Street corners. Toll booths. Malls. Airplanes. Now movie theaters. The migration of promotion marketing into non-traditional venues rolls on, as brand managers stop at nothing to reach consumers not only anywhere they are, but everywhere they are.

The relationship between brands and movie theaters started out simply – and then developed into so much more. The courtship began decades ago with on-screen advertising, brands paying to play to captive audiences and theater owners gushing over a new revenue stream. Next came full-blown motion spots, lobby advertising, and branded cups and popcorn bags at concession stands.

And then, as has happened elsewhere, the promotions began.

At first, promotional elements such as signage and point-of-purchase displays were provided to in-theater advertisers as value-adds, small perks used to close ad deals. Over the last four years, however, those perks have dramatically transformed into definitive branding opportunities, as marketers identified movie theaters as legitimate venues through whichto “reach consumers, creating trial and building awareness,” says Rich Ingles, new business development manager at Glendale, CA-based Nestle USA.

Online loyalty marketer Cybergold, Oakland, CA, just completed a program featuring instant-win gamepieces attached to theater popcorn bags in 11 markets. Consumers peeled off the sticker to reveal a code they could enter at cybergold.com to see if they’d won trips and other prizes. “We got creative and exposed our site to a tremendous number of people,” says Cybergold ceo Nat Goldhaber.

Over the July 4th weekend, Cleveland-based Sealy Corp. set up displays with its own mattresses and those from two competitors in a few test theaters. Consumers were encouraged to take a load off and “feel” the difference. New York City-based Cellular One was handing out gamecards consumers could decode for discounts in phone stores – sometimes in the same lobbies as Sealy. This month, Fremont, CA-based Logitech is running a seven-market program in which staffers demonstrate wireless keyboards and computer peripherals to moviegoers and encourage trial with premium incentives. At the same time, entertainment giant Viacom Corp., New York City, is playing the synergy game by hosting Summer Bookworm Wednesdays at its 1,360-screen National Amusements chain. Each week, kids are lured to the theater with free movies, prizes, contests, and take-home goodies such as Simon & Schuster books and Nickelodeon’s Rugrats magazine.

Other brands invading movie theaters include Foot Locker, Chrysler, Schering-Plough, Olive Garden, MCI, Lycos, and Volkswagen. The list is as long as a Cecil B. DeMille cast – so why are so many marketers buying their brands a ticket to the movies?

For one, movie theaters are larger than ever, now physically capable of giving third parties room to operate. Movie houses with 25 screens and stadium seating are popping up around the country with lobby restaurants, cappuccino bars, and merchandise stores. The old Odeons and Rivolis have morphed into mini-theme parks where marketers can score some space for themselves.

That increase in real estate brings with it more expensive leases, so theater owners are bending over backwards to tap any and all alternative revenue streams. Many chains, such as Chestnut Hill, MA-based General Cinema Theaters (GNT) and National Amusements, have set up promotion departments to aid in the development and execution of in-theater programs.

There are also the statistics and demographics of ticket buyers, facts and figures that have brands heading straight for the balcony: Seventy-two percent of U.S. residents are moviegoers, and 30 percent attend at least 12 movies per year, according to a study from the Motion Picture Association of America. That provides both reach and frequency. Plus, the average moviegoer arrives at the theater 20 minutes before showtime, which gives them plenty of time to check out that minivan parked outside the restrooms.

The penetration potential for brands is also greater, since there are now some 6,000 movie theaters (and 40,000 screens) in the U.S. – generating $7.5 billion in box office revenues. About 1.5 billion tickets were sold last year, up nearly 25 percent from the 1.19 billion sold in 1990.

What’s more, frequent moviegoers index high in a variety of categories including income, travel frequency, education, shopping, television viewing, and sports participation. Forty-one percent are ages 12 to 24, 30 percent are 25 to 39, and 29 percent are 40 and older, which means the critical younger consumer group, as well as that prime young family segment, is well represented.

“We’re now getting millions of dollars for promotion flights,” compared with the relatively low-budget $30,000 executions that were the norm as recently as four years ago, says P.J. Ewing, vp-general manager with New York City-based Screenvision Cinema Promotions.

