The Audience Factor !

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Cinema Advertising has become so effective for countless reasons but the Audience Factor has to be a huge consideration when designing your ad to be as effective as possible.  Most advertising catches people by themselves, either reading a print ad, listening to the radio in the car or watching TV alone.  With cinema advertising you ad an auditorium full of people who can participate in your ad if you are creative enough to involve them.  In my last post I shared BMW’s logo burning ad with you and you saw just a glimpse of the interactive possibilities with cinema ads.  While expensive technology plays a part in some of the interactive cinema ad strategies, simple creative ads can also do the same.  I will get into the simple ways to involve the audience shortly, but I wanted to show you another interactive ad that MSNBC used a few years ago that totally involved the audience.  Motion sensors were set up in a theater and the audience became the joysticks in an onscreen video game prior to the screening of Spiderman.  See the ad here: http://www.adverblog.com/archives/003118.htm

While involving your audience in a video game may seem like quite an undertaking you can get the same reaction from a crowd with an incredibly creative ad as well.  Whether you shock your audience with the unexpected or build in humor that fires the crowd up, blending your brand or something unique about your business will have the members of your audience buzzing long after they leave the theater.

If my clients are willing and up for it, my goal is to always create a cinema ad that is so memorable that audience members will leave the theater not just talking about the movie but also about that crazy ad they saw for the local restaurant or hair salon. If you are going to run an ad in one of my theaters we are going to make sure it is not only effective but memorable.  Sometimes clients have ads they have already produced for TV or other media that they would like to run, while I have no problems running whatever ad they would like, I think that doing something calm and contained is not doing their business much more than getting a little more recognition.

An outrageous and memorable ad will have the effect of a good workout at the gym, you want it your ad to keep working long after the audience has left the theater just like a good workout keeps burning calories after leaving the gym.  One of the few times that TV advertising actually works these days is Super Bow Ads and the reason they work is each advertiser is trying to outdo the other with a creative ad that will be talked about for weeks.  Cinema advertising allows you to reach your audience in a group setting and if you create the right ad, the crowd will respond and even those few audience members that aren’t paying attention are going to look at the screen to see what all the commotion is about.  I can’t guarantee the response the Human Joystick ad got from the audience in the attached You Tube video but I can surely work to create an ad that is going to get a great response that is focused on your business.

In the coming months I will be posting some of the outrageous and entertaining ads that I will be working with my clients to create.   The Audience factor will play big in all of them.  And while movies bomb and leave the theater for the next movie to come in, your ad will continue to play and if we play our cards right, people will becoming to the theater early just to see the ad that their neighbor, coworker or friend told them about.  Creating an event that promotes your business is what Cinema ads are all about !

Related Articles

• Movie Theater Advertising is Here to Stay (blogs.forbes.com)
• BMW Germany Makes Logo Appear Inside Cinema Audience’s Eyelids (adage.com)
• Creators of ‘Lost’ to Appear in Live Big Screen Event Featuring Special Fan Q&A in Select Theaters on May 20 (eon.businesswire.com)

Cinema Ads..leave it to BMW to introduce new technology.

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Ever since the 1957 experiment at  New Jersey Theater where subliminal message were placed on the screen that said “Hungry…Eat Popcorn Now” and “Drink Coca-Cola“, the big screen has been implanting messages in people’s minds.  The constant innovation in technology whether subliminal messages, smell-o-vision, improvements in picture and sound quality, 3d or even seats that move with the picture have put the Cinema at the forefront in technology that involves all the senses.  High Tech technical advancements and super creative ads are just a few of the reasons Cinema Ads have become so effective.

The latest “experiment” is being conducted by BMW in your Europe, where they are “burning” the BMW logo into the eyelids of cinema goers.  Follow this link for the amazing story. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1340248/BMW-burns-logo-cinema-goers-eyelids-shock-new-advert.html  While not all of this technology is available or practical for the smaller Cinema advertisers, taking the time to create ads that leave an impression will make your Cinema Ad the most effective advertising you will ever run.  Besides BMW’s brand burning experience in Europe, Old Spice‘s highly effective new ad campaign started in the Cinema and has taken on a life of it’s own.

