Werbeweischer, under the leadership of Nils Schilling, Managing Director, will thus become the clear market leader in the local cinema advertising market. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Florian Weischer, Chairman Werbeweischer, is looking forward to the joint future of the two strong Swiss cinema marketers: "Thanks to the innovative impulses we have set with Werbeweischer in the Swiss cinema market since our market entry almost three years ago, the medium cinema has continuously gained relevance in the moving image mix of advertising clients - a highly positive development that Werbeweischer will now further advance together with the cinema experts of Cinecom."
"The complexity created by the ongoing digitization of the cinema business as well and the increasing pressure on margins led to the decision to divest the cinema business," Publicitas wrote in a statement. In addition to print and online, Publicitas' two main revenue pillars, cinema marketing had offered too few synergies and thus no scalable effects in the company.
Christoph Marty, CEO Publicitas: "The sale of our cinema business allows us to invest more specifically in our core print and online business. We have taken the first steps with the Takeover of XentiveWe have already done this with the development of the new booking platform and the expansion of the digital team, and are continuing on this path with the redevelopment of our tools for the advertising market. Werbeweischer offers a very good perspective for our employees and the cinema market and will invest in the further development of the offers." Weischer Beteiligungs GmbH is taking over 100 percent of Publicitas Cinecom as of Sept. 21, 2015, with all obligations to customers and employees.
Publicitas Cinecom, the marketing organization of Publicitas for audiovisual cinema advertising, is now exclusively marketing the advertising space of Liechtenstein cinemas in Schaan and Balzers as well as the Vaduz Film Festival in Liechtenstein. Christian Wittmer, Head of Cinema & TV Publicitas: "We are very pleased about the new cooperation with the cinemas in Liechtenstein, which represents a significant step in the expansion of our media portfolio. Our Publicitas location in Schaan allows us to optimally serve the market and offer our customers access to a new and lucrative advertising market." Markus Wille, cinema operator: "We are delighted to have found an experienced partner in Publicitas Cinecom to support us in marketing the cinema landscape in Liechtenstein."
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WW: For a year now, Publicitas Cinecom has had a competitor in Swiss cinema marketing in the form of WerbeWeischer. Publicitas Cinecom started with a market share MA of 71 percent (all of Switzerland), 56 percent in German-speaking Switzerland, WerbeWeischer with an MA of 44 percent (German-speaking Switzerland), 29 percent (all of Switzerland) (see tab.). Is there a change at the start of 2014?
Christian Wittmer CW: We do not expect any significant changes in market shares. Due to the renewals of important partnerships, e.g., in the Zurich area with Arena Cinemas and Neugass Kino, we will market a total of 13 new screens in Zurich in 2014. With these and other partnerships throughout Switzerland, Publicitas Cinecom remains the market leader in all language regions.
Nils Schilling NS: The fact is: there have been significant changes in market shares since WerbeWeischer entered the Swiss market. In German-speaking Switzerland, we now have a market share of 47 percent. In terms of MACH Cinema pools, WerbeWeischer has a 77 percent share in Lucerne, 48 percent in Berne, 80 percent in St. Gallen/Schaffhausen and 56 percent in Zurich - not least thanks to our collaboration with Arthouse - while Publicitas Cinecom only has a 44 percent market share here. We are by far the market leader in the key cities of German-speaking Switzerland - and the development for 2014 is not yet complete, so that overall there will be further shifts in favor of WerbeWeischer.
CW: Including the closures and new openings of cinemas in 2014, which do not yet seem to have been taken into account in Nils Schilling's calculation, we arrive at the previously mentioned market shares according to our projections (based on MACH Cinema's 2013 market shares). We assume the following market shares in 2014: Basel (88%), Bern (52%), Geneva (100%), Zurich (52%, excluding Winterthur 58%), Lausanne (100%) and Lugano (100%). We are thus the only marketer able to continue offering our advertising customers a nationwide cinema portfolio. The new movie theaters of our partners already announced for 2014 are essential components of a realistic forecast of market shares in 2014.
NS: We find it misleading that Publicitas Cinecom argues with market shares for Zurich that are based on cinemas that have not yet opened and thus on visitors that do not yet exist.