Movie theaters are becoming such an effective and efficient marketing venue that many on-premise promotions aren’t even tied to a specific film property. While title-specific tie-ins are still thriving, many brands are using straight “cinemarketing,” working directly with theaters or, for a multiple-chain blitz, using a cinema-marketing company to orchestrate the effort. Marketers can buy their way into just a few theaters or hundreds at a time.

In-theater tactics vary widely. Games and contests, like the Cybergold effort, are becoming extremely popular. Nestle is about to break an on-pack Groovy Movie Giveaway at-concession game that will award 600 first-prizes of Movieline magazine subscriptions, 1,500 free pairs of tickets, and one grand-prize Volkswagen Beetle.

SeaWorld Orlando is running an in-theater effort to hype its new Kraken roller coaster, using lobby P-O-P and on-screen ads in Northeast theaters to direct consumers to a sweeps dangling trips to the park. “It was an easy jump for us,” says SeaWorld promotion manager Kelly Barnett. “We’re looking to get our message to thrill-seekers. Theaters are a great place to do that.”

Vernon Hills, IL-based Tiger Electronics, a division of Hasbro, Inc., this month rolls out a Furby for the President campaign, which leverages election-year excitement by encouraging consumers to predict who will win the upcoming presidential election. When GNT patrons buy a drink, they’ll choose either a red (Republican) or blue (Democrat) straw, depending on which candidate they believe will be heading to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. next winter. The program runs until Election Day, when the straw poll will be totaled. Instant-win gamepieces on cups support. Ryan Partnership, Wilton, CT, handles.

Tiger, which is developing another sweeps for the fourth-quarter, has made theater promos a permanent part of the marketing mix. “To not include this segment is a huge mistake,” says Tiger vp Marc Rosenberg. “These programs are easy to execute. And they work.”

Sampling is also making headway in lobbies and at box offices, with products handed to patrons as they enter or exit theaters. Last year, Johnson & Johnson distributed 15 million Pepcid AC samples and coupons in theaters. Sunscreen maker Coppertone just wrapped an effort distributing kids sunscreen with miniature sun-safety brochures at exits. Unilever’s I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter took spokes-beefcake Fabio to the movies in a campaign that chained spray bottles to concession stands. P-O-P components encouraged popcorn buyers to pass on standard movie butter (the ingredients of which have never been identified by scientists) and save a few calories by spritzing their tubs with the product.

Numerous other brands have sampled in cinemas, including AT&T, Capitol Records and yo-yo maker YoYomega. Credit card companies come out in force to hand out applications and premiums. (“We have so many credit card companies sampling that it’s often a challenge to schedule them so they’re not in the lobby at the same time,” notes one theater marketing executive.)

Meanwhile, special events are another strong draw. Pepsi-Cola Co. reels in hard-to-reach teens and young adults with its Mountain Dew Late Night Movie series. The soda giant invades theaters after 10:00 p.m. with both cult classics such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show as well as new hits. Activities have included visits from Mountain Dew-branded Humvees, coupon giveaways, and sweepstakes for trips to ESPN’s X games. The theater is turned into a “three-ring circus of activity,” says Page Thompson, senior vp-marketing with General Cinema Theaters. TLP, Inc., Dallas, handles for Pepsi.

During screenings of The X-Files movie, Pepsi jazzed up the proceedings with a panel discussion on UFOs, free admission for card-carrying FBI agents (guns not required), and trivia and look-alike contests. During a showing of Man on the Moon, patrons were given cookies and milk in a tribute to one of comedian Andy Kaufman’s famous gags. Pepsi marketers are developing a slate of similarly kooky events for 2001, confirms CJ Fraleigh, Pepsi’s vp-soda. “Doing these types of things gives us a positive association with an exciting environment,” he says.

Box Office Bonanza

Of course, not every brand comes stag to the party. Film tie-ins abound – proving that Hollywood marketing partnerships can go way beyond media buys. In fall 1998, Viacom’s Paramount Pictures teamed with Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln-Mercury arm to create events promoting Rugrats: The Movie. Incentivized theater owners hosted outdoor parades and indoor minivan demos that proved to be hits with patrons.

