News
AMC Cuts Film Ads in Newspapers
By Robert Marich
Aug 24, 2009 – An Associated Press story updates the longstanding trend of film listing ads being reduced or eliminated in print newspapers, as movie marketers increasingly direct their resources to the Internet for such “directory advertising.”
The AP article written by David Twiddy cites trade group The Newspaper Association of America as saying national movie-related display advertising totaled $141.5 million in the first quarter of 2009, which is down 51% lower than five years ago.
Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition discusses this decade-long trend that is a result of searchable Internet ads being more utilitarian. For decades, the major studios had actually paid most of the cost of newspaper ads for their movies, which listed playtimes for all theaters in a geography screening one of their titles—which meant grouping theaters from competing circuits.
“Exhibition is a business with little brand identification or loyalty,” notes Marketing to Moviegoers. “Consumers traditionally make a cinema decision primarily by choosing the nearest theater offering a desired movie or the nearest cinema equipped with sought-after amenities such as stadium seating for unobstructed sight lines to the screen.“
In a recent development, some theaters fully pay for ads in newspapers to try to build brand loyalty, notes Marketing to Moviegoers. However, such ads are not always ideal because moviegoer searches are often seeking a desired film title, not all films showing at a single multiplex theater.
According to the AP story, Kansas City-based national theater circuit AMC pulled its listings last month from The Washington Post. When readers complained, the newspaper’s ombudsman, Andrew Alexander wrote on his blog, “Most readers believe that it was the newspaper’s decision. In fact, movie listings in the print product are paid advertising, and it was AMC’s decision to stop paying.”
That highlights the weakening economics for newspapers, which find help-wanted job classified ads, car ads and movie advertising is migrating to the Internet. One fall out is newspapers increasingly reduce space for movie ads and have eliminated full time staff positions for film critics.
For full text, click link below:
finance.yahoo.com/news/Movie-theaters-cut-print-show-apf-3135245694.html
www.marketingmovies.net/chapters/chapter-3-paid-advertising/
www.marketingmovies.net/news/ice-age-criticizing-the-critics/