Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Boosting business

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Posted by Matt Kerekes (Member # 2777) on 06-13-2006, 10:33 AM:

What recommendations do people have to boost business at a theatre without putting a ton of money into marketing and/or upgrades?

[ 07-25-2006, 08:29 AM: Message edited by: Matt Kerekes ]

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 06-13-2006, 11:01 AM:

Go subrun. $1.00 all shows, $0.50 Tuesdays.

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 06-13-2006, 11:06 AM:

That might be a good idea if your town is overscreened. My question is where exactly did the new theatre open up and what kind of product are they receiving? You're in a cycle . . . it will improve over time.

Posted by Paul Goulet (Member # 297) on 06-13-2006, 11:25 AM:

Pray for lots of rain...

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 06-13-2006, 11:45 AM:

Matt,

Although the total box office is up this year, is it possible that the types of films your audience goes to aren't as good this year as last? In your market I can only assume that the X-men popcorn crowd goes to Muvico. It may be that combined with a "season" thing. Maybe the snowbirds headed north early this year?

Maybe lower ticket prices? You are the same price as Muvico for kids, only $0.25 cheaper for seniors, $0.75 cheaper for Adults and $0.50 cheaper for matinee. That's not enough price difference to entice me to skip the stadium seating, comfortable chairs and atmosphere of Muvico.

Posted by Matt Kerekes (Member # 2777) on 06-13-2006, 12:11 PM:

Ok, in addition to my original question, if there were being money spent on things to boost business what would be some suggestions?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-13-2006, 12:24 PM:

Have you heard from anyone why attendance is down so much? (Ask your concession staff.) I would try to research the reason for the downturn and work from there.

What percentage of the usual total is this 20,000? If you annually get a couple of million people it wouldn't be so bad but if you are used to 60,000 then you've got a real problem.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 06-13-2006, 03:28 PM:

quote: Matt Kerekes
the operations are the best they've been in years.

But are they PERFECT? Were there any problems with the presentation beforehand? If so some people may have given up on it already, and might need some assurance that things have improved.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 06-13-2006, 04:07 PM:

If you've had past problems that drove people away, be it, rowdy kids, poor presentation etc. it will take years to recover. People don't forget bad experiences quickly.
And I'm not inferring you've done anything to drive away folks. It's just a comment.

Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 06-13-2006, 04:13 PM:

Everyone I know in the Boca area has a deluxe home theatre.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 06-13-2006, 05:20 PM:

Matt,

You need to do the following things:

1) Buy a map of the area your theatre is in that shows zip codes and tack up on your office wall.

2) Establish where your current customers are coming from. You can do this by conducting a zip code survey. If you have Radiant Box Computers, they have a program that allows you to input each customers zip code into the system. Or just have your cashiers ask and write them down.

3) Once you know where they are coming from, you can use that information to (a) look to other areas to market to or (b) go into the zip codes you are drawing from to get more people.

4) Start a grass roots advertising campaign. What I mean by 'grass roots' is cheap. Instead of taking out an ad in a paper, go to all the apartment and condo complexes in the area (hence the zip code survey) and strike up a deal with them. New tenants can get a two for one admission coupon included in their move-in packet. Put up ads on local bulletin boards and the colleges around in the area.

5) Start relationships with your local Chamber of Commerce, Senior Citizen Groups, and Youth Clubs. Market to them exclusively and give them special coupons and deals.

6) Cold Call Day Cares, schools, and companies with large amounts employees to sell VIP or discount tickets to.

7) Once you have done all the above items, GO BACK TO ITEM #1 and start over. This time pick a different area on the map to market to.

I have used this system in Miami, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada. Both locations were in saturated markets (overscreened). I was able to improve business tremendously at both locations. Ask your boss about it.

Oh yeah - one more thing: Frequently visit your closest competition theatres. Whatever they are screwing up on - make it better at your theatre.

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 06-14-2006, 04:50 PM:

Widen that DVD release window. [Razz]

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 06-14-2006, 06:05 PM:

...And give your audience what they CAN'T get with DVD.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-18-2006, 07:22 AM:

quote: Matt Kerekes
A theatre is down 20,000 people in attendance so far compared to last year

I wonder if it has anything to do with Hurricanes?

Mark

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 06-19-2006, 11:46 AM:

I like Dennis' ideas, as they are methodical and measurable, with most of the cost in your time rather than mailing and printing costs.

Another idea is to work with nearby hotels to see if you can supply them with a showtimes list that they can post at their front desk or on a bulletin board. This will attract people looking for something to do on the spur of the moment. When I travelled for business in the past, it was nice to be able to ask the front desk what was nearby to grab a bite to eat at night and if there was anything within a short distance to do.

Also, evaluate any money being spent on advertising, especially newspaper. Many theaters are dumping their newspaper ads, or at the very least reducing them to the minimum, and moving those expenses into other media or realizing the cost savings by eliminating that particular marketing expense. If possible, find a way to measure the response rate of any advertising that you're doing to see what's drawing the audiences, and what's not.

