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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Regal proposes FLOP pricing
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 10-26-2017 10:51 AM
I think this flexible pricing thing will open up a big can worms. If all Regal wants is to raise prices higher, like charge even more money for big event releases on top of the normal ticket price, then this experiment could backfire. Even if they're trying out the model in only a few theaters the policy could still generate a shit-ton of negative publicity and have customers everywhere weary of visiting any Regal location out of fear of being price gouged.
The only way I can imagine flexible pricing could work is if the ticket prices dropped to lower than normal levels, even down to bargain levels, during week nights or weeks into the run. That could potentially put more butts into the seats. However, once a theater opens that door customers will use their power to wait against the theater. It's nothing to wait for a week or two to see a new movie release, especially if you don't care about seeing it on the biggest theater screen in the complex -just like it's nothing to wait 2 or 3 months to watch the same movie on the big "4K" HDTV screen at home.
I'm willing to pay a little extra for a movie ticket if the theater is actually delivering something above the standard experience. Laser projection with Dolby Atmos sound might be worth a premium. A 70mm film presentation is definitely worth a premium. A luxury viewing experience with huge seats, no one under 21 allowed (especially crying infants), no phone use allowed and mixed drink service is worth a premium.
It's not worth a premium to see the same old super hero movie in the same old vanilla auditorium with 2K projection and low volume 5.1 sound just to be able to say you watched the big movie during opening weekend. Screw that. That would make me want to wait for the video release out of spite.
Oh, and charging a lower price for a "bad" movie? I'm not optimistic that will work well. People already waffle enough as it is when deciding whether to see a movie in the theater or not. What criteria is used to judge whether a movie is bad or not popular? It's all subjective.
quote: Martin McCaffery
I know I don't represent the viewing public, but how many movies are there that people would pay a premium to see in the first week?
Not very many. We already have a lot of theaters charging premiums of some kind just to enter the auditorium regardless if the movie is a high-demand, new release. Recliners cost extra in many places. IMAX Digital, Dolby Cinema, etc. have their extra surcharges.
quote: Marcel Birgelen
Going out to see a movie is something I'd still consider something I'd do for fun. So, pretty please. Let's not try to import the bad aspects of your average flying experience.
The airline industry and movie theater industry are two very different things. The airline industry is very consolidated and has its customers over the barrel, pants down around the ankles and the bottle of lube is empty. Movie theaters are not in such a customer rapey position.
quote: Jesse Skeen
Why do people keep paying to see Madea movies?
Martin nailed it with his answer. Those crappy Madea movies are among the few wide releases tailored for African American audiences. And it's fairly insulting since the Madea movies trade in so many groan-inducing stereotypes. Lots of black customers show up to see those movies anyway just to support an African American movie-maker that has achieved success. Some other more talented black filmmakers, like Steve McQueen, are wisely not letting themselves get pigeon-holed into making only "black" movies.
quote: Scott Norwood
Wouldn't customers just take advantage of "dynamic pricing"? As in, if one theatre did this and another theatre across town had "normal" pricing, wouldn't customers just go to whichever theatre had lower prices for the movie that they wanted to see?
It depends on the driving distance between various movie theaters and how clear the movie theaters advertise their prices. So many theaters now incorporate sales tax into the overall price. You don't see round figures. And that makes it easier for the theater to sneak in price increases. Customers looking for a bargain have to work to find it.
I think a big chunk of the movie going public is just getting out of the house on the weekend, going out to eat and checking out a movie. They're not putting much thought into bargain hunting when they want to go out and get entertained. However, at some point they'll feel the pain of price gouging and get angry by it.
This past Friday my girlfriend and I spent the evening at a younger couple's house. We ate and watched a movie there. They ended up buying a digital copy of The Dark Tower since the ladies wanted to watch that. I've never bought a digital download of a movie. But this couple has bought over 100 movies that way. Both husband and wife were in the Army and had a lot of DVDs and Blu-rays stolen when moving from one duty station to another. That turned them off to buying physical media.
My point with that story is that there is a generational shift in attitudes about seeing movies in the theater. I think Millennials are largely indifferent about it. And I think a growing number of Generation-X people are falling into that camp too. If Regal wants to make even that much more expensive to see a movie in a theater there will be even more people just watching at home.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 10-30-2017 10:01 PM
quote: Mike Blakesley
"Flop pricing" would be OK, if they would discount the flops from what they're priced at now. The problem is, they'll make the "hit" movies premium-priced and leave the flops at the existing price points. That's how to piss people off right there. As if this industry needed another way.
Since the bean counters have cooked up this idea chances are pretty high they'll do exactly like you said: make tickets for the "hit" movies even more expensive and leave the "flops" at regular price.