Viacom continues to leverage its National Amusements chain to support many of its holdings. The company’s TV Land cable channel will promote the re-release of the original Charlie’s Angels series in lobbies this fall. Likewise, Time Warner’s Cartoon Network, Atlanta, has run several programs in theaters to introduce new series such as The Powerpuff Girls.

Hershey Foods, Hershey, PA, ran a spring effort tied to DreamWorks’ The Road to Eldorado in which packaging for Milk Duds, Kit Kats, Whoppers, and Reese’s carried an on-pack game giving consumers chances to win trips around the world and digital cameras. The company ran a similar program in June linked to Paramount’s Mission Impossible 2. “We see a definite sales lift when we do these types of things,” says Craig Kierst, Hershey’s national account manager. “It works and we’ll continue to do them.”

While sweeps, sampling, and events have most of the in-theater spotlight, other promo tactics such as couponing and premium giveaways are as common as pimply teens. The Discovery Channel took to theaters this spring to drive viewership of its Walking with Dinosaurs special. Signage and activities supported, as did 500,000 trading cards given to consumers at the box office or as they walked in to see select movies “while they were in an entertainment mindset,” says Lynne Stephens, New York City-based Discovery Networks’ director of advertising and promotion. The 18-frame motion cards were packed with a coupon good for discounts at Discovery Channel retail stores.

Fashion house Tommy Hilfiger, New York City, recently undertook a unique initiative that tagged movie tickets with mini-coupons good for samples of a new Freedom fragrance when redeemed at nearby stores. (The sample inventory was completely liquidated.) New York City-based BMG Distribution, a unit of music Goliath BMG Entertainment, has tested kiosks and listening stations in theaters. (The company also runs quarterly contests for patrons.) “A lot of moviegoers buy music,” explains Rick Bleiweiss, BMG’s senior vp-marketing and branch operations. “We don’t want to rely on waiting for them to come into music stores.”

And … Action

Feel like you’ve already sat through a Corey Feldman/Corey Haim double-feature? This show isn’t over yet, as marketers looking to add some oomph at the actual point-of-purchase are offering movie tickets at retail as purchase drivers.

Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, teamed with Burger King last year to award tickets to diners who bought five frozen Coke slush drinks. Tropicana Products is currently running an under-the-label game proffering millions of free passes; folks who don’t win instantly can score a free ticket by mailing in five losing labels. Marketing Drive USA, Wilton, CT, handles.

Eastman Kodak Co. ran a scratch-and-win effort earlier this year for $1 off, $2 off, $5 off, or free ducats. The company later ran ticket offers inside FunSaver cameras and through an account-specific effort with retailer Wolf’s Camera. Other brands taking consumers to the movies include Citibank, Sprint, Revlon, Canada Dry, Sprite, Barq’s Root Beer, and Smirnoff.

A handful of suppliers offer similar programs, all of which let brands offer free or discounted tickets. Companies such as Incline Village, NV-based Hollywood Movie Magic and The Properties Group, New York City, sell programs that allow brands to slap a blanket offer for free tickets (or tickets with a predetermined discount) on-pack or in-pack. Consumers either find the ticket certificate inside packaging or have to mail away for the slip, which is redeemable at virtually every theater chain.

Tickets can be customized to be used for any movie or for a specific release, and expiration dates can be determined by the brand. But the most popular facet of gift-certificate programs is the redemption structure. Brands pay only for redeemed tickets, thereby allowing for a giveaway with high perceived value at a lower actual cost. “The word `free’ works as well with marketers as it does with consumers,” says John Galinos, ceo of The Properties Group.

The largest ticket promotion of the summer was Nestle’s tie-in with Disney’s Dinosaur, in which retail shoppers received a free ticket to the film by purchasing four Nestle products (from 20 participating brands). Glenview, IL-based Kraft Foods has run several ticket initiatives on cereal boxes, most recently last spring with an offer for $3.50 off a ticket to Universal’s The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas that ran on – what else? – Fruity Pebbles. “We see sales spikes when we do this,” says Dianne Graham, director of consumer promotions for Kraft’s Maxwell House and Post divisions. “A $3.50 discount is actually a higher value than the box of cereal it’s attached to.”

