Cinema advertising

How to get noticed on the big screen.

Do you remember the Pearl & Dean tune? - probably for the sheer cheese factor and the associated adverts of the late seventies and early eighties. However, it got noticed and became one of the most recognised jingles on our cinema screens.

Of course, Pearl & Dean was (and still is) an influential company in providing commercial productions and they continue to build on their level of expertise in the area of cinema advertising.

So, how can cinema advertising get us thinking again and has other media put us off the flashing lights of screen advertising for good?

There is no doubt that Internet advertising has played a significant part in the way we react to advertising these days. We are no longer consumed or drawn in to the obvious and aggressively animated online consumer targeted ads - in fact they seem to annoy us!

Therefore, how can cinema advertising succeed in giving off the right message at the right time and is it a format equally at home with business and consumer type advertising.

Some of the big names in advertising have always opted for TV advertising and cinema as a combined force. Take Stella Artois and their familiar "I would give or do anything" brand strategy where they placed short TV ads and lengthier cinema adverts. This worked incredibly well for them and many have followed this technique in the consumer advertising war.

From a business point of view, cinema advertising is much more than the old 'get a haircut just 100 yards from this cinema' approach that we used to see many years ago. There is still a very successful element for local advertising in cinema, but many national companies are now seeing the benefits of advertising on screen too.

The cinema companies will tend to place the cheaper static ads further away from the main feature and then show the main (and higher cost) ads when more bums are on seats. Of course, the costs vary and will depend on the running time of the advert and its time slot in relation to the main feature

A number of advertisers can experiment with video presentations before going into the higher cost area of TV. Therefore, cinema can be an excellent 'toe in the water' for how an advert and its associated product/service has been received by a small audience.

One thing is for sure, people are still going to the cinema and advertisers have a great captive audience - most of which are in a relaxed frame of mind. Take advantage of cinema and get your creative head on!