Are you the Best Newcomer to Cinema in 2017?

The DCM Awards 2017 are open for entries, and as the July deadline for submissions approaches, we thought we’d take a look at some of last year’s best work to get you inspired about the competition that honours and celebrates the best in cinema advertising.

In the first of our series of features on the winners of the DCM Awards 2016, the Best Newcomer to Cinema category gets put under the spotlight, as we look back at the winner of the prize in 2016 and why the judges thought it shone brighter than the rest of the shortlist.

Your Christmas, Your Rules

Goodstuff Communications for House of Fraser

“This campaign was surprising for its timing, investment and bravery. It was a bold move to put so much faith in cinema late in the Christmas period but the client achieved standout within its cluttered sector and the entertaining content really stood out to engage the captive cinema audience.” 

With Christmas advertising becoming increasingly sentimental, House of Fraser not only recognised an opportunity to be different with its creative messaging last year, but bucked the trend by placing its bold ad, You Christmas, Your Rules, on the big screen.

Leaving it later than its competitors to launch the campaign, the brand managed to avoid the Christmas rush and stand out from the crowd with this striking ad. The creative was heavily invested into a 60-second only, upmarket, female AGP, as well as buying into The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 to target a specific section of cinemagoers.

Then, off the back of insights that most male customers were known to leave their shopping until the last minute at that time of year, the brand also invested the ad into Star Wars: The Force Awakens even later in the season.

With its first outing in cinema, House of Fraser also considered the medium’s integration with other platforms by making the soundtrack to the spot, You Don’t Own Me by Grace, Shazam-able, inviting cinemagoers to shop the brand’s range of products from their cinema seats.

By rewriting the Christmas script, the retailer managed to increase sales in the six weeks before the big day by 5.3%. The company also managed to surpass targets by raising awareness to 41% and growing consideration to 45%.

Enter Best Newcomer to Cinema category and read more about the DCM Awards here.