Kraft will repeat the flight this fall across multiple cereal brands as part of its tie-in to Paramount’s Rugrats in Paris. The program is designed in-house with creative help from East/West Creative, New York City.

Elsewhere, Santa Monica, CA-based videogame manufacturer Activision last month supported the launch of its X-Men: Mutant Academy title by packaging free tickets to Fox’s X-Men movie inside 80,000 units. The “relevant premium,” as Activision brand manager Nita Patel calls it, was tagged on packaging and good until Oct. 13.

Depending on volume, prices for on-pack movie offers can range from a nickel to 50 cents per unit. What if a promotion is so successful that redemption blows the barn doors off projections? Brands can buy low-cost over-redemption insurance to take care of that, er, problem. (New York City-based Unilever bought the insurance for a current effort pitching a $3.50 ticket discount on two million Q-Tips packages.) “This is a good medium for us,” says Karen Kozak, Kodak’s manager of corporate marketing. “It’s a low-risk option. Whenever we do something like this we know we won’t end up sitting on a pile of unused movie tickets.”

Curtain Call

From a logistics standpoint, movie promotions can be executed quickly and easily, due in no small part to the willingness of theater chains to help out. (Theaters are paid for any promotions running on-site and receive full admission price for redeemed tickets.) Theater staffs are comfortable with both in-theater marketing flights and ticket premium efforts. (Frequently added incentives for theater managers and their staffs don’t hurt, either.)

Inside theaters or down the street on store shelves, what was once a non-traditional venue is fast becoming a standard marketing channel attracting big bucks. “Movies are the No. 1 out-of-home activity, beating all sports combined,” says Ron Randolph-Wall, president of Hollywood Movie Magic, which already has more than 250 million tickets booked to be offered on-pack in 2001.

“You can follow your customer from youth to old age this way,” says Jan Durwood, vp-national accounts with National Cinema Network, a cinema marketing outfit in New York City. “Demographics may change, but consumers will be moviegoers year after year.”

After all, the show must go on.

Street corners. Toll booths. Malls. Airplanes. Now movie theaters. The migration of promotion marketing into non-traditional venues rolls on, as brand managers stop at nothing to reach consumers not only anywhere they are, but everywhere they are.

The relationship between brands and movie theaters started out simply – and then developed into so much more. The courtship began decades ago with on-screen advertising, brands paying to play to captive audiences and theater owners gushing over a new revenue stream. Next came full-blown motion spots, lobby advertising, and branded cups and popcorn bags at concession stands.

And then, as has happened elsewhere, the promotions began.

At first, promotional elements such as signage and point-of-purchase displays were provided to in-theater advertisers as value-adds, small perks used to close ad deals. Over the last four years, however, those perks have dramatically transformed into definitive branding opportunities, as marketers identified movie theaters as legitimate venues through whichto “reach consumers, creating trial and building awareness,” says Rich Ingles, new business development manager at Glendale, CA-based Nestle USA.

Online loyalty marketer Cybergold, Oakland, CA, just completed a program featuring instant-win gamepieces attached to theater popcorn bags in 11 markets. Consumers peeled off the sticker to reveal a code they could enter at cybergold.com to see if they’d won trips and other prizes. “We got creative and exposed our site to a tremendous number of people,” says Cybergold ceo Nat Goldhaber.

Over the July 4th weekend, Cleveland-based Sealy Corp. set up displays with its own mattresses and those from two competitors in a few test theaters. Consumers were encouraged to take a load off and “feel” the difference. New York City-based Cellular One was handing out gamecards consumers could decode for discounts in phone stores – sometimes in the same lobbies as Sealy. This month, Fremont, CA-based Logitech is running a seven-market program in which staffers demonstrate wireless keyboards and computer peripherals to moviegoers and encourage trial with premium incentives. At the same time, entertainment giant Viacom Corp., New York City, is playing the synergy game by hosting Summer Bookworm Wednesdays at its 1,360-screen National Amusements chain. Each week, kids are lured to the theater with free movies, prizes, contests, and take-home goodies such as Simon & Schuster books and Nickelodeon’s Rugrats magazine.

