Cinecom has local TV plans

Cinema advertising in 2005 was a
Conversion year for Cinecom. Thanks to digital technology, cinema and
TV advertising can be linked. What creates new alliances Until recently, the PubliGroupe subsidiary
Cinecom is essentially active in two different media sectors:
It marketed cinema and TV. With digital technology, the
movie theater, however, in some respects has become an electronic
Medium. Today, 360 out of 475 cinemas are much more flexible and
bookable at short notice, advertising spots can be easily transmitted and
The cumbersome, expensive copying and shipping of film rolls is no longer necessary.
In two months' time, 65 other smaller cinemas will be converted to digital technology.
converted.

As a result, cinema and TV advertising are merging. Now the same
spot will be shown both on TV and in cinemas. That should make the movie theater
certainly make it more interesting for national customers. But the
Cinecom is opening up new potential, particularly in the local market.
This is because small and medium-sized companies that already have a spot for
the local TV can now also play it in the movie theater and
vice versa.

Linking the advertising media could also be beneficial for SMEs due to the
complementary target audiences: TV tends to reach older and younger audiences.
Cinema tends to appeal to younger people. This is why Cinecom is now trying to
to form local alliances with both media. "We are currently working with
talks with individual local TVs about cooperation in the advertising sector",
confirms Cinecom CEO Matthias Luchsinger. First local projects
are expected in the second half of 2006. Names of TV stations
Luchsinger does not want to name any, but it can be assumed that he is not involved in TVs.
in which PubliGroupe is involved via publishers (TeleOstschweiz,
TeleSüdostschweiz), is most likely to find open doors.

In 2005, Cinecom generated gross revenues of around CHF 10 million from the local market - with conventional slides and film slides. With the
new digital stills (CinePictures, 7 and 10 seconds) and
Computer animations (CineMotions, 10 to 15 seconds), but above all
Thanks to the coupling with TV, this turnover could now grow - also in the
national market. "Digitization will give cinema advertising a boost.
sales growth of 10 to 15 percent," predicted Luchsinger
a good year ago.

Promising figures
However, there has hardly been any sign of this so far. On the contrary: the
The 2005 annual figures of Cinecom's parent company PubliGroupe show that the
cinema advertising even recorded a drop of 10 percent compared to 2004. Was it due to
sharp drop in visitor numbers (see below)? "That also has
played along," says Luchsinger. What is more important, however, is that the change
to digital cinema took place in the middle of the year: "Many
Advertising customers waited a long time." In the first half of 2005, the
Cinecom's cinema advertising sales were therefore 21 percent below those of the same
prior-year period. In the second half of the year, after the technology change,
However, this had already resulted in an increase of 6 percent. And
The first quarter of 2006 was 8 percent above the first quarter of 2005 and
also 5 percent higher than in 2004.

A strategic expansion of the company is also expected to contribute
partnership that Cinecom recently entered into with the Zurich-based
entertainment marketing agency Creative Assets. The agency
supports Swiss films even before production begins. The new
Cooperation now enables Cinecom customers to get started with advertising
in the script stage - with product placement and film sponsorship.

At first glance, Cinecom does not appear to be a major player in TV advertising.
all too successful. According to PubliGroupe, it did achieve an increase of 3
percent, but competitor Goldbach Media trumped the competition with a
sales increase of 10 percent. Luchsinger is unimpressed.
"That has to be put into perspective: The PubliGroupe figures are
by the net-net marketing commissions, whereas Goldbach's commissions are
it the total net sales. Because Goldbach expanded its own portfolio in 2004
and 2005 with the addition of Viva and TVM3, around 8 percent of the
Goldbach growth can be attributed to this expansion," says the
Cinecom CEO. In short: according to Luchsinger, Cinecom's performance at
TV marketing in 2005 was better than that of Goldbach. And in 2006
The PubliGroup subsidiary has made further gains with Kabel 1
a channel from IP Multimedia. I wonder if
new youth channel ElevatorTV the next marketing coup?
"We're still in the running there," says Luchsinger.

That leaves ad screen advertising - according to the budget, this year it will be
2 percent of Cinecom sales, twice as much as in 2005.
But there are likely to be more. "Our cinema network with 275 screens at 43
locations has already reached its target for 2006. And the 155
Screens at Coop front stores and petrol stations are also well on budget," Luchsinger is pleased to report.

Up and down for free movie magazines

Of the four free film magazines, only Close-up from Teleclub
continuously: Since 2004, it has increased its reach by 12.4 percent.
increase. Film coming soon (FD), Avant Première and Live from Geneva
Quorum Group, on the other hand, declined despite support measures, Live lost
20.8 percent since 2004.

The reason for the upward trend in close-up, which Cinecom
Matthias Luchsinger primarily sees the growing demand for
Awareness of the magazine. In previous Mach Basic surveys, according to
he suspects that the younger close-up is still often associated with the
more memorable FD - and supported it.
However, the Close-up brand is now firmly established. And it should
further increase its reach. This is because the Kitag cinema chain, which
traditionally cooperates with Close-up, has been working with Capitol since 2006.
and Abaton/Cinemaxx acquired two major Zurich cinemas. The result: FD
had to go out, Close-up was allowed in. The lost circulation is tried
at FD by distributing 10000 copies per month in 100
other Zurich restaurants, stores, take-aways and hairdressing salons
are being launched. And the competition for cinemas and circulation remains
exciting: this year and next year alone, a total of
six new multiplex cinemas with a total of 51 screens opened.

Markus Knöpfli