Cinematic Showcase: A view from DCM’s Phil Jones

    Date
    Author Zoe Aresti

Last week, Digital Cinema Media (DCM), Pearl & Dean and Dentsu Aegis Network hosted ‘Cinematic Showcase’, a day dedicated to showcasing the power of the big screen. DCM’s Marketing Assistant, Phil Jones, was in attendance and outlines his highlights from the day…

On Thursday 19 October, Digital Cinema Media (DCM) hosted its inaugural Aegis Cinematic Showcase day with Dentsu Aegis Network and in collaboration with Pearl & Dean. 

The aim of the day was to underline the exciting medium that cinema is and to look towards all the upcoming releases for the rest of Q4 and into 2018. We were preaching to the converted however, as the vast majority of attendees came to the sessions because of their love of cinema and their belief in the power of the big screen. 

Having decked out the room with stunning posters for Thor: Ragnarok and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as well as rolling out a red carpet in the entranceway, Aegis employees were given the full VIP treatment by the most VIP of all mediums: cinema.

After a quick introduction on the cinema market as a whole, the day plunged straight into the hotly anticipated second session, a very well-attended panel discussion featuring Hoss Ghonouie from Everyman Cinema, Ruth Cartwright from Amplifi, Mike Hope-Milne from Pearl & Dean, as well as our very own CEO, Karen Stacey. 

The discussion was fascinating as it gave an insight into different aspects of the cinema media world from differing angles – no two panelists had the same experiences and so a wide and multi-faceted picture of cinema advertising was unveiled. Arguably the highlight of the panel however was DCM’s own Commercial & Trading Director, David Hipkiss, jumping in with his prediction that Mary Poppins Returns will be the biggest film of 2018.

After a pizza and trailers-based lunch break hosted by DCM’s Head of Film, Tom Linay, and Pearl & Dean’s Group Head & Film Specialist, Cristina Duffy to 28 lucky guests, the afternoon was kicked off by DCM’s Sarah Dack and Pearl & Dean’s Anna Cremin with a cinema myth-busting session. 

This session highlighted the growth of the cinema medium over the last few years, as well as undermining many of the false accusations thrown at media in recent years.
 
The day then continued in grand style with an innovations update. Following a compelling presentation from Pearl & Dean, DCM’s Senior Account Manager, Eray Galip, took to the stage to showcase some of the highlights from our more inventive campaigns. 

The most exciting of these was definitely Xbox’s utilization of 4DX for their Forza Horizon 3 campaign – unfortunately we weren’t able to squeeze a 4DX chair into Aegis for the day for a real-life experience! 

Audience participation was the keyword for the rest of the afternoon, with Aegis guests organised in to groups and asked to compete against each other in a live brief competition.

A lovely souvenir of the day was given to attendees in the form of a miniature cinema passport. Guests were encouraged to get their pages stamped at the end of every session to be in with a chance of winning premiere tickets – I was sadly not eligible as a member of DCM but I’m sure the tickets went to a worthy home! 

The day ended with a few celebratory drinks and we really did have something to celebrate as the day was a huge success all round. 

Everyone had a wonderful time and I personally really enjoyed the day - the live briefs encouraged some really creative thinking and cinema as a concept was shown to really be in rude health. 

A massive thanks to Pearl & Dean, Dentsu Aegis Network and everyone who was in attendance on the day.

Follow the chatter on social with #DANCinematicShowcase.