Other brands invading movie theaters include Foot Locker, Chrysler, Schering-Plough, Olive Garden, MCI, Lycos, and Volkswagen. The list is as long as a Cecil B. DeMille cast – so why are so many marketers buying their brands a ticket to the movies?

For one, movie theaters are larger than ever, now physically capable of giving third parties room to operate. Movie houses with 25 screens and stadium seating are popping up around the country with lobby restaurants, cappuccino bars, and merchandise stores. The old Odeons and Rivolis have morphed into mini-theme parks where marketers can score some space for themselves.

That increase in real estate brings with it more expensive leases, so theater owners are bending over backwards to tap any and all alternative revenue streams. Many chains, such as Chestnut Hill, MA-based General Cinema Theaters (GNT) and National Amusements, have set up promotion departments to aid in the development and execution of in-theater programs.

There are also the statistics and demographics of ticket buyers, facts and figures that have brands heading straight for the balcony: Seventy-two percent of U.S. residents are moviegoers, and 30 percent attend at least 12 movies per year, according to a study from the Motion Picture Association of America. That provides both reach and frequency. Plus, the average moviegoer arrives at the theater 20 minutes before showtime, which gives them plenty of time to check out that minivan parked outside the restrooms.

The penetration potential for brands is also greater, since there are now some 6,000 movie theaters (and 40,000 screens) in the U.S. – generating $7.5 billion in box office revenues. About 1.5 billion tickets were sold last year, up nearly 25 percent from the 1.19 billion sold in 1990.

What’s more, frequent moviegoers index high in a variety of categories including income, travel frequency, education, shopping, television viewing, and sports participation. Forty-one percent are ages 12 to 24, 30 percent are 25 to 39, and 29 percent are 40 and older, which means the critical younger consumer group, as well as that prime young family segment, is well represented.

“We’re now getting millions of dollars for promotion flights,” compared with the relatively low-budget $30,000 executions that were the norm as recently as four years ago, says P.J. Ewing, vp-general manager with New York City-based Screenvision Cinema Promotions.

Movie theaters are becoming such an effective and efficient marketing venue that many on-premise promotions aren’t even tied to a specific film property. While title-specific tie-ins are still thriving, many brands are using straight “cinemarketing,” working directly with theaters or, for a multiple-chain blitz, using a cinema-marketing company to orchestrate the effort. Marketers can buy their way into just a few theaters or hundreds at a time.

In-theater tactics vary widely. Games and contests, like the Cybergold effort, are becoming extremely popular. Nestle is about to break an on-pack Groovy Movie Giveaway at-concession game that will award 600 first-prizes of Movieline magazine subscriptions, 1,500 free pairs of tickets, and one grand-prize Volkswagen Beetle.

SeaWorld Orlando is running an in-theater effort to hype its new Kraken roller coaster, using lobby P-O-P and on-screen ads in Northeast theaters to direct consumers to a sweeps dangling trips to the park. “It was an easy jump for us,” says SeaWorld promotion manager Kelly Barnett. “We’re looking to get our message to thrill-seekers. Theaters are a great place to do that.”

Vernon Hills, IL-based Tiger Electronics, a division of Hasbro, Inc., this month rolls out a Furby for the President campaign, which leverages election-year excitement by encouraging consumers to predict who will win the upcoming presidential election. When GNT patrons buy a drink, they’ll choose either a red (Republican) or blue (Democrat) straw, depending on which candidate they believe will be heading to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. next winter. The program runs until Election Day, when the straw poll will be totaled. Instant-win gamepieces on cups support. Ryan Partnership, Wilton, CT, handles.

Tiger, which is developing another sweeps for the fourth-quarter, has made theater promos a permanent part of the marketing mix. “To not include this segment is a huge mistake,” says Tiger vp Marc Rosenberg. “These programs are easy to execute. And they work.”

Sampling is also making headway in lobbies and at box offices, with products handed to patrons as they enter or exit theaters. Last year, Johnson & Johnson distributed 15 million Pepcid AC samples and coupons in theaters. Sunscreen maker Coppertone just wrapped an effort distributing kids sunscreen with miniature sun-safety brochures at exits. Unilever’s I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter took spokes-beefcake Fabio to the movies in a campaign that chained spray bottles to concession stands. P-O-P components encouraged popcorn buyers to pass on standard movie butter (the ingredients of which have never been identified by scientists) and save a few calories by spritzing their tubs with the product.