WerbeWeischer has so far been active exclusively in German-speaking Switzerland. This is probably related to the division of the two largest cinema operators. WerbeWeischer has the second-largest cinema operator, Kitag, on board, but it is not present in French-speaking Switzerland. The number one, Pathé, which operates throughout Switzerland, is marketed by Publicitas Cinecom. Nils Schilling, you wrote that further shifts are to be expected in 2014. Is this also about western Switzerland?
NS: Our market entry was aimed at the whole of Switzerland from the outset, and of course we will also be active in French-speaking Switzerland.
In 2014, however, you will not yet be able to market any halls in western Switzerland, right?
NS: That is correct.
Christian Wittmer, when was the last time the contracts with Pathé were extended? And: When do they expire?
CW: We have long-term contracts with both Pathé and our second-largest partner Arena Cinemas - exclusive marketing mandates.
Does that mean that Pathé and Arena will remain with Publicitas Cinecom for the next two to three years?
CW: We do not provide information on the content of our contractual agreements with partners.
Publicitas Cinecom and WerbeWeischer differ in their pricing and billing models. Will there be any adjustments in 2014? Will the CPM change, for example? (Publicitas Cinecom: CPM at least CHF 12; WerbeWeischer: CPM at least CHF 11.50).
CW: Publicitas Cinecom will not be changing its price level in 2013/2014. In 2014, we will launch new packages that further simplify access to the medium of cinema and make it more transparent.
NS: Since entering the market, WerbeWeischer has been billing every single visitor for every single cinema performance. More transparency and precision is not possible. Publicitas Cinecom, on the other hand, still calculates using a projection based on a city pool and has no access to this level of detail. Our cost-per-visit billing method at Weischer-Kinopark is the hardest currency in the cinema market. We receive up-to-date data from the box offices on a daily basis. Traceability, transparency and performance-based billing are part of our mission, and cinema operators and advertising clients benefit from this in equal measure. On the question of price development: Overall, there will be a moderate price increase of around five percent across all our products next year, as there is high demand for film-specific bookings and special forms of advertising in cinemas.
CW: With a portfolio of more than 100 partners throughout Switzerland, access to all box office systems is more complex than with a comparatively much smaller partner environment. For this reason, we currently bill on the basis of ticket sales from ProCinema. As an industry association, ProCinema provides a reliable and valid basis. We are also working on an efficient solution that enables billing directly via the box office systems and does justice to the high level of coverage that we offer our customers throughout Switzerland. For the customer, the same applies in both cases: Cinema is the medium with the hardest and therefore most transparent currency.
NS: For clarification, I would like to add: The procedure established by Cinecom merely represents an inaccurate extrapolation of weekly visitor data from the largest cities to the respective campaign. This procedure is not comparable with the billing system introduced by WerbeWeischer at the market launch, which uses the daily attendance figures of each cinema performance from the box office - and thus offers the highest precision and complete transparency for advertising customers.
CW: It seems daring to me to speak of inaccurate projections. We receive figures down to the level of individual movie theaters from the Swiss Association for Cinema and Film Distribution in order to prepare our accounts.
How do things look in the area of cross-media offerings?
CW: We are further expanding our cross-media offerings in 2014. In addition to Star-TV, other TV stations will be included in the offering. Cineman. ch and Kinowetter.ch will be followed by further online portals.
NS: In the online sector, we will also be cooperating with 20 Minuten in future, in addition to our existing cinema web offering, and will market cinema in the entertainment sector exclusively for Tillate.com. Here, our partners will also benefit from the high level of experience we have gained in Germany in online dialog with cinema target groups. Other cross-media offerings include ad screens, our monitor system for foyer advertising, and numerous touchpoints in cinemas that we use to showcase our brands.
Cross-media offers may lead to an increase in revenue for cinema operators. However, it is unattractive for cinema marketers that it is not recorded in the advertising statistics. Agreed?
NS: Of course, we have a great interest in ensuring that each advertising medium provides proof of its performance - in this respect, we are positively disposed toward possible developments for recording cross-media offerings. But in general, I would like to emphasize: We cannot strengthen the medium of cinema by means of advertising statistics.
CW: Publicitas relies heavily on cross-channel media solutions. Individual measures can already be measured in one way or another. Due to different currencies, the need for explanation on the part of the customer may increase, but advantages such as the increased effectiveness of a cross-media campaign outweigh this. For example, a study commissioned by Publicitas Cinecom from the research company Brand Science showed that cinema in the media mix both generates additional revenue and strengthens the overall campaign.
