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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Digital Cinema Media (DCM) has unveiled “Cultural Relevance,” the latest edition of its industry-leading Building Box Office Brands series.
With brands competing amid a summer of sport and blockbusters, DCM collaborated with insight and strategy consultancy, MTM, to better understand the cultural moments that resonate, and explore the unique role cinema can play in boosting cultural relevance.
The research was presented to guests attending DCM’s annual Upfronts showcase at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on Tuesday 14 July.
Download the morning's presentation here
The cultural moments that people most recalled from the last 12 months – that are commercially available to advertisers – are dominated by three areas: TV Entertainment (34%), Cinema (28%), and Sport (23%). This means Cinema and TV deliver 85% of commercial cultural moments. In contrast, Social media trends are positioned in fourth place, with just 12% of the spontaneously recalled moments
“Nothing signals culture quite like cinema,” said Karen Stacey, CEO of DCM. “Competing alongside a myriad of channels and trends, time and again, cinema remains a premium AV format that consistently delivers ROI, be it price perception, recall or longevity. If you’re looking to capitalise on a cultural moment, cinema and its incredible film slate remain one of the strongest mediums.”
Anticipation and quality deliver long term results
DCM and MTM also explored the mechanisms behind cultural moments and what uniquely sets TV, Cinema and Sport apart from other moments, like social trends. The most resonant cultural moments are also those that have had a degree of anticipation and build up. In the case of cinema, anticipation for films can be built up over weeks, months and years driving unparalleled audience excitement.
According to the research, this delivers an emotional resonance that no other channel can match. When it comes to the moments perceived by audiences as long-lasting and memorable, social media is perceived to be far more fleeting than those channels that offer anticipated moments.
Brands advertising in cinema enter the scene just as excitement is peaking, with participants rating excitement levels progressively higher until they sit down to watch the film.
This translated to higher recall and quality perception from participants and despite cinema achieving just 1% of total video viewing time, generated 28% of recalled cultural moments.
Further findings from the report include:
- Cinema scored highest (vs. tv, streaming, social, online video) for advertising that doesn’t interrupt audience experience, openness to ads shown, and memorability of the ads.
- People are more likely to associate HIGH QUALITY (67%), RELEVANT TO ME (65%), CATEGORY LEADING (61%) with brands who advertise before cultural moments in cinema.
Michael Tull, Head of Strategy & Insight at DCM said: “Analysis from Kantar has shown that cultural relevance is a key growth driver, so we were keen to explore what delivers real cultural cut-through in today's landscape – and how brands can specifically benefit from cinema. Films remain a highly anticipated and resonant event, and brands who appear in the preshow will benefit from significant increases in quality, status and relevance metrics as a result. These are all key elements that make a compelling case for cinema in helping to build long-lasting successful brands."
Following the presentation, Lucy Verby, Founder of We Are Masterplan, chaired an engaging panel discussion with senior brand executives on the effectiveness of cinema and its role in the AV media mix. Lucy was joined by Fleur Andrews, Head of Campaigns at Google Pixel UK; Vanisha Vaghela, Head of Media Planning, Vodafone; Gareth George, Director of Media (Group), RVU and Michael Bensley, Head of Client at DCM.