I took a look at your web site to see if there are any clues there for room for improvement.

On the main page, it's nice that you have a list of all the movies playing at the various locations, but there isn't an easy way to find a location if you're not already familiar with the theater's names along the left side. I think that showing a map of Florida with each location push-pinned and clickable would make it easy for people to find the theater nearest them. A likely scenario would be tourists/out-of-town visitors looking for something to do when the weather isn't cooperating. If they do a Google search and land on your web site, are they going to know which theater is close by?

Using your Mizner Park location as a sample, the showtimes are pretty easy to find, but the ability for your customers to leave feedback is not. I think it would be nice to have a link to a feedback form on every theater's page to make it easy for your customers to provide you with valuable information on their experiences.

The message board is non-functional, as all of the forums say they are closed when you try to go into them. The last posts as shown by the main page are from September of 2005. That gives your web site visitors the impression that the web site is outdated and/or poorly managed. Providing a venue to build community but closing that venue off to those actually interested in what it has to offer is a bad move. If the closure is temporary (such as needing to update the phpBB software, which is many versions behind current), then something should be placed there to explain the situation.

While it may not seem that something like the web site can impact an individual theater, it creates an impression on your prospective customers. Anything that touches your customers is part of the movie-going experience, and is worthy of your attention when you're looking to boost business.

Lastly, I'll put in a plug for The BigScreen Cinema Guide. We aren't listing showtimes and enhanced information for any Sunrise Cinema locations yet. According to a quick report, there were 977 visits to the pages related to your theaters in the past four weeks, with very little to be found in the way of information and showtimes. That 977 number represents quite a few people that couldn't find what they were looking for, plus in some cases, it was half the number that some other locations within 10 miles of your theaters were getting.

Take a look at what we do have, and please feel free to send me any corrections to the basic info (address, phone #'s, etc.).

I think you will find that signing up for our Featured Theater Service is a very economical way to build traffic to your theaters. I don't want to use this forum to stump (too blatantly) for my services, so please send me an E-Mail or PM and I'd be happy to send you some details.

Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 07-04-2006, 04:19 AM:

I rather favour the idea of expanding your business to sell DVDs in the candy counter (perhaps with a free movie ticket with every dvd sold). What you do is stock a range of dvd's for the movies you screened a few months ago, that the moviegoers liked a lot, and have now come out on dvd. Logic dictates that, having seen and enjoyed the film, they may wish to buy the dvd.

This, at first glance, may seem incongruous with the idea of running a movie theatre (ie selling products to suit opposition forms of entertainment) but one has to get out of thinking that one is in the picture screening business and into the idea that one is in the entertainment delivery industry.

Just a thought from a consumer.

Regards Peter

Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 07-04-2006, 06:56 AM:

The problem with selling DVDs is the competition. Most of the supermarkets sell DVDs, probably at a cost lower than a cinema chain could buy them at wholesale.

-----

Some form of loyalty scheme may work to increase repeat business.

Examples of loyalty schemes/ prepayment schemes

4 screen independent first run
3 screen art
First run/art chain
Large national chain

[ 07-04-2006, 06:01 PM: Message edited by: Mark Hajducki ]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-05-2006, 06:53 PM:

A theatre near us (Centre Cinema in Hardin MT) runs a thriving video business. I think they are mostly rentals though, not sales.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 07-05-2006, 10:18 PM:

If you have digital could you show the local NFL game in HD on Sundays? Guessing that the Dolphins/Bucs sell out, you could recreate the game atmosphere in your theatre. Also you have a long time to get concession sales out of people especially if you do a tailgate thing beforehand. A lot of cinemas in Europe have been showing the World Cup in HD seems to have done alright.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-06-2006, 07:10 AM:

Stay away from selling DVD's. The old theory in business is never to mention your competitor. I cringe when I see "the Twenty" (or whatever they call it now) and AMC's digital pre-show and they advertise DVD's. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 07-07-2006, 02:30 PM:

Last month I took over as GM at a 248 seat restored single screen in rural Iowa. The theatre has been opened three years and continues to increase its profit every year. It is a .99 cent house, the only theatre within 30 miles, and this past week we sold out every evening and both Sunday matinees. We were playing "Cars" at 55%. Last night we took in about $450 at the BO and about $1200 at concessions. We sell candy from 75 cents to $1.50, popcorn from $2 to $4, Pepsi from $1.50 to $3. We also have nachos, pretzels, bottled water, tea and several candies the sell for 25 cents. Last year the theatre grossed over a quarter of a million.

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 07-08-2006, 11:00 PM:

quote: Robert E. Allen
Last year the theatre grossed over a quarter of a million.

OK, and from that gross you have the cost of film rental, supplies, staff, insurance, electricity, maintenance, taxes, capital costs, etc.

So what was the net and if that's your only business, can one live on that? I realize the cost of living in Iowa is far lower than NYC, but it's hard for me to conceive of any stand-alone business that grosses $250,000 (but has high costs) generating enough net to be successful. Now if one has ten businesses doing that, I guess one would really have something.

