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Rina Chandran

MUMBAI, May 9

WALK into the Fame Adlabs multiplex in Andheri, and you may well think you strayed into a mall: air-conditioners, furniture and credit cards are on display as well as a handful of other products and services. Then, there are the ads for cars, colas, skincare products and apparel. Advertisers are rediscovering the movies as people return to theatres in increasing numbers.

The medium has long been ignored, but the mushrooming of hip multiplexes, quicker Hollywood releases (dubbed Hollywood flicks) big-budget Bollywood movies and greater avenues for advertising are helping fuel this resurgence — which, though minor, will gain momentum, according to media planners. "Cinema as a medium is on the rebound, and while the overall frequency of visiting theatres continues to remain at a 2-3 per month level, we believe young people are visiting theatres far more regularly," said Mr S. Ravi Kiran, Managing Director (West & South), Starcom India.

Starcom's clients, including Fiat, Toyota, Heinz, Hitachi, Hallmark, Channel and Raymond, have all used cinema — usually during a launch or because they are targeting a specific audience, Kiran added. In the case of Hitachi, the brand uses the theatre itself to promote specific product lines. Brands like Dabur Vatika shampoo, Old Spice, Hyundai, Sony Handycam, Visa International and Aaj Tak also frequent the big screen at Sterling and Regal in Mumbai.

"A multiplex offers a premium ambience, a 15-34 age demographic, a captive and receptive audience, geographical flexibility, and a wide choice of options, right from sampling and demonstration up to traditional offerings like signage and advertising time," said Mr M. Suku, National Director, BroadMind, a specialist arm of WPP Marketing Communications India (MCI). Absolute cost of the medium is low compared to print or TV, and advertisers can target specific audiences in a relatively clutter-free environment, where they cannot change the channel when an ad comes on.

Cinema owners today are also far more flexible: An advertiser can choose specific theatres, specific titles, and even specific shows, Mr Kiran said. An advertiser can also "stitch" a commercial to a cinema print — called in-print advertising — so that the commercial gets screened wherever a movie goes. At Fame Adlabs, rates range from Rs 5,000 per day for a stall to Rs 5,500 per spot. They can also advertise on the back of seats, on ticket jackets, floor graphics, lobby displays, rest rooms and even putting a jingle on the call centre lines.

Certainly, the medium has its drawbacks: Cost to reach a customer is high because of the smaller audience numbers. The medium lacks discipline and measurability, and most innovations are limited to a few multiplexes, Mr Kiran said. Also, monitoring is not easy because there is no independent monitoring service, distributors and exhibitors in smaller markets can be unreliable, and there is no knowledge on what works and what doesn't, he added. But concepts like direct-to-cinema, which would facilitate airing commercials from a central server, will push the medium forward; also, as an audience measurement system is put in place, more advertisers will go beyond commercials, perhaps integrating movies into marketing campaigns, he added.

Already, Shringar has signed up BroadMind to help develop its facilities into effective marketing platforms. MCI's 250-odd clients will get preferential access to these platforms, including physical space like units and signage, digital space and ad space, said Mr Suku of BroadMind. "Today, ad spend in multiplexes is less than Rs 10 crore, but with over 1,000 multiplex screens expected to sprout in two years, and 100 of them in Mumbai alone, it will grow in importance as a marketing tool," he said. "What FM is doing to radio as a medium, multiplexes will do for cinema."

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