Cinemark believes it is important for cinema advertisers to understand who goes to the cinema and why so that the wide range of cinema advertising offerings can be tailored to effectively target audiences and reduce advertising wastage – making it an impactful and cost effective method of getting a brand’s message across.

Research undertaken by Cinemark has shown that 29.5% of audiences fall into the LSM six income bracket, while the LSM seven bracket follows a close second with 22.1% of audience members. In addition to this, Cinemark has ascertained that the gender demographic when it comes to cinema audiences is closely divided with females making up 51.2% of audiences.

Cinema advertising is effective in influencing audience’s brand awareness and retention for a variety of reasons including the size of the screen and the quality of sound which keeps the audience’s attention. In addition to this is the isolation of the audience and willingness to assimilate the on-screen messages as they are exposed to a select few number of adverts in the cinema and have made a conscious decision to be there.

During a recession people search for means in which to escape from day-to-day challenges, which is why Ster-Kinekor audience numbers have in fact been on the rise by 877 720 when comparing October 2007 to September 2008 versus October 2008 to September 2009.

Jenni Critchfield, CEO of Cinemark comments, “According to research undertaken by FAME 2008 (Film Audience Measurement & Evaluation), cinema is still the most enjoyed activity out of home, with 87% of people electing to attend the cinema, as opposed to 79% who would rather go out for a meal. In the same way while cinema offers a broad range of audiences it also delivers a unique audience. Cinemagoers are typically TV viewers and early adopters of trends who deliver unique reach; meaning that adding cinema to your TV schedule will increase unique cover in a cost effective way. In addition to this cinema audiences are far more engaged with the on-screen message and thus will have much higher recall than other advertising mediums, a higher recall which will in turn lead to a positive shift in the perception of the brand. Here at Cinemark we are experienced in catering for individual clients in terms of their preferred target markets, from children and young adults, to parents and even grandparents.

The introduction of new technology such as 3D and High Definition into cinema’s countrywide will also serve to attract influential and knowledgeable audiences who are aware of the advantages such technology offers to the entertainment experience. This has been evidenced throughout 2009 with the blockbuster success of 3D releases such as Ice Age 3.”

The medium of cinema has traditionally been viewed as a youth stronghold. Information taken from the Target Group Index (TGI) has established that the majority of cinema goers (41.3%) are within the 16 to 24 age group, a notoriously difficult age group to reach on TV, while the second biggest percentage of cinema goers are within the 25 to 34 age category with 28.9%. This market proves to be particularly lucrative for advertisers as typically they have either recently entered into the job market, have a higher disposable income, or have no dependents and few responsibilities.

For more information, visit www.cinemark.co.za.