Numerous other brands have sampled in cinemas, including AT&T, Capitol Records and yo-yo maker YoYomega. Credit card companies come out in force to hand out applications and premiums. (“We have so many credit card companies sampling that it’s often a challenge to schedule them so they’re not in the lobby at the same time,” notes one theater marketing executive.)

Meanwhile, special events are another strong draw. Pepsi-Cola Co. reels in hard-to-reach teens and young adults with its Mountain Dew Late Night Movie series. The soda giant invades theaters after 10:00 p.m. with both cult classics such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show as well as new hits. Activities have included visits from Mountain Dew-branded Humvees, coupon giveaways, and sweepstakes for trips to ESPN’s X games. The theater is turned into a “three-ring circus of activity,” says Page Thompson, senior vp-marketing with General Cinema Theaters. TLP, Inc., Dallas, handles for Pepsi.

During screenings of The X-Files movie, Pepsi jazzed up the proceedings with a panel discussion on UFOs, free admission for card-carrying FBI agents (guns not required), and trivia and look-alike contests. During a showing of Man on the Moon, patrons were given cookies and milk in a tribute to one of comedian Andy Kaufman’s famous gags. Pepsi marketers are developing a slate of similarly kooky events for 2001, confirms CJ Fraleigh, Pepsi’s vp-soda. “Doing these types of things gives us a positive association with an exciting environment,” he says.

Box Office Bonanza

Of course, not every brand comes stag to the party. Film tie-ins abound – proving that Hollywood marketing partnerships can go way beyond media buys. In fall 1998, Viacom’s Paramount Pictures teamed with Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln-Mercury arm to create events promoting Rugrats: The Movie. Incentivized theater owners hosted outdoor parades and indoor minivan demos that proved to be hits with patrons.

Viacom continues to leverage its National Amusements chain to support many of its holdings. The company’s TV Land cable channel will promote the re-release of the original Charlie’s Angels series in lobbies this fall. Likewise, Time Warner’s Cartoon Network, Atlanta, has run several programs in theaters to introduce new series such as The Powerpuff Girls.

Hershey Foods, Hershey, PA, ran a spring effort tied to DreamWorks’ The Road to Eldorado in which packaging for Milk Duds, Kit Kats, Whoppers, and Reese’s carried an on-pack game giving consumers chances to win trips around the world and digital cameras. The company ran a similar program in June linked to Paramount’s Mission Impossible 2. “We see a definite sales lift when we do these types of things,” says Craig Kierst, Hershey’s national account manager. “It works and we’ll continue to do them.”

While sweeps, sampling, and events have most of the in-theater spotlight, other promo tactics such as couponing and premium giveaways are as common as pimply teens. The Discovery Channel took to theaters this spring to drive viewership of its Walking with Dinosaurs special. Signage and activities supported, as did 500,000 trading cards given to consumers at the box office or as they walked in to see select movies “while they were in an entertainment mindset,” says Lynne Stephens, New York City-based Discovery Networks’ director of advertising and promotion. The 18-frame motion cards were packed with a coupon good for discounts at Discovery Channel retail stores.

Fashion house Tommy Hilfiger, New York City, recently undertook a unique initiative that tagged movie tickets with mini-coupons good for samples of a new Freedom fragrance when redeemed at nearby stores. (The sample inventory was completely liquidated.) New York City-based BMG Distribution, a unit of music Goliath BMG Entertainment, has tested kiosks and listening stations in theaters. (The company also runs quarterly contests for patrons.) “A lot of moviegoers buy music,” explains Rick Bleiweiss, BMG’s senior vp-marketing and branch operations. “We don’t want to rely on waiting for them to come into music stores.”

And … Action

Feel like you’ve already sat through a Corey Feldman/Corey Haim double-feature? This show isn’t over yet, as marketers looking to add some oomph at the actual point-of-purchase are offering movie tickets at retail as purchase drivers.

Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, teamed with Burger King last year to award tickets to diners who bought five frozen Coke slush drinks. Tropicana Products is currently running an under-the-label game proffering millions of free passes; folks who don’t win instantly can score a free ticket by mailing in five losing labels. Marketing Drive USA, Wilton, CT, handles.

Eastman Kodak Co. ran a scratch-and-win effort earlier this year for $1 off, $2 off, $5 off, or free ducats. The company later ran ticket offers inside FunSaver cameras and through an account-specific effort with retailer Wolf’s Camera. Other brands taking consumers to the movies include Citibank, Sprint, Revlon, Canada Dry, Sprite, Barq’s Root Beer, and Smirnoff.

A handful of suppliers offer similar programs, all of which let brands offer free or discounted tickets. Companies such as Incline Village, NV-based Hollywood Movie Magic and The Properties Group, New York City, sell programs that allow brands to slap a blanket offer for free tickets (or tickets with a predetermined discount) on-pack or in-pack. Consumers either find the ticket certificate inside packaging or have to mail away for the slip, which is redeemable at virtually every theater chain.

Tickets can be customized to be used for any movie or for a specific release, and expiration dates can be determined by the brand. But the most popular facet of gift-certificate programs is the redemption structure. Brands pay only for redeemed tickets, thereby allowing for a giveaway with high perceived value at a lower actual cost. “The word `free’ works as well with marketers as it does with consumers,” says John Galinos, ceo of The Properties Group.

The largest ticket promotion of the summer was Nestle’s tie-in with Disney’s Dinosaur, in which retail shoppers received a free ticket to the film by purchasing four Nestle products (from 20 participating brands). Glenview, IL-based Kraft Foods has run several ticket initiatives on cereal boxes, most recently last spring with an offer for $3.50 off a ticket to Universal’s The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas that ran on – what else? – Fruity Pebbles. “We see sales spikes when we do this,” says Dianne Graham, director of consumer promotions for Kraft’s Maxwell House and Post divisions. “A $3.50 discount is actually a higher value than the box of cereal it’s attached to.”

Kraft will repeat the flight this fall across multiple cereal brands as part of its tie-in to Paramount’s Rugrats in Paris. The program is designed in-house with creative help from East/West Creative, New York City.

Elsewhere, Santa Monica, CA-based videogame manufacturer Activision last month supported the launch of its X-Men: Mutant Academy title by packaging free tickets to Fox’s X-Men movie inside 80,000 units. The “relevant premium,” as Activision brand manager Nita Patel calls it, was tagged on packaging and good until Oct. 13.

Depending on volume, prices for on-pack movie offers can range from a nickel to 50 cents per unit. What if a promotion is so successful that redemption blows the barn doors off projections? Brands can buy low-cost over-redemption insurance to take care of that, er, problem. (New York City-based Unilever bought the insurance for a current effort pitching a $3.50 ticket discount on two million Q-Tips packages.) “This is a good medium for us,” says Karen Kozak, Kodak’s manager of corporate marketing. “It’s a low-risk option. Whenever we do something like this we know we won’t end up sitting on a pile of unused movie tickets.”

Curtain Call

From a logistics standpoint, movie promotions can be executed quickly and easily, due in no small part to the willingness of theater chains to help out. (Theaters are paid for any promotions running on-site and receive full admission price for redeemed tickets.) Theater staffs are comfortable with both in-theater marketing flights and ticket premium efforts. (Frequently added incentives for theater managers and their staffs don’t hurt, either.)

Inside theaters or down the street on store shelves, what was once a non-traditional venue is fast becoming a standard marketing channel attracting big bucks. “Movies are the No. 1 out-of-home activity, beating all sports combined,” says Ron Randolph-Wall, president of Hollywood Movie Magic, which already has more than 250 million tickets booked to be offered on-pack in 2001.

“You can follow your customer from youth to old age this way,” says Jan Durwood, vp-national accounts with National Cinema Network, a cinema marketing outfit in New York City. “Demographics may change, but consumers will be moviegoers year after year.”

After all, the show must go on.

Street corners. Toll booths. Malls. Airplanes. Now movie theaters. The migration of promotion marketing into non-traditional venues rolls on, as brand managers stop at nothing to reach consumers not only anywhere they are, but everywhere they are.

