Who's Still Going To The Movie Theatre?

There aren’t many industries unaffected by the 2020 global pandemic but sadly some will likely be wiped out altogether, including one very dear to our Tiny Giant hearts; Movie Theatres. Going to the movies has been a much loved pass time my whole life and my parents too, it’s a fun event at a familiar destination no matter what city you find yourself in. We’ve all had experiences of randomly bumping into someone we knew while carrying our buckets of popcorn into the theatre. Perhaps my most memorable movie experience was just last year watching Avengers Endgame in West Hollywood with 500 strangers constantly cheering, gasping and marvelling at the epic conclusion of the Infinity Saga. It’s just as well they didn’t release it a year later or the biggest box office movie ever would’ve forever remained Avatar.

With AMC close to filing for bankruptcy late April and after years of decline in the whole sector Universal announced they will no longer give theatres an exclusive screening period after the lockdown has ended. Add that to the social distancing measures required indefinitely and we all know where this plotline leads. With movies coming straight to our homes via SVOD or purchase we have to envisage franchises needing to change, marketing strategies following suit and surprise, surprise programmatic advertising will continue to rise. As creative work is tailored for the platform it is shown on, not only will movies start to change (consider Netflix original content movies) but also the advertising that surrounds them, both in apps and across apps. The good news is, smaller businesses and brands will be able to benefit from all the targeted segmentation the data offers, the bad news is, media saturation and people’s consumption will only get worse, so the creative will have to get better…no more bad cinema ads before the movie, perhaps that is one part we won’t miss.