Appearing, ad a cinema near you
Harry Potter works his magic on ads in cinemas
CINEMA advertising seller CarltonScreen will make a play to "open advertisers' minds" to the power of their medium by unveiling new research showing that while cinemagoers "enjoy" the adverts on the big screen, more than a quarter of them now fast-forward TV ads.
The FAME research also debunks the widely-held myth about cinema advertising being only relevant to youth brands by showing that over half of cinema audiences are the grocery shoppers for their household.
The study, carried out by research firm Milward Brown IMS, comes after the most recent ticket sales figures charted an 8pc rise for February as recession-inspired escapism takes hold.
Big box summer releases, including the latest 'Harry Potter' instalment, are now expected to drive demand further.
"We wanted to gain an in-depth, current and robust piece of research to provide a full picture of the behaviour, attitudes and interests of Irish cinemagoers," says Carlton's sales director Eithne Billington.
The advertising research, which will be presented at an industry briefing today, will be used to "prove" to existing advertisers that they are "making the right choice" and to "challenge other clients who stay with traditional media when laying down their plans", she added.
FAME was carried out online between February 2-9 across more than 1,500 people from cinema's target demographic of 15 to 44-year-olds.
It found that 37pc of respondents had digital recording boxes for their TVs, about double the rate amongst general population. More than 70pc of these, or more than 25pc of the entire sample, skip ads "all or most of the time".
Across the entire sample, just 25pc say they usually watch TV ads.
In contrast, 88pc of cinemagoers say they watch and enjoy the trailers at the cinema, and more say the "always or usually" notice the poster ads in the lobby.
The survey also shows 48pc of cinemagoers say they are asked by friends to advise on products and brands, while 60pc like to try new brands and products 'first'.
Despite the rise in cinema audiences this year, Billington says ad spends on the medium are being "adversely affected" by the recession, although some big names like Unilever had increased their spends.
"We are not in a position to offer unusually high discounts in line with those that are currently being offered by some other media," she says, adding that they do their best to "optimise" value for clients.
