significant traction, according to Stephen Freitas, CMO of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

But Eyes On also presents some challenges. So far, it doesn't measure digital boards. And it will take "a year or two" to educate sales people, planners and clients about how to use it, Peirson says.

The richer data is one important reason why OOH is transitioning from a medium that's been used largely as a branding tool to one that can satisfy much more versatile advertiser goals, Peirson says. It comes at a time when OOH digital technology allows for increasingly more creative uses of the medium, such as text messaging and touch-screen interactivity, instantaneous posting of news headlines, and live feeds of events.

That versatility is prompting a greater number of ad clients to include the category in their annual budgets, says Norm Chait, Mediavest's svp, director of OOH investment and activation. "It's given us a seat at the table," Chait says. "People are being cautious, but the budgets are trending upwards."

At the same time, the number of digital boards is likely to start growing again, after slowing down in 2009. Freitas reports that there are currently about 1,800 digital billboards in the U.S., out of 450,000 total.

"The cost of technology is now low enough that companies can invest in less expensive screens," says Jack Sullivan, senior vp, OOH media at Starcom USA, in explaining why he thinks the number of digital screens will double or triple "in the near future."

Clearly, digital growth is what's driving the revenue lift for the whole sector. Veronis estimates that between 2008 and 2013, the compound annual growth rate for digital OOH will be 13.2 percent.

That compares with a scant 0.3 percent for traditional OOH in that period. Within that static-board sector, billboards are really sluggish, moving from -10.8 percent in 2009 to -2.0 percent in 2010 and +2.5 percent in 2011. The entire OOH sector is expected to clock in at 4.9 percent, according to Veronis' 2008-2013 CAGR projection. Magna puts its CAGR between 2009 and 2014 at 3.7 percent.

The future behavior of different nontraditional OOH categories will vary. In general, video advertising networks will do quite well. Veronis estimates that VANs grew 5.8 percent in 2009 over the prior year, and will steadily increase to 18.1 percent growth by 2013. Among the VANs, cinema ad networks have been quite strong over the last year and will rise even more. Zenith puts cinema growth in '09 and '10 at 5 percent, followed by 8 percent in 2011.

"Areas like QSR, packaged goods, retail, and believe it or not, auto are all fairly strong," says Michael Chico, executive vp, sales and marketing at Screenvision, and president of the Cinema Advertising Council.

Transit advertising was a little down in 2009, but it's showing signs of growth, particularly from local vendors, Peirson reports. "A lot of local money is moving away from newspapers," he explains.

Digital place-based OOH "will grow, but it's growing from nowhere," Peirson says. "If you take out Walmart and a few of the bigger networks, it still has a ways to go." The category's major problem has been scale, he adds. But several companies are consolidating or aggregating the networks, so in the largest markets, place-based is now a viable option, Peirson says.

Nondigital place-based, aka ambient, advertising is a modestly growing category, albeit a fairly small source of revenue. But mall advertising is much more promising.

"I think the malls will do well in 2010," says Peirson. "The big mall companies have built out their networks, standardized their signs and can sell national programs in 20 markets. It used to be a hodgepodge."

October 06, 2009

Mike Chico has been named the new president and chairman of the Cinema Ad Council. Chico, executive vp of sales and marketing for Screenvision, succeeds Dave Kupiec, executive vp of sales and marketing for National CineMedia. Kupiec will remain a CAC officer, taking on the role of executive director.

The CAC also announced Tuesday (Oct. 6) that both Bob Brouillette, CAC treasurer and senior vp of business development for National CineMedia and Laura Adler, CAC secretary and president of A & G Marketing Group, will remain in their roles.

Established in 2003, the CAC has grown up with a medium that continues to attract advertisers despite the economic slowdown that has plagued every other medium. Coming off double-digit growth in 2007, cinema advertising still managed to increase 5.8 percent to $571.4 million in 2008. Most forecasts call for positive growth in 2009. Among the most bullish is Zenith Optimedia, which is calling for a 15 percent increase.

In addition to providing an alternative to network TV advertisers during the upfront, cinema advertising has also embraced new technology to offer integrated campaigns that tie-in lobby advertising, mobile components, scanner technology, and Web sites.

“The whole space is maturing. It’s a good time to raise the visibility of the CAC,” said Chico, who wants to champion a stronger dialog between the medium and its advertisers. “I’d like to get a little closer to clients and agencies and find out what we should do to grow the business. How do we raise the tide?”

That could mean more standardized research and measurement. “Both companies have independent methodologies for research,” Chico noted.

As fourth quarter nears, seasonally the best quarter for cinema, business is picking up. “We will reach sell-out very shortly,” Chico said. 

Both Screenvision and National CineMedia are busy laying in annual deals for next year, a process that will lock-in about 30 to 40 percent of the business by the end of the year. “Deals will be north of where they were last year,” Chico said. “So 2010 is looking healthy.”