WW: How high is the "non-cinematic" share (i.e. everything except cinema screen) in cross-media campaigns?
CW: That depends very much on the campaign. Within the Publicitas portfolio, cinema can be only a small part of a cross-media campaign on the one hand, while on the other hand there are clients who use cinema as their main medium and complement it with other offers. NS: On average, we record a "non-cinematic" share of around ten percent for cross-media campaigns. For individual campaigns, however, this share can sometimes exceed 50 percent of the total campaign budget. We definitely see potential for growth in this area.
Digitization has opened up the possibility of cooperation with private national TV stations, regional broadcasters or even Publisuisse. Are there any plans in this area?
NS: We see our task as marketing cinema - and we are one hundred percent passionate about this task. Cinema has a unique contact quality, and if the medium of cinema is to be networked with other media in terms of campaigns, this is primarily the task of media agencies to develop efficient solutions here. And one more thing: Our cinema partners also expect us to ensure that our marketing activities do not move outside the cinema-affinity radius.
CW: As a marketer of TV stations as well, Publicitas is focusing strongly on an increasingly intensive exchange between TV and cinema. Cross-media campaigns are increasingly in demand among our agency and direct customers.
Final question: Cinema advertising is a niche medium due to its low reach. When WerbeWeischer entered the market, the motto was: competition stimulates the market. How successful were you in this respect, and was cinema advertising able to gain additional shares of the advertising pie overall?
NS: In our view, the decline in cinema advertising of around 40 percent between 2003 and 2012 (gross advertising print advertising market statistics Media Focus) was caused by marketing of cinema that was no longer in line with the times. There has been no further development of the medium during this time - in this respect, there was a high need for reform when we launched in the Swiss market at the beginning of last year. Not least through the cinema advertising model "Cinema Reloaded," WerbeWeischer is providing the urgently needed innovative impetus here. Against this background, we see even more potential for cinema in the media mix - also because of the extraordinary impact of this wonderful medium.
CW: The gross figures for advertising pressure calculated in Media Focus are the wrong figures for determining the share of the advertising pie. With regard to market development, the advertising statistics with their recording of net sales are decisive across all sectors, not advertising print. According to the Stiftung Werbestatistik Schweiz (Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation), the cinema market has been at a stable level since 2008, while in 2011 to 2012 net sales even increased by 25 percent - the downward trend was thus already absorbed before the competitive situation arose (net sales 2009: CHF 26 million, 2010: CHF 28 million, 2011: CHF 24 million, 2012: CHF 30 million). Another aspect is the share of cinema advertising in total advertising expenditure, and here we cannot complain: With a share of around 0.7 percent, Switzerland is relatively high in an international comparison and shows a higher value than, for example, Germany with a share of cinema advertising of around 0.5 percent (source: SAWA). We see this as reinforcing our strategy of continuous further development of the medium, which we are pursuing on a sustained basis with the expertise of the long-standing market leader in Switzerland.
Moderation: Isabel Imper
WW: For a year now, Publicitas Cinecom has had a competitor in Swiss cinema marketing in the form of WerbeWeischer. Publicitas Cinecom started with a market share MA of 71 percent (all of Switzerland), 56 percent in German-speaking Switzerland, WerbeWeischer with an MA of 44 percent (German-speaking Switzerland), 29 percent (all of Switzerland) (see tab.). Is there a change at the start of 2014?
Christian Wittmer CW: We do not expect any significant changes in market shares. Due to the renewals of important partnerships, e.g., in the Zurich area with Arena Cinemas and Neugass Kino, we will market a total of 13 new screens in Zurich in 2014. With these and other partnerships throughout Switzerland, Publicitas Cinecom remains the market leader in all language regions.
Nils Schilling NS: The fact is: there have been significant changes in market shares since WerbeWeischer entered the Swiss market. In German-speaking Switzerland, we now have a market share of 47 percent. In terms of MACH Cinema pools, WerbeWeischer has a 77 percent share in Lucerne, 48 percent in Berne, 80 percent in St. Gallen/Schaffhausen and 56 percent in Zurich - not least thanks to our collaboration with Arthouse - while Publicitas Cinecom only has a market share of 44 percent here. We are by far the market leader in the key cities of German-speaking Switzerland - and the development for 2014 is not yet complete, so that overall there will be further shifts in favor of WerbeWeischer.
