For Mark Cuban. How to get more people to the movies.

Mark Cuban, the “Blog Maverick” posted a challenge on his blog.

“So if you want a job, and have a great idea on how to market movies in a completely different way. If your idea works for any and all kinds of movies. If it changes the dynamics and the economics of promoting movies, email it or post it. If its new and unique, i want to hear about it. If its a different way of doing the same thing you have seen before, it probably wont get you a job, but feel free to try.”

 

The crux of this issue as he says is that marketing the movie eats up the far too money:

“How crazy is it to spend more on marketing than the revenue received when they go to the movie ? Its double crazy because that revenue is split with the theater. So if a studio spends 12 bucks to get someone to go to the theater, they might only be getting 4 dollars back in return.”

 

To put words in Mr. Cuban’s mouth by paraphrasing something out of context: “Im not going to argue the decline of TV specific magazines movie theaters. See ya.”

So Mr. Cuban is asking for a paradigm shift in marketing that will suddenly want to make more people go to the movie theater, and cost less in the process of getting people to go there.

Let’s face it. People who are movie buffs and enjoy going to the movies for the theatre experience are already doing just that. If that is an enjoyable “date” for them, then they are going to go. Avid movie goers already have their niches: young single guys like thrillers, girls like romantic comedies, whatever. In as much as people regularly go to the theaters, their problem has already been solved. They know what they are going to see, you just need to get a compelling trailer in front of them so they know it is for them, and they’ll go.

For others, the decision is harder. For many who indicate that they don’t want to go to the theater there are several common themes:

1. It’s too expensive. The tickets cost too much, and the price of concessions is highway robbery.

2. It’s not enjoyable. Some folks just don’t want to be an a room with others who’s level of courtesy and consideration is not up to their level of expectation. Cell phones, txting, loud-mouthedness…

3. It’s inconvenient. Parents with young kids (for example) have a hard time getting to the movies. And for some of those people, when they do get out, they want to spend the time interacting with each other, not staring at a larger “TV” in a darker room. And taking a family of four to the movies is far too expensive, any way.

4. The content is bad. All too often the thought is that the subject matter of the movies is just plain crap. Hollywood, it seems, is out of ideas. I, for one, do NOT want to see the “Greatest American Hero Movie”.

5. It’s not as good as home. For many who can afford taking a family of four to the movies 12 to 15 times a year, their home theater setup is way more comfortable than anything the theater can offer. Relatively large screens, comfy couches, a clean bathroom and a pause button. A 50 inch screen at 8 feet, is a close substitute for a 25 foot screen at 40 feet.

6. Ruffians. If you are not a teenager, you generally don’t want to be where teenagers hang out. Perhaps that’s just me. Let’s face it, teens like to go to the movies because it’s a place they can go without their parents to get rowdy and loud. I know that was why we went as kids. And when kids are away from legal guardians…security WILL be needed.

7. BitTorrent. Yup. For the most part, you can get the movie right away anyway, if you want to run the risk. The stats on BitTorrent pretty much illustrate that people will sacrifice quality for instant gratification and convenience. (Napster showed that years ago, anyway.) All because somebody can bring in a fairly good camcorder in and video the screen (I think I have an idea about thwarting this too, but that’s another post.) I take BitTorrent as the market’s way of telling an industry what they want, except the industry doesn’t seem to want to listen.

 

So there are a list of strikes against the theater. A group of people want to go to the theater, and already do. Another group will tolerate the experience every once in a while for something they are truly interested in. And a group won’t go, pretty much no matter what, because what they can get on DVD / PPV is worth the price of not seeing the movie right away.

That said, what can the theater offer those irregular/infrequent movie goers to get them to go all the time, and what type of marketing would it take to get them there? Unfortunately, the answers, in my opinion are “Not much” and “No kind”. If video killed the radio star, then the affordable 50” screen and 5.1 Surround killed the theater chain. My living room trumps your sticky, overpriced theater every day of the week. Status Quo for theaters is a loser proposition.

But, anyone who has ever read even a few pages of Seth Godin could tell you that.

Marketing alone won’t get you there. Even if some magical marketing campaign could get everybody there one, if the experience is the same crummy experience they’ve always had, then fool me once….

If, truly, you want to get more butts in the seats, repetitively, then a few things need to happen. (if you just want to make money, then we’ll address that in a few paragraphs.)

You need to make the experience better, for all different walks. And that probably means different theaters for different people. What we have now, is the McDonalds of movie-going experiences. It’s the same for everyone, everywhere. Acceptable, but not really anything special. I would suggest the following changes to the movie going experience.