I don't really expect you to answer the question about the net, it was just rhetorical. It's really just a way of stating that I don't see how a business can make money selling movie tickets for $1 even if it does sell out, especially if it's just a few shows a day.

I agree with those who think that there needs to be more showmanship in the administration of a theatre business. Create events that attract people. If you attract a family or older crowd, hold a few bingo games before the movie and give out tickets or candy coupons as prizes. If you attract a college or singles crowd, play classic films or cult films with "audience participation", have "speed-dating" in the lobby before or after the movie or have a "live blog" discussion about the film. Get local chefs to create special snacks and split the proceeds.

For too long, theater owners haven't done much more promotion than putting some ads in the local paper. With all the competition for entertainment time and dollars, they've got to work harder and more competitively to earn consumers dollars and interest.

At Bryant Park in NYC during the summer, there's a free outdoor film festival on Monday nights. These are not films that would attract a paid crowd to an indoor revival theater -- they're all long available on video. This is to see films like The Birds, M*A*S*H, A Shot In The Dark, To Have And Have Not, Bullitt, The Band Wagon, High Noon, Charade, Rocky, etc. While there is 35mm projection, the screen is a bit too small for the space and the sound is mono and pretty bad. But thousands of people show up for each week's show because it's a "scene". People start lining up at 5pm to grab a good spot on the grass and the film itself doesn't start until at least 8:30pm. While some people grab their space, their friends go out and pick up food to bring back to the site.

IMO, the onus is on theater owners to create that same kind of group scene and excitement in their theaters. In spite of their budgets, most movies have become pretty ordinary, so the theater itself has to become extraordinary and provide an experience one can't get in the home. We usually think that means technology and the environment, but it also means how consumers interact with others in the crowd and the sense of community that results. Movies have to be turned back into events.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 07-10-2006, 08:17 AM:

Martin; your logical argument for more showmanship would probably get you fired at most national circuits. Louis

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 07-11-2006, 12:57 AM:

I believe by "gross" he meant Box Office Gross. Concession sales would not be included in that number. $250k is an amazing gross for a single-screen discount house with tickets at $1.00. That's 250,000 people per screen per year. How many 10-screens have 2.5 million customers/year?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-11-2006, 02:17 AM:

quote:
We were playing "Cars" at 55%.

I'm surprised you got that one past Disney and their per-cap mininum. Or do they relax that once the film is a few weeks old?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-11-2006, 02:17 AM:

quote: Matt Kerekes
Ok, in addition to my original question, if there were being money spent on things to boost business what would be some suggestions?

You need digital cinema. The general public hates film, and d-cinema always sells more as a result.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 07-11-2006, 02:44 AM:

quote: Joe Redifer
You need digital cinema. The general public hates film, and d-cinema always sells more as a result.

Couldn't agree with you more, Joe.

My triplex drive-in was sold out this week... but 7k lamps, digital sound, broadcast-level digital processing & transmitters and Filmguard on all shows just isn't enough for my discriminating patrons. Every night, they leave, grumbling that the video isn't digital... they can tell, they feel cheated, their enjoyment of the show is ruined and they want BLOOD (probably mine).

Yup... tell me where to send the check!

(me, pointing back)

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-11-2006, 03:28 AM:

People don't go to drive-ins for fine presentation. People go to drive-ins to fuck.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-11-2006, 12:17 PM:

Hey Joe - you got one right!

I was conceived at a Drive-In. Therefore I can say that I was born to be in this business.

How about that for fate?

[Wink]

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 07-11-2006, 01:35 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
People don't go to drive-ins for fine presentation. People go to drive-ins to .

Welll..... there may be a modicum of truth to that. Especially given that I've received "thank you" notes from people like Dennis...

quote: Dennis Benjamin
I was conceived at a Drive-In.

However, I don't think we can use this stereotypical image of the outdoor cinema as a way to increase business... especially not in today's PC environment.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-11-2006, 09:24 PM:

quote:
Hey Joe - you got one right!

About damn time!

Posted by Robert Burtcher (Member # 3227) on 07-11-2006, 11:32 PM:

quote: Jack Ondracek
However, I don't think we can use this stereotypical image of the outdoor cinema as a way to increase business... especially not in today's PC environment.

"Free lube & condoms for the first 50 patrons!"
"Privacy curtains available at the concession stand!"

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 07-12-2006, 06:27 PM:

Hey Mike & Martin:

That was the overall gross. This theatre is owned by a not-for-profit corporation and the help is often supplemented with volunteers as it is considered a "community" theatre. Most of our money is made at the concession stand. For example: last Thursday during our run of "Cars" we took in $469 at the boxoffice and $1214 at concessions. We pay 35% to most distributors, 55% to Disney. They, of course, don't get a cut of concessions. We sold out all evening performances an both Sunday matinees of "Cars". We're bringing it back Friday as the previous manager had booked "MI III" so I was committed to it and we have bombed with it. "Over The Hedge" is after that. Kids flicks do great business here. After all, this is conservative, religious, family oriented Iowa.