| Date | |
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| Author | DCM |
| Categories | News |
2008 has seen FMCG brands divert more marketing budget towards cinema advertising, with a focus on sampling campaigns in the cinema foyer, notes the UK’s leading cinema advertising company, Digital Cinema Media.
Recent figures released by Nielsen Media Research reveal that FMCG ad spend on cinema in July 2008 was up a massive 73% year-on-year, whilst FMCG ad spend on other media such as TV remained flat. Ben & Jerrys ice cream, Kelloggs Special K and Cadburys Dairy Milk are among the biggest spending FMCG advertisers on cinema.
There is also a growing trend for advertisers such as Kelloggs to add sampling campaigns to their on-screen advertising. Earlier this year Kelloggs Special K ran a sampling campaign at 40 cinemas in conjunction with the opening weekend of Sex and The City. Over 40,000 snack-sized boxes of new variant, Special K Oats & Honey, were distributed to cinemagoers as they exited the film, giving Kelloggs direct access to their core audience of young, fashion and health conscious women.
Galaxy chocolate also took advantage of the plethora of young, excited females watching the most anticipated female film of the year by sampling 200,000 chunks of Galaxy chocolate at 50 cinema sites nationwide.
However food brands are not the only category to tap into this trend, evidenced by an increase in sampling activity from other product areas.
Unilever's Persil wanted a unique way to promote their 'Every child has the right' campaign and strengthen their on-screen presence in the cinema, so sampled A4 children’s scrapbooks in 50 cinemas. The opening weekend of Wall-E was chosen for the activity, which guaranteed a family audience and led to 53,100 samples being distributed.
Sampling in cinema foyers brings on-screen advertising to life in a unique and relaxing environment and has been proven to increase spontaneous ad recall and brand awareness by up to 83% when added to an on-screen campaign.** Up to one million samples can be distributed over a weekend in cinema foyers and samples can be targeted at a defined demographic or a specific film's audience.
FMCG brands are also moving to advertise in cinemas as the industry rides high on record increases in attendance. July 2008 recorded the second highest month for admissions on record with 21.4 million visits to the cinema.***
Gemma Atkinson, Sales Director at Digital Cinema Media comments: “The demand from the FMCG sector demonstrates that cinema is an effective advertising medium for every category. We're thrilled that a range of advertisers are now reaping the benefits of accessing a captive and attentive audience, which cinema provides.”