1. I would suggest that theaters should be designed and run with the clientele you desire. If you want to attract young urban professionals, maybe it needs to look like the Apple store, heavy on cutting edge design. For Prime earning years, maybe it should look like the grand old theatres of the 50’s, like the Senator in Baltimore, or the Uptown in DC in their respective heyday. Teens should have a trendy vibe that changes frequently, and has more of a party atmosphere.

2. Further the theatre should be just one component of a larger “resort”. Tie-in auxiliary services for those same clientele niches that you want to attract. “Dave and Buster” type arcade setups for the younger set. Fine dining (think Emeril, not Sbarro) for the earners. etc… Give the clientele you are attracting a better experience than they expect. And deliberately redirect the niches you don’t want in that theater to the one that you do (not with a “You go there!” guard at the door, but with stuff that is unappealing to your non-target demo.)

3. What is shown in the theater needs to be a superset of what is going to be in the DVD, not vice versa. It needs to be clear that you will see stuff at the theater that you are NOT going to get on the DVD. Extra scenes, outtakes, etc…You can still put that stuff on the DVD, but different extra scenes and outtakes. You need to ensure that the big screen offers some content that just can’t be had any other way.

4. You also need to rethink the visual experience of visiting the theater. Getting to the theater early enough to get a good seat leads to the punishing experience of inane and repetitive ads. The poor theaters are denigrating the very screen that they hope will attract the customers in the first place – because the studios have taken all their ticket profit. The ads need to go, and get replaced by actual, honest to goodness content (even compelling product placement content is cool). Bring back the cartoon and newsreel, but in a modern format. Use content that is interesting to the target niche you want to attract. Let sponsors pay short film makers to make short films (think BMW Films) that precede the feature. Even if it is chock full of product placement, It’s gotta be compelling.

5. Along the same lines, involve the “minor leaguers” After the movie, show some shorts of up and coming filmmakers. Or let amateurs submit their films that people can vote on, and show those before or after the main event. Let people see who the filmmakers of tomorrow are. Make the movie an event they way it used to be, not a show-it-and-get-‘em-out factory.

6. Cultivate niche audiences, perhaps by interest, and create content for them. Here are a few wild-ass ideas. Perhaps you could create decidedly small budget movies for, say, skiers, and create a movie about Warren Miller, or Glen Plake, and only market that movie to ski clubs, and ski magazines and ski shops. Same for cycling, etc… Think of the long tail of groups that you could create movies for, and create them. Do more of your simultaneous DVD, theater, PPV releases for these niche films. (Consider the success of the Passion of the Christ. Churches were bussing people to the theater, that made attendance skyrocket. Find more of those niches, and serve them well.)

7. Continue innovating with comfort, and amenities. Stadium seating was remarkable, and got butts in the seats. But what have you done for me lately? Can I order snacks from my seat? Can I have a real knife-and-fork meal at a first run movie? Can I bring my own pillow? Can you work it out where I can actually lie down and watch, just like I do at home? Can the person behind me not kick my g*d**mned seat? Can you supply or I bring my own hi-fidelity headphones and plug right into the seat to get the pure audio, that way I can’t hear the cell phone next to me. I can see it now…. The silent theater with the best sound ever!

8. IMAX is remarkable, what can you do that is similar, with the format film you already make?

9. Why can’t you make extra copies of the actual celluloid / digital media, and bring the first runs to non-theater theaters, for the first week only. Churches, schools, fundraisers, colleges, community centers. If you need to cut the theaters in on a percentage, do it. Count that attendance towards opening week.

 

Another option: Look for symbiotic marketing opportunities. Let’s think for a moment about the success of “Walk the Line” and “Ray” both of those films sparked an interest in a larger audience than the original base, and subsequently sales of Johnny Cash and Ray Charles records enjoyed resurgence. If you target those opportunities and make films that are essentially one giant, interesting product placement, then create a revenue sharing opportunity. Perhaps you work out with a record company or rights holder, that you will 50/50 split the bump in revenues from a specific date forward, for a period of one year. Look for opportunities where there is a built in product base already made. Look to your niche audiences for interesting stories and make them. Is there a fascinating story about a champion yo-yoer? If you made a movie about him/her, would Duncan be willing to share in revenue from a bump in yo-yo sales for the subsequent year? Start showing that movie to a receptive niche, and if it takes off, expand it wider and wider.

Yeah, I know, this is short term expensive. Lot’s of remodeling to do. Sorry. Not my fault. The days of cherry picking cash from hapless movies goers is over. They’ve gotten wise and won’t pay it anymore.

In Part two, we look at how to just plain old make money.