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In Praise of In-Cinema Advertising

2 minute read | November 2008

In-cinema advertising accounted for a fraction (0.3%) of all U.S. ad spending in 2007.  But according to Nielsen PreView, advertisers may want to consider increasing the presence of cinema advertising within their media mix.

For one thing, cinema audiences are literally “captive” — changing the channel isn’t an option, and there are few distractions.

Moviegoers also tend to have more disposable income than average Americans.  They purchase consumer electronics — XBoxes, DVD players, and Blu-Ray players — at far higher rates than the rest of the population, and many are voracious consumers of other entertainment across a variety of media platforms.

Children, teens, young parents, and Hispanics — all coveted segments for marketers — also tend to be avid moviegoers.

In-cinema advertising is not without challenges.  Currently, pre-movie advertising is distinctly less popular than movie trailers with many viewers.  The effectiveness of on-screen advertising also varies quite a bit by market.

The takeaway for marketers? 

Think broadly and holistically — tie your in-cinema ad campaign into a broader, multi-medium campaign. 

Effective in-cinema advertising requires a different approach than TV ads: aim for a longer, more dramatic, “movie-like” creative. 

Finally, don’t restrict pre-movie advertising to the big screen — make sure your campaign touches multiple formats of any film, including DVD and licensed video games.

View Nielsen PreView’s report.

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