CW: Including the closures and new openings of cinemas in 2014, which do not yet seem to have been taken into account in Nils Schilling's calculation, we arrive at the previously mentioned market shares according to our projections (based on MACH Cinema's 2013 market shares). We assume the following market shares in 2014: Basel (88%), Bern (52%), Geneva (100%), Zurich (52%, excluding Winterthur 58%), Lausanne (100%) and Lugano (100%). We are thus the only marketer able to continue offering our advertising customers a nationwide cinema portfolio. The new movie theaters of our partners already announced for 2014 are essential components of a realistic forecast of market shares in 2014.
NS: We find it misleading that Publicitas Cinecom argues with market shares for Zurich that are based on cinemas that have not yet opened and thus on visitors that do not yet exist.
WerbeWeischer has so far been active exclusively in German-speaking Switzerland. This is probably related to the division of the two largest cinema operators. WerbeWeischer has the second-largest cinema operator, Kitag, on board, but it is not present in French-speaking Switzerland. The number one, Pathé, which operates throughout Switzerland, is marketed by Publicitas Cinecom. Nils Schilling, you wrote that further shifts are to be expected in 2014. Is this also about western Switzerland?
NS: Our market entry was aimed at the whole of Switzerland from the outset, and of course we will also be active in French-speaking Switzerland.
In 2014, however, you will not yet be able to market any halls in western Switzerland, right?
NS: That is correct.
Christian Wittmer, when was the last time the contracts with Pathé were extended? And: When do they expire?
CW: We have long-term contracts with both Pathé and our second-largest partner Arena Cinemas - exclusive marketing mandates.
Does that mean that Pathé and Arena will remain with Publicitas Cinecom for the next two to three years?
CW: We do not provide information on the content of our contractual agreements with partners.
Publicitas Cinecom and WerbeWeischer differ in their pricing and billing models. Will there be any adjustments in 2014? Will the CPM change, for example? (Publicitas Cinecom: CPM at least CHF 12; WerbeWeischer: CPM at least CHF 11.50).
CW: Publicitas Cinecom will not be changing its price level in 2013/2014. In 2014, we will launch new packages that further simplify access to the medium of cinema and make it more transparent.
NS: Since entering the market, WerbeWeischer has been billing every single visitor for every single cinema performance. More transparency and precision is not possible. Publicitas Cinecom, on the other hand, still calculates using a projection based on a city pool and has no access to this level of detail. Our cost-per-visit billing method at Weischer-Kinopark is the hardest currency in the cinema market. We receive up-to-date data from the box offices on a daily basis. Traceability, transparency and performance-based billing are part of our mission, and cinema operators and advertising clients benefit from this in equal measure. On the question of price development: Overall, there will be a moderate price increase of around five percent across all our products next year, as there is high demand for film-specific bookings and special forms of advertising in cinemas.
CW: With a portfolio of more than 100 partners throughout Switzerland, access to all box office systems is more complex than with a comparatively much smaller partner environment. For this reason, we currently bill on the basis of ticket sales from ProCinema. As an industry association, ProCinema provides a reliable and valid basis. We are also working on an efficient solution that enables billing directly via the box office systems and does justice to the high level of coverage that we offer our customers throughout Switzerland. For the customer, the same applies in both cases: Cinema is the medium with the hardest and therefore most transparent currency.
NS: For clarification, I would like to add: The procedure established by Cinecom merely represents an inaccurate extrapolation of weekly visitor data from the largest cities to the respective campaign. This procedure is not comparable with the billing system introduced by WerbeWeischer at the market launch, which uses the daily attendance figures of each cinema performance from the box office - and thus offers the highest precision and complete transparency for advertising customers.
CW: It seems daring to me to speak of inaccurate projections. We receive figures down to the level of individual movie theaters from the Swiss Association for Cinema and Film Distribution in order to prepare our accounts.
How do things look in the area of cross-media offerings?
CW: We are further expanding our cross-media offerings in 2014. In addition to Star-TV, other TV stations will be included in the offering. Cineman. ch and Kinowetter.ch will be followed by further online portals.
