Cinema advertising Since Cinecom presented new lease agreements, more and more cinema operators have become dissatisfied. Some have broken away from the PubliGroup subsidiary's marketing monopoly.
monopolist in the Swiss cinema market: since 2004, it has sold all of the 400 or so
commercial Swiss cinemas on lease. However, since the wholly owned PubliGroupe subsidiary is facing contract renewals,
is the beginning of a weaning movement among cinema operators.
to make out. One of the
The first to terminate its lease is Kino Chur AG. "The
The contract for our four movie theaters expired at the end of 2005, and we have
no longer renewed," says Rita Kalberer, who is responsible for marketing and
administration. The reason: "The new conditions did not work for us.
voted for more. But Cinecom wouldn't budge."
Stephan Stottele, owner of the ABC and Bambi cinemas in Bülach, is no exception,
did not want to accept the new "gag contracts" of Cinecom and
resigned at the end of 2005, and Marco Brenner resigned prematurely,
Managing Director of the Palace 1 and 2 cinemas in Wetzikon. His contract with
of Cinecom would not expire until the end of 2007, but he already wants to be
completely" at the end of 2006.
Whether in Chur, Bülach, Wetzikon or elsewhere - the situation is the same everywhere.
The same: Until now, Cinecom paid the 400 cinemas a fixed fee each,
However, the amount per moviegoer depends on the location. Newly presented
the PubliGroup subsidiary offers the cinema industry a participation model.
is scrapping the visitor-based compensation; instead, it wants to
net advertising revenue per cinema in roughly equal parts. It also charges for
an annual fee for the digital transmission of cinema advertising.
Dissatisfaction is growing
Rita Kalberer explains what this would mean for her cinemas:
"According to the contract offer, Cinecom would only have given us around 50
percent of the previous turnover." Marco Brenner agrees:
"Cinecom's sales are declining, but it is still pushing ahead with every
contract renewal and imposes new conditions." And Stefan
Stottele does not agree with the participation rate. "For the
I pay a maximum of 20 percent for advertising acquisition," he says. In addition
it assesses the calculation of the net advertising income to be divided as
"non-transparent". This is because Cinecom markets TV as well as cinema,
Adscreen and Print, but has its overhead costs alone for
Cinema advertising never broken down. "I don't want to watch the whole
Cinecom machine," says Stottele. And for the digital
He does not want to pay for the transmission of advertising, as Cinecom
I already save the transportation costs for the advertising film rolls.
Whether other cinema operators are planning to take the emancipation step or
already dared to do so is unclear. One thing is certain, however: the dissatisfaction
is growing. The cinema associations are also aware of this. Statements or
There are no recommendations there, because the aim is to
any impression of price fixing for antitrust reasons
avoid. But some presidents are at least keeping up with their
personal opinion: For example, Vital
Epelbaum, President of United Cinemas of Switzerland (100 cinemas) a
expansion of the "opposition movement" is entirely possible - although
without him, because his 19 halls have not yet been renewed.
an.
The same applies to Manuel Zach, President of around 130 small town and city councils.
Country cinemas: He has renewed the lease for his own five cinemas.
Nevertheless, he states: "Since Cinecom has been on the market on its own,
she behaves very dominantly." And Hanspeter Sigg, President of the
Eastern Switzerland Cinema Association (56 cinemas) adds: "The cinema industry is
very displeased." He himself is too. That's why he is going to
sign a new lease, "but only for one year.
for one year."
And how do the renegade cinemas get their advertising revenue? "We
are now in the process of setting up a marketing department for us," says
Rita Kalberer in Chur. The first thing she did with Tele- Südostschweiz was to enter into a
advertising combination: Whoever shows their spot in both media receives a
discount. Kalberer has also informed all local customers about the new situation.
and also paid initial visits to national customers.
With success: its turnover in the first half of 2006 was higher than that which it would have received from Cinecom, and it was "only just"
below the one that Cinecom brought her a year ago, she says.
However, the proportion of local advertising is now much higher.
Stephan Stottele in Bülach even claims to have the same turnover today.
as before with Cinecom. "Without all the overhead costs
I just set my prices lower," he explains. And Marco Brenner
In addition to local advertising, the company also relies on national advertising with local
Reference. "It benefits car brand X more if I buy your new car.
together with the address of your local garage," he says.
It has long been no secret that some cinema operators also have
think about an alternative to Cinecom. "Something like that could well
will arise," is Vital Epelbaum's assessment of the situation. And Stephan
Stottele says: "If someone comes along with a good offer, I'm
the first to join in."
But how does Cinecom in Zurich react? "The fact that we have been
continuously renewing contracts and, instead of a
the usual level of compensation in all other media.
participation principle are not news, but for the
Swiss cinema industry is just a bit unusual," says Managing Director
Matthias Luchsinger. However, only two smaller contracts have been
has not been renewed. He emphasizes that the calculation of the
net advertising revenue is clearly broken down in the contracts and the
Correct distribution of income checked by the auditors
will.
Luchsinger wants to comment on the percentages and overhead costs.
on the other hand. However, he points out that the
Cinecom increased its cinema advertising sales in the first half of 2006 thanks to the
digital transmission introduced in the previous year by ten percent.
despite another decline in tobacco advertising. "Should
once these are no longer available, I can offer all those who market themselves
good luck," he says.
History of the Cinecom monopoly
In 1995, the two former cinema marketers Digital
Cinefilm and Central Films merge to form Cinecom & Media. CEO of the
new monopolist, Matthias Luchsinger, previously sales manager at
Digital Cinefilm.
However, the monopoly was broken in 1999 when the marketing of the new
the Balexert multiplex cinema opened in Geneva by the French
cinema marketing company Mediavision. Subsequently
Mediavision continuously increases its market share in French-speaking Switzerland
over 50 percent, but it was never able to gain a foothold in German-speaking Switzerland.
to grasp. For this reason - and also because they are the
advertising could not keep up with Cinecom - it canceled it at the beginning of
2004 the sails. Cinecom took over all cinema contracts again. In the
In the same year, Cinecom, which at the time was owned by investor Peter
Gmür, was bought by PubliGroupe.
Markus Knöpfli
