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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Digital Cinema Media’s (DCM) Research and Insight Manager, Michael Tull, looks at the great family slate that we have ahead of us in 2016 and how the cinema environment provides advertisers with unique opportunities to target that all-important family audience, together in one place.
Here at Digital Cinema Media (DCM) we’re expecting 2016 to be a mammoth year for family films. Our Head of Film, Tom Linay, has gone so far as to say that he predicts 2016 will be the biggest year ever for family films at the UK box office, surpassing the current landmark set by 2013.
This year’s animation slate will be comprised of both strong franchise entries and original properties. Families will be re-introduced to Mowgli & Co. (The Jungle Book), take them to a secret Panda village (Kung Fu Panda 3), go back underwater with some old favourites (Finding Dory) and unveil exactly what pets get up to when their owners aren’t around (Secret Life Of Pets).
With those titles representing just a handful of the family films coming to a cinema near you next year (I’ve not even mentioned Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Road Chip, Zootropolis, Angry Birds, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Ice Age: Collision Course, The BFG, Pete’s Dragon, Kubo And the Two Strings, Storks and Moana…the list goes on!), you can see why expectations are high and why many families will be making repeat visits to their nearest cinema in 2016.
So what benefit does a fantastic family slate mean for advertisers?
Well in a time where it’s becoming increasingly challenging to reach the whole family together in one place, the cinema provides an environment where parents and children happily make the trip to experience and engage in the same content together. You don’t have to take my word for it - hear what these families have to say for themselves:
Reaching the whole family together at the cinema is a great opportunity for advertisers to tap in to ‘pester power’ - or in other words get the children to start asking their parents for the products they’ve seen advertised.
An article in The Telegraph last year highlighted new Mintel research that shows just how prevalent ‘pester power’ remains - 1 in 6 parents “find it difficult to say no to their child when pestered to buy something” and 9 in 10 say their kids will “demand things when out shopping together”.
One of the benefits of the cinema experience, where you can reach parents and their kids, is that it’s potentially easier to get parental buy-in to your product if they’ve seen the ad first-hand as well, rather than relying on the excitable descriptions from their kids of what they’ve seen and now “need” to have.
Another benefit is that family cinemagoers (88% of UK families go across the year) are more upmarket and affluent than your average family. Here are some key facts (from TGI Q3 2015 and FAME 2014) that you should know:
- Families account for 31% of all admissions
- Families make on average 5 visits to the cinema per year
- Average family income is £35.2k (vs. £28.4k for non-cinema-going families)
- Parents go the cinema with kids of all ages: 38% are ‘playschool parents’, 21% are ‘primary school parents’ and 25% are ‘secondary school parents’
- Families spend on average 19 minutes in the foyer, with nearly 9 in 10 purchasing some snacks/drinks
Cinema remains “prime bonding time” for a lot of families and with the enviable slate of films coming up, there’s never been a better time for advertisers to reach this attractive audience in the unique cinema environment – undistracted, captivated and ready to be entertained.
For more information on how you can take advantage of 2016’s great array of family films at the cinema, please get in touch with your agency rep.