NS: In the online sector, we will also be cooperating with 20 Minuten in future, in addition to our existing cinema web offering, and will market cinema in the entertainment sector exclusively for Tillate.com. Here, our partners will also benefit from the high level of experience we have gained in Germany in online dialog with cinema target groups. Other cross-media offerings include ad screens, our monitor system for foyer advertising, and numerous touchpoints in cinemas that we use to showcase our brands.
Cross-media offers may lead to an increase in revenue for cinema operators. However, it is unattractive for cinema marketers that it is not recorded in the advertising statistics. Agreed?
NS: Of course, we have a great interest in ensuring that each advertising medium provides proof of its performance - in this respect, we are positively disposed toward possible developments for recording cross-media offerings. But in general, I would like to emphasize: We cannot strengthen the medium of cinema by means of advertising statistics.
CW: Publicitas relies heavily on cross-channel media solutions. Individual measures can already be measured in one way or another. Due to different currencies, the need for explanation on the part of the customer may increase, but advantages such as the increased effectiveness of a cross-media campaign outweigh this. For example, a study commissioned by Publicitas Cinecom from the research company Brand Science showed that cinema in the media mix both generates additional revenue and strengthens the overall campaign.
WW: How high is the "non-cinematic" share (i.e. everything except cinema screen) in cross-media campaigns?
CW: That depends very much on the campaign. Within the Publicitas portfolio, cinema can be only a small part of a cross-media campaign on the one hand, while on the other hand there are clients who use cinema as their main medium and complement it with other offers.
NS: On average, we record a "non-cinematic" share of around ten percent for cross-media campaigns. For individual campaigns, however, this share can sometimes exceed 50 percent of the total campaign budget. We definitely see potential for growth in this area.
Digitization has opened up the possibility of cooperation with private national TV stations, regional broadcasters or even Publisuisse. Are there any plans in this area?
NS: We see our task as marketing cinema - and we are one hundred percent passionate about this task. Cinema has a unique contact quality, and if the medium of cinema is to be networked with other media in terms of campaigns, this is primarily the task of media agencies to develop efficient solutions here. And one more thing: Our cinema partners also expect us to ensure that our marketing activities do not move outside the cinema-affinity radius.
CW: As a marketer of TV stations as well, Publicitas is focusing strongly on an increasingly intensive exchange between TV and cinema. Cross-media campaigns are increasingly in demand among our agency and direct customers.
Final question: Cinema advertising is a niche medium due to its low reach. When WerbeWeischer entered the market, the motto was: competition stimulates the market. How successful were you in this respect, and was cinema advertising able to gain additional shares of the advertising pie overall?
NS: In our view, the decline in cinema advertising of around 40 percent between 2003 and 2012 (gross advertising print advertising market statistics Media Focus) was caused by marketing of cinema that was no longer in line with the times. There has been no further development of the medium during this time - in this respect, there was a high need for reform when we launched in the Swiss market at the beginning of last year. Not least through the cinema advertising model "Cinema Reloaded," WerbeWeischer is providing the urgently needed innovative impetus here. Against this background, we see even more potential for cinema in the media mix - also because of the extraordinary impact of this wonderful medium.
CW: The gross figures for advertising pressure calculated in Media Focus are the wrong figures for determining the share of the advertising pie. With regard to market development, the advertising statistics with their recording of net sales are decisive across all sectors, not advertising print. According to the Stiftung Werbestatistik Schweiz (Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation), the cinema market has been at a stable level since 2008, while in 2011 to 2012 net sales even increased by 25 percent - the downward trend was thus already absorbed before the competitive situation arose (net sales 2009: CHF 26 million, 2010: CHF 28 million, 2011: CHF 24 million, 2012: CHF 30 million). Another aspect is the share of cinema advertising in total advertising expenditure, and here we cannot complain: With a share of around 0.7 percent, Switzerland is relatively high in an international comparison and shows a higher value than, for example, Germany with a share of cinema advertising of around 0.5 percent (source: SAWA). We see this as reinforcing our strategy of continuous further development of the medium, which we are pursuing on a sustained basis with the expertise of the long-standing market leader in Switzerland.
