Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Adverts proportional to audience

This is topic Adverts proportional to audience in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=001918

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 08-25-2007, 05:19 PM:

After my topic about playing a movie with no audience, I had another thought. What about varying the amount of pre-movie advertising depending on how many people are in the auditorium?

I've mentioned before that at IMAX Bradford, if there are lots of people there, they run a 35mm advert reel before the IMAX feature. If there are few people there, they go straight into the IMAX feature.

With digital projection systems, in theory it should be easy to reduce the amount of pre-show advertising if very few people show up. Here are my suggestions for the amount of advertising related to audience numbers:

Sell-out: All adverts and trailers.
Medium-full: All trailers, miss a couple of adverts
Medium: Few adverts, possibly a couple of missing trailers as well
Few: No adverts, just a couple of trailers
No-show (7 or fewer people): No adverts, no trailers - straight into movie.

What do people think of this idea? Also, is it physically possible to do this with digital projection? (I imagine it would be almost impossible with 35mm.) Perhaps advancing the virtual play head on for a few adverts?

Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 08-25-2007, 05:45 PM:

Although we hate Adverts and sometimes having to sit through 20mins + of them before the Feature.

Cinemas are Contracted to show the complete week supplied Adverts and these days Cinema & Film Distributors have a Trailer Policy on what is screened before the main Feature, I could not belive they would agree for the Cinema Projectionist to edit Adverts/Trailers to suit Admission numbers and just how this will work in a Multiplex operation even with D-Cinema servers?, when you find people sometimes turn up just before the feature start time.

Posted by David Zylstra (Member # 4230) on 08-25-2007, 07:09 PM:

It would definitely be hard to keep track of all the playlists and without truly diligent booth staff I'm sure this would lead to mistakenly playing the wrong list of ads.

Besides, some advert deals are based on per seat sold - not playing the ads for some shows would result in lost income.

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 08-26-2007, 04:54 AM:

Apart from the other problems, I can't see why you would want to do his; why should the content of the programme vary depending on the number of people watching it? The only possible reason I can think of is if full houses are taking to long to clear out after the show, and the auditorium is not clear in time ready for the next show, in which case you have a scheduling problem.

Posted by Ramin Hashemi (Member # 2694) on 08-27-2007, 04:26 PM:

I agree with the notion that advertisers want their ad run before every show. We put enough entertainment slides that out audience like the preshow slide show. It is better than starring at a white screen.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 09-10-2007, 05:44 PM:

You would need a 'live' timesheet for staff if the preshow was varied like that, unworkable until we're all carrying wi-fi devices!

Besides your suggestion operates to some extent already. If a screen is split between two films usually the less popular title will have no adverts and go straight to trailers (we use Carlton).

Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 09-12-2007, 02:14 PM:

With digital adverts I can see there being different adverts depending on the time of the showing, based on 'clever' market research (those going to the Tuesday bargain matinee will be less likely to buy the top of the range expensive car etc.)

To use audience numbers would add an element of complexity (linking with the box office system, predicting the audience number at feature start time).

quote:
You would need a 'live' timesheet for staff if the preshow was varied like that, unworkable until we're all carrying wi-fi devices!

This could work if the feature always started at a set time (20 minutes after schedule start time) and when less adverts were showing they started later, although in most cases the cost of running the adverts (bulb life and electricity) is less than the revenue earned by showing the adverts.

quote:
The only possible reason I can think of is if full houses are taking to long to clear out after the show, and the auditorium is not clear in time ready for the next show,

I suspect that the busy shows are the ones most desirable for the advertisers, thus having the longest advert set.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 09-13-2007, 02:55 PM:

It is suprising we've not moved to digital adverts yet. There's a lot of potential revenue there.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 09-15-2007, 12:11 AM:

quote: Mark Hajducki
those going to the Tuesday bargain matinee will be less likely to buy the top of the range expensive car etc.

Obviously depends on your location. My old theater was surrounded by corporate offices for AT&T plus a Marriott hotel. So you'd get the business people a lot no matter what time it was. Then there were the yuppy wives of guys from Microsoft too since it was in a mall.