Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Has anyone use dealflicks.com as a marketing tool?

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Posted by Travis Cape (Member # 466) on 04-21-2014, 05:42 PM:

I spoke with a couple gentleman about dealflicks.com. It seems like it's a more customizable discount service than groupon.

Has anyone used them, how did it work?

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 04-21-2014, 06:27 PM:

I look at it this way...

Regal doesn't use them.

AMC doesn't use them.

Cinemark doesn't use them.

Carmike doesn't use them.

Pacific doesn't use them.

Regency doesn't use them.

Landmark doesn't use them.

Are you seeing a pattern yet?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-21-2014, 10:35 PM:

If the "two gentlemen" from Dealflicks were the same two guys we kept running into at our last convention, I can see why nobody works with them. They're annoying, intrusive and obnoxious. They registered as a vendor but wouldn't pay for a booth; instead they just "worked the room" at the events and chatted people up. They would follow you around and act all interested in your hometown, state or whatever but I overheard them asking the exact same canned questions to everybody they talked to. They just sort of oozed sleazy.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 04-22-2014, 08:24 AM:

Actually if all those guys are against it; it is probably a good idea. Sort of like Southwest Airlines: "If our competitors do it, it must be wrong."

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 04-22-2014, 04:14 PM:

OR... if all those guys don't do it, and the only ones that do are struggling indie theatres, maybe those guys don't need to, or the deal offered doesn't work for them.

Posted by Travis Cape (Member # 466) on 04-22-2014, 09:02 PM:

I can see both sides of that argument. Around here, AMC has a higher admission price for Fri-Sun and lower for Mon-Thurs. I don't even want to try and put such a complex pricing policy on a sign here.

Edward, you're right. If you're a huge circuit, you don't need a discount or better marketing. The deck is already stacked for you. If you're a smaller guy, then you might need a push.

I just wanted to see if anyone had used them and how it worked.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-22-2014, 10:25 PM:

Out of curiosity I checked out the Dealflicks website and found that the Vali Twin Cinema in Powell, WY (about 3 hours from here) is listed. You can get tickets to their shows for around $2 off.

Supposedly the way it works is, theaters sign up and submit their showtimes to Dealflicks. A theater can also restrict when tickets are available (which shows, which days, which times) and can set the amount of discount to give. The theater can also restrict how soon after a movie opens that tickets will be available on Dealflicks. And, "deals" such as ticket + concession packages at a discount can also be offered.

A customer opens an account with Dealflicks and deposits whatever amount of money they want into it (similar to PayPal). You can also find deals on Groupon to get account credit for below the face value (such as $20 in Dealflicks credit for $9).

When a customer buys a ticket or a "deal" through Dealflicks, credit is deducted from his account and he receives an email with a voucher which he prints out and takes to the theater, and redeems it for the tickets or concessions. The theater is then paid by Dealflicks.

There are a couple of catches, the biggest one being that you can't buy your tickets long in advance. At least on the Powell theater's page, you can only buy tickets for 7:00 PM "tomorrow." The site doesn't give any advance information about what times or movies are coming up, and I couldn't find an easy way to search far flung theaters (when I opened the site, the Powell theater came up automatically so it must be the only Dealflicks cinema in this region.)

I don't know how this whole rigamarole works out with the studios...if I buy an $8 ticket for $6 through Dealflicks, the studio probably still wants their full percentage as if it was an $8 sale. So assuming the studio gets about $4 to $4.50, that leaves less than $2 for the theater and Dealflicks to split. It's hard to imagine either party making a LOT of cash on this.

To me the big "risk" especially in a small town like Powell is, what if a lot of their "regulars" discover this thing and start paying way less for their movie tickets? The idea behind it is to reel in people who might not go to the movies due to the prices, but it seems like a lot of folks might just decide to 'wait for the Dealflicks' instead of paying opening weekend prices.

I have a sneaking suspicion that SOME theater operators might just keep 100% of the money they get from Dealflicks and just not report that particular ticket sale to the studio. Not saying I know of anyone who WOULD do this, but it certainly seems like a possibility given the small amount the theater is going to get from the sale.

Dealflicks also has a blog which has a bio of (apparently) the only female member of their staff. If you click on her name, it opens up a whole list of blog topics where she's responding to various complaints. The company seems to be very responsive to complaints. Also, she's super hot, so they have that going for them. They should put her on the convention floors instead of those two annoying guys, they'd probably sign a lot more theaters up.

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 04-23-2014, 01:44 PM:

I don't quite understand the appeal from the theater's perspective, especially in an area without a lot of competition.

Why wouldn't a theater just run promotions similar to what DealFlicks is offering, and cut out the middle man? The primary advantage to working with a service like this is to take advantage of the traffic they generate through their marketing efforts. So then, the big question for a theater looking to work with them is whether DealFlicks can get them customers more cheaply than they can get them independently.