Moderation: Isabel Imper
Publicitas Cinecom, the marketing organization of Publicitas for audiovisual cinema advertising, and Neugass Kino AG, cinema operator in Zurich and Lucerne, are renewing their partnership. In addition to the marketing of the Riffraff cinema in Zurich and the Bourbaki cinema in Lucerne, the mandate also includes the marketing of the new Houdini cinema complex, which will open in spring 2014 at Kalkbreite in Zurich. The Houdini digital cinema complex will expand the cinema market in Zurich with five screens including a 3D auditorium. Houdini is being built in a central location between districts 3 and 4 in Zurich and aims to enrich the cinema landscape with an innovative cinema concept. Neugass Kino has a long-standing arthouse tradition and combines sophisticated film programming with an appealing gastronomic culture in its cinemas.
Christian Wittmer, Head of Cinema & TV: "As a cinema complex for studio films, the Houdini offers advertising clients the opportunity to place their products and advertising messages centrally and in an innovative environment, thereby addressing their target group extremely effectively. We are delighted to be able to offer the new Houdini by Neugass Kino in our portfolio in Zurich in addition to the tried-and-tested Riffraff cinema."
Res Kessler, Managing Director of Neugass Kino: "We are delighted about the renewal of our partnership with Publicitas Cinecom and, based on the proven cooperation to date, we will continue to place our full trust in the team in the future. The "Houdini" is a new addition to the arthouse sector in Zurich and we are convinced that we have chosen the right partner in Publicitas Cinecom as the most experienced Swiss cinema marketer to make the best possible use of the versatile potential of this project."
]]>According to Mach Cinema, Publicitas Cinecom has a market share of 88% in the Basel area based on attendance figures. Kult Kino is one of the most important representatives of arthouse cinemas in Switzerland and, in addition to selected cinematic entertainment, also offers specially tailored program content such as the "Zauberlaterne" children's film club.
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Thanks to Wemf's Mach Cinema study, which was adapted in 2013 to the new marketing situation of the cinema media category in Switzerland, Publicitas Cinecom has a further developed data basis for the sale of advertising space in cinemas and can offer advertising customers even more target group-specific media solutions, as the cinema marketer writes in a press release on Tuesday.
According to the new figures, Publicitas Cinecom remains the leading marketer in German-speaking Switzerland and the sole marketer in French-speaking and Italian-speaking Switzerland. Overall, Publicitas Cinecom has a market share of 71 percent in Switzerland. Based on the target group characteristics of Mach Basic and Consumer, the fifth edition of the Mach Cinema study once again deepens our knowledge of Swiss moviegoers, who are classified as having an above-average propensity to consume and an affinity for brands.
The aim of the new film usage study is to provide a detailed picture of the audience, at least for blockbusters, and thus provide advertisers with even more precise data on the socio-demographics of the target group. In addition to film genres, important characteristics will also be available for individual films such as "James Bond: Skyfall - 007" or "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2". This innovative, film-specific breakdown of moviegoers offers valuable comparative values for the planning of screen campaigns, both with regard to series film productions in particular and in general.
Christian Wittmer, Head of Cinema & TV: "If you look at the media landscape, cinema is proving to be a stable medium and an attractive advertising medium. As a leading marketer, we look forward to continuing to offer our advertising customers data-based and therefore target group-specific media solutions."
This ensures the publication of Mach Cinema, in the familiar Basic and Consumer study versions, up to and including 2015. This was announced by Wemf AG für Werbemedienforschung in a press release on Thursday. Mach Cinema will therefore remain an integral part of the usual Wemf data packages for media planning professionals.
As before, the new Mach Cinema is based on the Mach Basic research concept and is also part of the MA Strategy intermedia study. The publication date for Mach Cinema 2013 is September 17, 2013. Mach Cinema Basic combines all target groups of Mach Basic with the cinema offering, while Mach Cinema Consumer expands this information with consumer behavior. Urs Wolfensberger, Head of Marketing & Sales at Wemf, says: "The advertising offering of cinemas is becoming more differentiated and competition between the two cinema marketers is undoubtedly intense. We are therefore all the more pleased that both cinema marketers were able to agree on the continuation of the proven Mach Cinema in very constructive talks".
In addition and exclusively for the two cinema marketers Publicitas Cinecom and Werbeweischer, Wemf also produces a special film usage study. This new study determines the specific visitor structure for each premiere film.