The theater might be able to sneak in this nonsense since ticket pricing is no longer clear anymore. No round figures; all odd numbers via sales tax inclusion. It's easy to remember ticket prices like $7, $7.50 or $10 and notice when the price jumps 25¢ or 50¢. It's not as easy to remember $10.87. A hike to $11.23 won't be as noticeable. Combine that pricing environment with the existing situation of certain theater screens already costing more to enter and it might be relatively easy for the theater chain to sneak in this variable pricing. They might start out with small pricing differences between different movies and then gradually turn up the heat on those prices over time.
I can remember theaters during my childhood very clearly advertising their prices, such as sticking "$2 per carload" on a drive-in theater's street sign. In my college days theaters in Manhattan had clearly legible signs at the box office showing pricing. The TV stations ran news stories about Cineplex Odeon breaking the $7 barrier on Manhattan ticket prices in the late 80's. Customers were pretty angry about it. But life went on.
I wonder how this "hit" and "flop" pricing is going to play into the already existing premiums for big screens, next-gen sound, recliners, etc. How are the prices going to compound on themselves? Are we going to see an evening ticket price for Lie-MAX jump from $18 to upwards of $30? At some point any customer is going to reach a pain threshold on this stuff.
quote: Mike Blakesley
We had a Monday "Discount Night" for quite a while, and at some point I started noticing people were surprised when they got a discount. So after a few weeks, I quietly stopped the discount. Nobody complained at all.
AMC ran a $5 ticket Tuesday special for Stubs Premiere members this month. I took advantage of it a couple times. The crowds weren't all that big. I did get very annoyed by some of the customers during a screening of American Made. Some people acted like pigs, putting their feet all over the seats in front of them. One lady played with a freaking iPad clear into the first act of the movie. An older couple had their phones making noise constantly (and the lady took a call).
Our older former Carmike 8-plex was turned into a bargain theater. But AMC started placing some first run movies at that theater and charging $3 or $4 less than the standard ticket price at the nearby Patriot 13. This has to be an experiment on AMC's part, particularly since they're playing some of the same movies at both theaters. I'm not sure if very many people have noticed the price differences between locations. We watched the Planet of the Apes sequel at the old Carmike 8 (for $6 per ticket, IIRC) and not all that many people were in what used to be a THX house.
My guess is theaters will have to be very clear and obvious on discount pricing if they're wanting to encourage customers to come see a low demand "flop" movie. Concessions will still cost the same I'm sure. I can imagine a lot of people thinking about the price and then saying, "meh, I'll wait to see it on Netflix."
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 10-31-2017 05:31 AM
Kinepolis, a local chain which only recently also bought itself into the Canadian market tried the concept of discounted tickets for less popular movies a few years back, but their pricing policy has since been reversed.
I guess the measure only resulted in them making even less money on exactly those movies. I also highly doubt a movie's popularity can be increased by making tickets cheaper than those of popular movies.
I think it mostly speaks for itself, it's simply not the way people go to see a movie:
John A: Hey, let's go and see Big Epic Movie tonight at the Royal Movie Shack.
Jane B: Yes, I waited for that one for ages! Lets go!
Johnny B: Yeah, but Sequelitis Crapola Part XXVI is running at the Royal Movie Shack too and it's only half the price!
John & Jane A: No way? HALF THE PRICE?
Johnny B: Yeah, no kidding. I mean, it's a crap movie, but at that price, unbeatable!
John & Jane A: Yeah! Great! Let's do that.
And this is obviously how people book an airline ticket:
Jane A: Let's do an extended weekend to Hipsterville!
John B: Great idea, let me check the ticket prices...
Allright, I got a return on Compound Flyers for $60 return per person. Leg room: Zilch Plus, no meals, only hand luggage allowed.
And I got this one, Golden Eagle Air Carriages for $1200 return per person. Including on-board spa and swimming pool, gilded faucets and an unlimited champagne and caviar buffet.
Jane A: Imagine how much caviar you could eat in 50 minutes effective flight time.
John A: And look, it also got complementary massages and a sauna.
Jane A: No way!
Jane A & John A: For just $1200 a ticket? That's a bargain... deal!
quote: Frank Cox
I don't think the price is a major factor in going to the show, as long as it isn't completely extortionate. If I charged $1 more for tickets people would still come -- if I charged $100 they wouldn't, of course. So there is a happy medium in there somewhere.
I think there is some kind of compounded effect though. The casual visitor will probably not really mind the extra dollar, but the regular visitor is more likely to notice.
If the price hike is not in-line with what would otherwise be seen as an inflation correction, this could be perceived as something negative and possibly motivate those regulars to either limit their amount of visits or have a look at possible competition.
I think it's also therefore that some chains have started to increase their ticket prices by odd amounts. Just add a few cents every few months and the increase will be more gradual and people are less likely to really notice and complain about it.
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