Cinema ads convey strong messages to a seated, attentive movie-going audience. They appear on the screen before a theater’s audience. The Ads are big, visually decluttered, backlit, and have a competitive advantage. 

Compared to DVR and TV entertainment audiences, cinema ad audiences cannot fast forward the ads as a way of skipping them. As long as the ad is entertaining, informative, and relevant, it’s an effective way of attracting publicity and passing a message simultaneously. Cinema ads get the perfect traffic since the audience is open and receptive at the display time. 

This article takes a closer look at cinema ads and their impact on advertising.

Let’s dive in.

What Are Cinema Adverts?

Cinema ads are short product or service promotion messages (audio, video, text, emoticons, animations, images, etc.) that play before a movie or its trailer starts. Typically, they roll as the audience enters, finds seats, and settles in the theater. 

Most cinema Ads take between 15 to 30 seconds. Others are as long as one minute. The most common cinema ads are videos, slideshows, kiosks, standees, and LED screens.

How Does Cinema Advertising Work?

Moviegoers and enthusiasts fall into different demographics, which apparently determine how an ad should appear and what it should convey. After carefully identifying the specific demographic, an ad is designed to relay a niche-specific message. 

How Effective Are Cinema Ads?

On-screen cinema ads play a vital role in ad campaigns. Movie releases flood the online world nearly every week, and movie enthusiasts encounter them as they surf or watch. Compared to other ad campaigns, cinema ads have a higher recall rate due to their visual impressions. 

But they also come with their pros and cons as below.

The Advantages of Cinema Ads

• A captivated audience

Every cinema hosts a captivated audience. Most of them arrive earlier to catch up with the movie previews. That’s the group that inevitably gets the ads. The attention span at the moment is high, and there are always little or no distractions. Even the most addictive android phone users find it awkward to use a phone in a theater; therefore, they must watch the entire ad. 

• Higher traction due to an immersive sight, motion, and sound

A movie theater audience hopes to enjoy the best video or audio in the hall. The same applies to cinema ads. The audience address systems; big screen, loudspeakers – are all using the latest technology. That’s what guides the quality and impact on the audience in the long run. 

• Every movie associates with a relevant Ad

Movie genres vary from horror, intimacy, and action, among others. Every genre evokes a specific emotion in the audience. Therefore, a cinema Ad should be relevant to the movie in play. If an ad is targeted to teenagers, the shows should associate with what teenagers like. Another hack is the association of an ad with a popular movie.  

• Cinemas and movie theaters are strategically located around major retail areas

Notably, most movie theaters are found around major retail outlets. If an ad is compelling and convincing enough, a client or prospect can easily purchase the product or service after watching the ad. 

The Disadvantages of Cinema Ads

Cinema ads have their downsides too. Here are the three main ones :

• Cinema Ads are expensive

Affording an ad in the limelight involves spending a lot relatively. Depending on the number of screens and duration, the cost of coming up with the Ad varies. For example, a 30-second ad may cost approximately $2000-3000. 

• The Audience may avoid your Ad altogether

Failure to close out or fast forward doesn’t guarantee the audience to watch an Ad. A bored moviegoer can deliberately skip the Ad. Nobody forces the Audience to watch. 

• Sometimes it’s hard reaching out to the target audience

Reaching out to the target audience is quite difficult. A theater hosts diverse demographics. Determining the audience and their number may be unpredictable. 

A Case Study

In 2022, Lucozade tried out the effects of adding cinema to the AV mix. The target audience was the younger but affluent audience. 

Alongside BVOD and TV,  cinema was put to play. All these channels ran 30″ duration. The company had to use the HFSS AGP to reach the target audience, hence the title The Batman & Uncharted. 

Lucozade reaped huge ROI across numerous brand metrics out of the Lucozade big screen ad campaign. The company owes its success to the high attention in the cinema environment that helped resonate and cut through the campaign. 

Final Thoughts

Cinema ads are a great avenue for reaching out to the target audience’s demographics. Moviegoers and movie theaters are essential for optimizing the ads to get higher ROI. With careful design, timing, and specific targets, cinema Ads have proven to be an effective form of product/service promotion. Despite the few challenges, this form of advertising still earns good money for the ad company. Several international brands like Lucozade have employed these Ad campaigns, and they are bold to share their success.