MEC puts cinema in the spotlight with #MECCinemaDay

MEC put cinema firmly in the spotlight this week, with an entire day devoted to all the different aspects of the medium, including an overview of the cinema marketplace, a closer look at cinemagoers and their value to brands, a session devoted to upcoming movies in 2014 and an innovation session, covering off the concept of ‘Beyond the big screen’.

The overview of the cinema marketplace was hosted by DCM Agency Lead, Andrew Bishop, who took the assembled MEC staff through ‘a state of the union’ presentation on cinema. The cinema market has been in great health over the last year, with the UK & Ireland box office achieving the second highest year ever and its fifth consecutive year of over £1bn. The final year-end total of £1.17bn was only 1% behind the record high of 2012 and proves once again that the UK public loves going to the cinema. The final admissions total for last year was 165.5m, which is the eighth highest since 1971 and above average since 2000. This is testament to the all-round strength of the film slate throughout the whole of last year.

Tom Linay, DCM’s Head of Film, dropped by at MEC, with an update on upcoming movies on the schedule for 2014, including Godzilla, Divergent, Dawn Of The Planet of The Apes, 22 Jump Street and Bad Neighbours.

The next session on the agenda was cinema research and insight, hosted from DCM’s perspective by Alex Wright, Research and Insight Manager. Alex focused on the Family cinemagoers, who account for 75.6m admissions to the cinema per year, 45% of all cinema visits.

Lissa Cardell, Sponsorship Manager, DCM rounded off the day with a session on cinema innovations, including DCM’s new cinema companion app, cinime, and Sponsorship and Partnership opportunities available in the cinema space.