House full Marketers hit the multiplexes

It’s not just the moviegoers making a beeline for the multiplexes; brands, too, are standing in a queue. Multiplex owners are milking every square foot of “brandable” space for all it worth — the floors, the walls, the escalators and even the loos. Brands are all over: in-your-face and provocative. You walk into a multiplex and you can mistake it for a mall, as ads of lifestyle products, cars, colas, skincare products, consumer durables, credit cards, banks, insurance companies, air-conditioners, furniture and youth apparel fight for your attention. As the box office signs say ‘House Full’, the marketers rediscover the movies.

The fledgling multiplex advertising business accounts for just Rs 250-300 million per annum today. And though the share of multiplex advertising is less than one per cent of the total advertising pie, it is one the verge of recording an exponential growth in the immediate future.

Navin Shah, Business Director of Cell M (a division of BroadMind entertainment), says, “Look at what satellite television did for the medium — once monopolised by Doordarshan. Look at how FM caused radio to become a force to be reckoned with. Multiplexes will do the same — the entire movie going experience has now been revolutionised and marketers will follow as crowds throng.”

Proud owners

With the advent of multiplexes, the entire movie experience has undergone a sea change. Modern multiplexes are high investment propositions, providing consumers with all the comfort and luxury that they demand. The wide expanses in a multiplex — the parking lot, the foyers, the lobbies — have allowed advertisers to explore new platforms and space to engage the consumer in a favourable ambience and receptive mood.

Multiplexes make targeting a far easier task, as most of their owners are very different from traditional cinema theatre owners. They are marketing practitioners themselves, and clearly understand the value of databases, of demographics and of targeting. Says Shravan Shroff, Director, Shringar Cinemas, “After the demographic study of the customer is conducted, brands that target particular profiles can be approached with specific proposals. Brands can meet and interact with their consumers at multiplexes — an opportunity that conventional media cannot deliver to marketers.”

Tushar Dhingra, Vice President-Marketing and Corporate Communications, PVR Cinemas, echoes Shroff’s thoughts when he says, “Multiplexes give the marketer an interactive medium to connect with consumers when they are in a captive, disturbance-free environment.” The views of the spokespersons of Adlabs and E-City Entertainment (Fun Republic) could not be obtained at the time of writing but they would be in consonance with the views expressed above.

So what’s in it for an Orange, Airtel, LG, Samsung, Hitachi, Kotak, Dettol, Colgate, DNA, STAROne, Sony and the likes to be in the multiplex premise? To start off with, there is perfect blend of synergies when it comes to brand advertising in the multiplexes. The target audience is just right; they pay reasonable attention; and brands have a perfect opportunity for one-on-one communication.

“The frame of mind, with which the person has come to the multiplex, scores for multiplexes as a medium. The consumer is here to get entertained. So if you can involve him in a manner that entertains, he is far more receptive to your message. This is much more effective than buying space in a supermarket,” says Anirudh Haldar, Divisional Manager, Marketing, Mahindra Holidays.

Builds relationships, but do multiplexes sell?

While it’s true that multiplex branding assures high saliency, a captive and receptive audience in a premium ambience does not ensure that sales are generated by the advertising and promotion for most brands. Marketers agree that it is impossible to accurately measure return-on-investment (ROI) on any promotion.

To read the entire story, grab your copy of Impact Advertising and Weekly magazine issue dated May 2-8, 2005