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Publicitas Cinecom will therefore continue to market the advertising space in the Sterk and Trafo cinemas in Baden and the Elite cinema in Wettingen.
Kinobetriebe Marti, under the management of Alain Marti and Nadia Bähler, operates the three cinemas Rex, City and Lauitor in Thun. The Rex cinema closed its doors temporarily in 2012 and is currently being renovated. A new multiplex cinema with five screens is being built. Publicitas Cinecom is a long-standing business partner of the Marti cinema. With the marketing mandate for the cinema operator's expansion project, Publicitas Cinecom will have a market share of around 64% in the Bern metropolitan area from 2014, according to a press release.
The new Swiss film "Himmelfahrtskommando" opens in cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland tonight. The film would not have been shown in St. Gallen if the filmmakers of "Himmelfahrtskommando" had not taken on the role of cinema operator themselves: the film can therefore be seen exclusively at the Corso cinema in St. Gallen.
Publicitas Cinecom supports the special project "Himmelfahrtskommando im Kino Corso" and markets the advertising space exclusively and on favorable terms. Advertisers can book the entire duration of at least eight weeks at an attractive fixed price and thus convey their advertising message under exceptional conditions, as detailed in a press release.
Christian Wittmer, Managing Director of Publicitas Cinecom: "As a leading cinema marketer with a long Swiss tradition, Publicitas Cinecom is committed to promoting film culture in our country. In addition to cooperating with the leading Swiss film festivals, we have assured the producer, Manuel Schneider, and the director, Dennis Ledergerber, of our full support. Advertising clients also benefit from the special circumstances at the Corso cinema in St. Gallen, which brings them incomparably close to the film and thus to the audience."
Since the beginning of the year, a lot has been new in cinema advertising. For Publicitas Cinecom customers, too. For example, it is now possible to bill according to the number of contacts actually reached. This is something that many advertising customers have wanted for some time.
WW: Christian Wittmer, it seems Publicitas Cinecom had to have competition until customer wishes were taken into account.
Christian Wittmer: Of course, tougher competition is forcing Publicitas Cinecom to become more innovative as a provider. Under pressure from the competition - and from advertising customers - we therefore adjusted the pricing model as of 2013. On the supply side, however, not much has changed. The fact that it was previously not possible to book on film, as portrayed in an article (Media Trend Journal, 4-2012), is not true. In addition to geographical choice, we have been offering our customers the option of booking advertising on individual films or genres, i.e. target-group-specific advertising, for several years now.
Werbeweischer advertises strongly with the target group approach. Where does Publicitas Cinecom place its focus?
The target group is also a big issue for us. So far, the split has been about 50-50. In the past two years, about half of our customers have taken a geographic approach, and the others have booked on genre or film. In the future, however, I think the target group will play a bigger role than geography.
Target group-specific advertising is the trend. In which cases do you see the geographic approach remaining superior in the future?
The geographic approach is suitable, for example, if a company operates in a limited area and wants to reach all customers there. For a garage owner or optician, it still makes sense to advertise in the cinemas around their location.
Let's talk about the pricing model: Why did Publicitas Cinecom stick to the old model, seasonal pricing, for so long?
Price accounting is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it should not be complicated, so that customers and agencies can also book advertising easily who do not deal with cinema advertising every day. On the other hand, there are the major customers and agencies who want performance-based billing. As of this year, we now cover both desires: In the local business, we stick to scale prices. This means that each cinema is divided into a scale according to audience numbers, which costs a fixed amount per month. In national business, we have introduced the thousand-contact price (CPM), which advertising customers already know from other categories.
How does the new model work with CPMs?
The model works with two variables: a forecast and the effective visitor numbers. The price for the advertising placement is calculated in advance on the basis of the average number of visitors to a movie theater over the last three years. Billing is then based on the effective contacts.
What contact figures do you receive from the cinema operators? After all, the audience figures are not public...
The cinema operators provide us with the audience figures for an auditorium on a weekly basis - in German-speaking Switzerland from Thursday in each case, as the films run.
You get the information per film?
The cinema operators decide each week which film will be shown in which auditorium based on their internal audience forecasts. We then receive the figures per auditorium and film every week. In over 90 percent of the cases, one film is shown in one auditorium during one week.