In Mike's example, the cost per sale by going through DealFlicks is $1, plus the labor involved in working with a third-party with all the transactions. The net revenue per DealFlicks customer is $1, where if you offered the same discount directly, your net revenue per customer would be at least double (could be more, depending on how the studio percentages work out), right?

So, if you could attract an extra 10 people per night, that would be 70 people per week. You would be $70 ahead by doing it yourself.

Could you take $300 per month and put it towards promotions, advertising, or other publicity efforts to attract more customers? Do you think those efforts would attract more people than DealFlicks can?

If the answer is no, then the DealFlicks arrangement might be a good one. If the answer is yes...

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 04-23-2014, 03:40 PM:

quote:
primary advantage to working with a service like this is to take advantage of the traffic they generate through their marketing efforts.

From a consumer perceptive, what marketing efforts? If you do not already know that their web site exists, what are they doing to publicize it?

I have my doubts as to whether a slight discount will actually generate much if any new customers. Price (within reason) is not a major motivating factor around here for whether people go out to the movies or not. What discounting seem to do is spread the existing customer base out to less trafficked days/times.

Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 04-23-2014, 04:21 PM:

I would have thought that running promotions through general discount sites (such as Groupon) would have more impact than using a cinema specific site.

The only visitors to dealflixs would have already be thinking about going to see a movie and would be less likely to be new customers. Visitors to Groupon would be more likely to be looking for something to do and then decide to go the the cinema.

-----

A local cinema (which goes for the luxury market) has offers on Groupon (not valid Fri/Sat).

Posted by Paul Looker (Member # 5420) on 04-23-2014, 06:45 PM:

I've been using them. I was offered a. 90/10 split after credit card fees. I worked out all of our deals so based on 70% to the studio they still turn us a profit of $5.00 per deal. I believe it is doing what I need it to do.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 04-24-2014, 01:59 PM:

I was treated to lunch by this company.

This is only for theatres that have a lot of competition and are looking for an 'edge' to get customers to come to your theatre over another one.

That's it.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-24-2014, 03:07 PM:

Well then it's silly that they signed up the theater in Powell, WY -- it is the only theater in that town. They have two screens. Their closest competition is a four-plex in Cody which is about 20 miles away and basically shows the same movies.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 04-24-2014, 06:22 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Well then it's silly that they signed up the theater in Powell, WY -- it is the only theater in that town. They have two screens. Their closest competition is a four-plex in Cody which is about 20 miles away and basically shows the same movies.

More like it's silly that the particular theater signed up for it. Also, perhaps they came to a deal that made it work for a smaller market?

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 04-24-2014, 06:27 PM:

www.dealflicks.com and discounting with groupons or wag jags in general is a stupid idea. While a quick influx of money might happen in a very short time, you simply damage your brand/cinema for those who are doing it.

Customers will then expect the deal and paying full price becomes a thing of the past for many of your customers.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 04-24-2014, 10:10 PM:

For the first ten years or so that my theatre was in business, Thursdays were "Sheep Night", where all admissions were $1 off of the regular price.

I eventually realized that all I was doing was giving away $1 per person on Thursdays, since those who wanted to see the movie would be coming anyway.

So Sheep Night has been discontinued here for the past ten years and very, very few people have noticed, commented on it, or cared.

Posted by Russ Levinson (Member # 7185) on 04-25-2014, 10:37 AM:

We have been using them since they started. Consider it the priceline of movie tickets. It should be used as such, when you have empty seats...they can help fill them. Most of the studios were not happy at first, but I believe at least one of them invested in the company recently.
The company itself has grown tremendously....from 3 staff to maybe 20 now. The fee is very small fee, unlike groupon, but it will start out very slow. We have only seen a few of our regulars discover dealflicks. Overall, its a no brainer for any theater if you limit the tickets correctly.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 04-25-2014, 11:16 AM:

Russ, are you one of the 20 employee who work for them?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-25-2014, 11:31 AM:

quote: Frank Cox
Sheep Night has been discontinued here for the past ten years and very, very few people have noticed, commented on it, or cared.

We had the same thing here -- a discount night on Monday. I noticed that most people were "surprised" that their tickets cost less than they thought they would. We discontinued it for the same reason you did and nobody ever said a word.

Why in the world were you calling it "Sheep Night?"

Posted by Russ Levinson (Member # 7185) on 04-25-2014, 12:20 PM:

terry...I own a movie theater and we are a customer of dealflicks like i said in my post!

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 04-25-2014, 12:27 PM:

Little kids called it Sheep Night (corruption of Cheap Night) so I started using that phrase with a graphic of a sheep.

People seemed to get a kick out of it.

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 04-25-2014, 04:04 PM:

Or as one of our local car dealers created an ad with baby chicks. His motto was ".. the little cheaper dealer".