What other form of advertising allows you to burn your logo into your prospective customer’s eyelids ?  The possibilities are limitless and while I had planned on writing this blog 2 or 3 times a week, I intend to post daily updates when stories like the BMW experiment come up.  Stay tuned, we have only just begun, even if you don’t have a business to advertise, I think you will find the information I am going to write about fascinating from a technology standpoint and a little interesting when it comes to what your mind absorbs on an outing to the Cinema.

Related Articles

• BMW ‘burns’ logo onto cinema-goers’ eyelids in shock new advert (dailymail.co.uk)
• BMW’s Latest S1000 RR Ad Uses Subliminal Messaging (ridelust.com)
• Video: BMW subliminal ad burns logo onto your eyelids (autoblog.com)
• BMW burns its logo onto viewers’ eyelids (news.cnet.com)
• Unique Eyelid Branding Technique Used By BMW In Advertisement … (geeky-gadgets.com)
• BMW Puts Its Logo On The Back of Eyelids (adverlab.blogspot.com)
• BMW uses bright lights, subliminal messages to sell motorcycles (video) (engadget.com)
• BMW S 1000 RR: Flash-Projection (ibelieveinadv.com)
• BMW advert projects brand logo on back of viewer’s eyelids (geek.com)

Here I am, ready or not !

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The toughest part of any endeavor is getting started.  Most people won’t start anything until everything is perfect, the lights are all green, the road is clear ahead and their vehicle is clean and in pristine condition.  When it comes to Advertising and Marketing, waiting is the kiss of death, timing is everything which means you have to start and move ahead before everyone else, yes that means running a red light, leaving your drive way before the vehicle is polished and waxed and it may even mean heading down a road that is full of detours and other obstacles.  Getting started and getting your message out there quickly is the most important part of any attempt to promote yourself or your business.

It’s ok to make mistakes, sometimes what you think was a mistake may end up being the greatest advertising idea you ever came up with.  Your advertising is written in stone unless you are only advertising on stone monuments placed in front of your business.  Today everything has changed,  media that worked well for your business in the past may be the worst option imaginable.  Technology has changed everything, even the most technologically  advanced media has found a way to make themselves a problem when it comes to advertisers getting their messages out.

I have spent the last 30 years both selling and buying advertising and marketing services, I have seen first hand what worked well for my clients, what worked well for me and of course had the unique opportunity to be on both ends of advertising campaigns that failed miserably.  I hope to offer the readers of this blog, ideas and suggestions that can Supercharge the sales in their business.  As my nick name suggests (Cinema Ad Guy), I just might have a preference when it comes to media and advertising, but I won’t let that get in the way of giving you real world tips associated with all types of media.  More importantly, the key to success with any media is creativity and getting started.  So a major focus of my blog will be kick starting your program and creatively marketing your business.  My biggest thrill in life these days is helping other people become successful, there’s nothing like that, which is why I think I loved my early years in radio when I was able to work one on one with the people advertising on my radio show.  We didn’t just run ads on that radio show, I helped each and every one of  my clients develop a long-term relationship with their customer base.  That relationship translated into supercharged sales and profits and I hope to help as many entrepreneurs as possible do the same through this blog.  Thanks for checking out my blog and be sure to hit the subscribe button so you won’t miss any installments of my tips for your business.  You can also visit my website at www.cinemaadguy.com.  Like I said earlier the most important thing is getting started, I created this blog and my website in about 4 hours one evening last week, it’s not done, nor will it ever be done, it will be constantly updated, so I hope you will check back frequently.

Related Articles

• Back to the Future- Social Media Now & Then! (fingercandymedia.com)
• Advertising, from Mad Men to Mad Men (customerthink.com)