| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Mission 16-34: Launch, Land, Impact, is the fourth edition of Digital Cinema Media’s industry-leading Building Box Office Brands series. Created in partnership with Differentology, the study explores the different roles that AV media play in the lives of young people and how cinema helps brands launch and land their messages with impact.
Over the last three years Digital Cinema Media’s (DCM) industry research programme, Building Box Office Brands, has proved the unique role cinema plays in today’s media landscape. For 2018, DCM has set a new mission – to investigate young people’s AV habits, their attitudes to advertising and what this means for brands today. Reaching this audience is easy but getting them to take notice and take action is not. With the industry lamenting a lack of commercial opportunities to engage with this ‘Netflix’ generation, Mission 16-34: Launch, Land, Impact aims to provide new insight into the role cinema advertising should play.
DCM’s mission to better understand this audience was inspired by Kantar Millward Brown’s Ad Receptivity research which revealed that Gen Z (16-19-year-olds, 44%) and Gen Y (20-34-year-olds, 34%) rate cinema ads as the AV advertising format they feel most positive towards. 16-34s also account for 44% of all cinema tickets sold each year and their attendance is 19% higher than the national average at eight times a year. The biggest film of the year for this audience, Avengers: Infinity War, delivered more than 3m 16-34 admissions, equivalent to 20, 16-34 TVRs, in the first two weeks alone. 2018 is set to be the biggest year for cinema admissions for 70 years and 2019 will be even bigger, while the number of 16-34 admissions for 2019 is predicted to be up 8% year-on-year thanks to huge releases such as Avengers 4, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Star Wars and Captain Marvel.
The results:
The research reveals that 16-34s still value experiences and love entertainment content, but technology has fundamentally changed the way they access this at home and on the move. They are heavy on-demand viewers but also easily distracted, with many looking to actively avoid advertising. In fact, the findings reveal a stark challenge for our industry – 71% of respondents felt that they are “hounded by advertising” and while they spend a huge amount of time online, 39% have installed ad blockers.
Despite this challenge, the study also revealed that 16-34s do still feel a strong affinity with brands, they do enjoy quality content and they do like advertising in the right context. All AV platforms also play complementary roles on a media schedule as they provide different viewing experiences at different times for different needs. As brands now need to deploy multi-screen strategies to communicate with 16-34s it’s become increasingly important to understand the role different AV channels play on the media schedule.
The four key takeaways from the research are:
1. Cinema delivers cultural moments.
The famous ‘water cooler’ moments often associated with Live TV have become harder to come by due to the different ways 16-34s are watching their chosen content. However, the 16-week theatrical exclusivity window for cinema means the big screen can deliver big moments for brands at the launch of their campaigns. 75% of all impacts for 16-34 cinemagoers will be delivered in the first two weeks of a film’s release with 51% agreeing that they “don’t like missing out on things that other people are talking about.”
2. Cinema occupies a unique position within the AV mix.
The research shows that different AV channels are chosen either with ‘active intent’ or ‘inactive intent’, with some platforms delivering both at different times. ‘High attention’ for example would represent an active choice, with ‘Fill time’ representing an inactive choice. Cinema is the only fully ‘active’ channel as it is a destination experience where 16-34s have actively planned to pay attention. The results also reveal that 16-34s really value the escapism provided by the lack of distraction in cinema, which helps brands effectively land their messages. As one respondent stated: “The only times I don’t look at my phone are when I’m in the cinema or when I’m asleep.”
The top three selected for each channel were:
- Cinema: Shared experience (37%), High attention (34%), Quality content (31%)
- Live TV: Fill time (30%), Background viewing (26%), Comforting (18%)
- VOD: Binge viewing (27%), Fill time (25%), Quality content (19%)
- YouTube: Fill time (43%), Helps me escape (28%), Binge viewing (27%)
- Social video: Fill time (38%), Low attention (27%), Spontaneous (20%)
3. Cinema is the most premium and trustworthy AV medium
Respondents were asked to rank from 1-5 the different AV platforms as ‘premium’ and ‘trustworthy’ with cinema ranking first most often across both measures. The cinema ads themselves also benefited from a halo effect, resulting in cinema ads being ranked first at making 16-34s feel most positive towards a brand.
- Premium experience: Cinema (48%), Live TV (17%), YouTube (15%), Social media (11%),
- VOD (9%)
- Trustworthy ads: Cinema (35%), Live TV (31%), YouTube (15%), Social media (10%), VOD (9%)
- Brand positivity: Cinema (30%), Live TV (25%), YouTube (20%), Social media (17%), VOD (8%)
4. Cinema builds positive impact for brands
Kantar Millward Brown’s findings from Building Box Office Brands Volume III revealed that cinema delivers a greater contribution across all key brand-building metrics, but particularly brand love and brand difference. Including cinema in the media mix delivers a 58% uplift in the campaign’s brand-building contribution. Differentology’s meta-analysis in Vol IV, focusing on 16-34s, has reinforced these results demonstrating that cinema’s highly attentive and emotionally engaged audience delivers significant uplifts for brands including:
- Better impression: +30%
- Rational brand perceptions: +42%
- Emotional brand perceptions: +60%
According to Dr John Curran, a business anthropologist and cultural analyst, who provided his perspective on the key themes of the study: “Cinema is ultimately an indulgent experience – the opportunity to switch off from the outside world for two-to-three hours and give yourself up to the big screen in front of you. Cinema therefore provides an attentive audience who are in the best possible context for paying attention and taking in brand stories.”
Karen Stacey, CEO, Digital Cinema Media, added: “This study dispels the myth that 16-34s have disengaged with advertising. They like brands, they expect quality content and are receptive to advertising in the right context. If we continue to follow current practices where young people feel ‘hounded’ they will choose to block advertising but, if we put the WOW at the start of campaigns in premium, trusted environments we can deliver big impact for brands. Looking forward to 2019 and beyond, cinema has a remarkable, exclusive film slate for brands to align with cinema should always be considered as a pivotal part of any campaign to reach young adults.”