September 5th, 2002
Marketing at the Movies --- First, It Was On-Screen Ads; Now, It Is Lobby Promotions, And Some Call It Intrusive
By Suzanne Vrancia
Wall Street Journal
Moviegoers will tolerate only so many ads on the theater screen. With that in
mind, marketers are trying different methods to reach them—five slime-green
vehicles, for example.
The fleet belongs to Monster.com, TMP Worldwide Inc.’s employment-search site,
and is being dispatched to a dozen theaters around the country, enabling moviegoers
to search for new jobs.
"These local sponsorships are a good value, and you can reach a large
amount of people for a low cost," says Peter Blacklow, Monster’s senior
vice president of marketing. Mr. Blacklow says his company is paying less than
$1,500 for access to each theater parking lot.
Motorola Inc. has taken a more aggressive tack. The company employed a crew
of pitchmen dressed in outrageous 1970s attire to visit 1,000 theaters that
were showing New Line Cinema Corp.’s "Austin Powers in Goldmember."
The team demonstrated Motorola’s T193 mobile phone. Julie Cordua, a spokeswoman
for Motorola, notes that lobby promotions are "a good way to get the product
in the hands of consumers."
Even Uncle Sam is coming to a theater near you. The Department of Defense is
installing two dozen refrigerator-size kiosks in theater lobbies around the
country intended to boost military enlistment.
Movie theaters are routinely used for advertising in Europe, where on-screen
ads have been around for decades. In the U.S., however, on-screen commercials
are relatively new. Last year, U.S. movie theaters brought in between $200 million
and $300 million in on-screen ad revenue, according to industry estimates. By
contrast, marketers spent about $19.4 billion on network TV.
Lobby-marketing tactics began several years ago, but in the beginning were
mostly used by local businesses. Blue-chip marketers began to notice the medium
in the late 1990’s after Calvin Klein made headlines by placing ads on popcorn
bags.
Today, retail powerhouse Target Corp. is supporting its new line of back-to-college
supplies with branded popcorn bags at 104 theaters in 10 major cities, including
Philadelphia and Dallas. The bags feature a woman snuggled under her colorful
striped Target blanket. (Target’s red bull’s-eye logo sits in the middle of
the bag.)
Popcorn-bags ads are bought for set time periods, and prices vary seasonally.
A national buy for a medium bag for four weeks in June would have a cost-per-thousand
of about $118. The price is steep, considering that advertisers typically pay
about $20 to $30 per thousand viewers for ads on national TV shows aimed at
18-to-34-year-olds. Still, Steven Kalb, a media buyer for Interpublic Group’s
Mullen, says the cost may be worth it because the ads target a very specific
audience.
"The lobby has become a very popular place for marketers because they
can get one-on-one time with consumers," says Laura Adler, vice president
at National Cinema Network, a unit of the AMC Entertainment Inc. movie-house
chain. NCN represents about 10,000 screens around the country and acts as a
broker between advertisers and theater operators such as AMC, Carmike Cinemas
Inc. and National Amusements Inc.
Ms. Adler adds: "Advertisers are also trying to get more for less in this
tough economy."
Record attendance levels at movie chains is also fueling the heavy interest
from big marketers. Last year, admissions at theaters in the U.S. rose almost
5% to 1.5 billion, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners,
a trade group in North Hollywood, Calif. So far, attendance this year is up
about 20% compared to this time last year.
While the off-screen marketing can be ignored more easily than the on-screen
ads, critics say it is still advertising, and they don’t like it. "You
can’t turn your head in the theater without bumping into an ad, whether it’s
on your popcorn bag or on the screen—it’s a hailstorm of ads," says
Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit organization
founded by consumer activist Ralph Nader. "We pay $9 to be hit with a barrage
of ads."
Jennifer Bruder, a 30-year-old New Yorker who works in retail, noticed a magazine
publisher set up at her local movie theater last weekend. "I think it’s
a bit overwhelming," she says. "You go to a movie to relax."
Such sentiments notwithstanding, John Fithian, president of the National Association
of Theatre Owners, says his organization has not received any complaints about
in-lobby promotions.
Among those in the movie-theater industry that are ramping up their lobby marketing
offerings is Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp., which owns 160 theaters in
the U.S. Loews has three staffers dedicated to luring sponsors. To bring in
additional ad deals, Loews also uses Screenvision, a New York-based movie-ad
joint venture of Carlton Communications PLC and Thomson Multimedia SA.
John McCauley, vice president of marketing at Loews, says he can get as much
as $1 million from a company for an annual sponsorship agreement that typically
entitles it to theater signage and access to the theater lobby. Companies such
as Coca-Cola Co. and General Mills Inc. are also using theaters for their ad
pitches, Mr. McCauley adds. Lobby promotions experienced double-digit growth
last year and generated roughly $40 million to $50 million, according to estimates
by Screenvision.
A few words of caution for the lobby marketers: Danny Perez, a 33-year-old
salesman from New York’s Long Island, says he recently noticed a cellphone company
camped out at his local theater—but he can’t remember which one.
"Theaters are not the place for advertising," Mr. Perez says. "I
go to the movies to escape. If I wanted to get hit with advertising I would
just watch TV."