The new model is not risk-free. An unexpectedly successful film like "Intouchables" can bring alternative cinemas a lot of viewers one year. The next, such a film is missing, and audiences stay away....
Publicitas Cinecom bears this risk. If a film attracts more viewers than forecast, the advertising customer receives the additional viewers at no extra charge. If the film brings in less, we have a tolerance limit of 10 percent. If the audience figures are lower, we extend the customer's advertising campaign accordingly.
Ticket sales say nothing about the buyers. How do advertisers get information about the target group anyway?
To do this, the ticket figures are married with Mach Cinema, WEMF's consumer study. For an action film, for example, we know from Mach Cinema that the audience consists on average of 57.7 percent men between 14 and 29 years of age. If 1000 tickets were sold for an action film, we assume that around 577 of the buyers correspond to this type.
In the small Swiss cinema market, several providers could never exist in the longer term. How do you assess the current situation: Is there room for two?
That's difficult to assess from today's perspective. The battle will be fought tooth and nail. Basically, however, I believe that both Publicitas Cinecom and Werbeweischer are interested in cinema gaining ground as a medium, since cinema is undervalued in the advertising pie.
Why do you think cinema advertising is underrated?
Cinema is a niche medium due to its low reach. But reach should not be the criterion. What speaks for cinema advertising is the quality of the contact. Moviegoers can remember the advertising very well. The viewer is in a receptive state. Cinema advertising is an intensive experience, which is also enjoyable if the advertising is good. Moreover, the visitor can be reached additionally in the cinema - for example with samplings or give-aways. After a perfume advertisement, a sample is distributed at the exit. Or a car manufacturer displays a model in the foyer. Such opportunities are still underutilized.
Werbeweischer has snatched a valuable customer away from Publicitas Cinecom with the Kitag cinemas. How is Publicitas Cinecom coping with this loss?
This loss is painful. However, Publicitas Cinecom remains a major player. We still have a monopoly in Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland. In German-speaking Switzerland, we have a market share of 57 percent. I admit that there are a few blank spots on the map, for example in eastern Switzerland. And it's not all that easy in central Switzerland either. Otherwise, we have a good offering everywhere and still have a leading cinema portfolio throughout Switzerland. With Pathé, we currently have the largest cinema operator on board. For historical reasons, the cinema chain has a stronger presence in western Switzerland. However, Pathé is now also well positioned in German-speaking Switzerland, with the Westside in Bern, the cinemas in Basel, and in Dietlikon near Zurich.
Due to the existing monopoly in French and Italian-speaking Switzerland, Publicitas Cinecom promotes national campaigns in particular. How many advertisers run national campaigns at all?
Unfortunately, Ticino is often neglected. Western Switzerland, however, is very much in demand. Nationally active clients are keen to advertise in French-speaking Switzerland as well. More than 50 percent of all campaigns that do not come from local business are present in at least two language regions. For these customers, we remain the first point of contact.
National is unlikely to be booked by film in the future either - given the different film preferences in the language regions...
That's right. A film can perform differently in different parts of the country. This is further complicated by the different start dates. It's entirely possible for a film to be released two months earlier or later in French-speaking Switzerland. The differences are becoming smaller and smaller, because film distributors are trying to keep start dates as close together as possible due to piracy. However, certain differences remain.
How do you get around this problem?
In national campaigns, we don't define individual films, but a target group and look in the individual regions to see which films appeal to this target group in the time period.
Werbeweischer advertises with 3D campaigns and interactive screens. What ideas does Publicitas Cinecom have?
I don't think there will be many 3D campaigns in Switzerland any time soon - the production costs are simply too high for such a small market. Our idea is to network the cinema with other media. We combine the big screen with the ad screens in the cinema, with events, promotions or television.
For example, Star TV...
Exactly. Everyone who books cinema with us can also show their advertising for free on Star TV. Star TV is a cinema-affiliated channel and now shows movies every evening from 8 o'clock.
Are there cross-media offerings for the online sector?
Negotiations are currently underway with a major cinema portal. The idea is that moviegoers will come into contact with advertising twice: the first time on the online portal when they decide to see a film, and the second time in the theater. However, this is not yet ready to be announced.
Interview: Isabel Imper