The relationship between brands and movie theaters started out simply – and then developed into so much more. The courtship began decades ago with on-screen advertising, brands paying to play to captive audiences and theater owners gushing over a new revenue stream. Next came full-blown motion spots, lobby advertising, and branded cups and popcorn bags at concession stands.

And then, as has happened elsewhere, the promotions began.

At first, promotional elements such as signage and point-of-purchase displays were provided to in-theater advertisers as value-adds, small perks used to close ad deals. Over the last four years, however, those perks have dramatically transformed into definitive branding opportunities, as marketers identified movie theaters as legitimate venues through whichto “reach consumers, creating trial and building awareness,” says Rich Ingles, new business development manager at Glendale, CA-based Nestle USA.

Online loyalty marketer Cybergold, Oakland, CA, just completed a program featuring instant-win gamepieces attached to theater popcorn bags in 11 markets. Consumers peeled off the sticker to reveal a code they could enter at cybergold.com to see if they’d won trips and other prizes. “We got creative and exposed our site to a tremendous number of people,” says Cybergold ceo Nat Goldhaber.

Over the July 4th weekend, Cleveland-based Sealy Corp. set up displays with its own mattresses and those from two competitors in a few test theaters. Consumers were encouraged to take a load off and “feel” the difference. New York City-based Cellular One was handing out gamecards consumers could decode for discounts in phone stores – sometimes in the same lobbies as Sealy. This month, Fremont, CA-based Logitech is running a seven-market program in which staffers demonstrate wireless keyboards and computer peripherals to moviegoers and encourage trial with premium incentives. At the same time, entertainment giant Viacom Corp., New York City, is playing the synergy game by hosting Summer Bookworm Wednesdays at its 1,360-screen National Amusements chain. Each week, kids are lured to the theater with free movies, prizes, contests, and take-home goodies such as Simon & Schuster books and Nickelodeon’s Rugrats magazine.

Other brands invading movie theaters include Foot Locker, Chrysler, Schering-Plough, Olive Garden, MCI, Lycos, and Volkswagen. The list is as long as a Cecil B. DeMille cast – so why are so many marketers buying their brands a ticket to the movies?

For one, movie theaters are larger than ever, now physically capable of giving third parties room to operate. Movie houses with 25 screens and stadium seating are popping up around the country with lobby restaurants, cappuccino bars, and merchandise stores. The old Odeons and Rivolis have morphed into mini-theme parks where marketers can score some space for themselves.

That increase in real estate brings with it more expensive leases, so theater owners are bending over backwards to tap any and all alternative revenue streams. Many chains, such as Chestnut Hill, MA-based General Cinema Theaters (GNT) and National Amusements, have set up promotion departments to aid in the development and execution of in-theater programs.

There are also the statistics and demographics of ticket buyers, facts and figures that have brands heading straight for the balcony: Seventy-two percent of U.S. residents are moviegoers, and 30 percent attend at least 12 movies per year, according to a study from the Motion Picture Association of America. That provides both reach and frequency. Plus, the average moviegoer arrives at the theater 20 minutes before showtime, which gives them plenty of time to check out that minivan parked outside the restrooms.

The penetration potential for brands is also greater, since there are now some 6,000 movie theaters (and 40,000 screens) in the U.S. – generating $7.5 billion in box office revenues. About 1.5 billion tickets were sold last year, up nearly 25 percent from the 1.19 billion sold in 1990.

What’s more, frequent moviegoers index high in a variety of categories including income, travel frequency, education, shopping, television viewing, and sports participation. Forty-one percent are ages 12 to 24, 30 percent are 25 to 39, and 29 percent are 40 and older, which means the critical younger consumer group, as well as that prime young family segment, is well represented.

“We’re now getting millions of dollars for promotion flights,” compared with the relatively low-budget $30,000 executions that were the norm as recently as four years ago, says P.J. Ewing, vp-general manager with New York City-based Screenvision Cinema Promotions.

Movie theaters are becoming such an effective and efficient marketing venue that many on-premise promotions aren’t even tied to a specific film property. While title-specific tie-ins are still thriving, many brands are using straight “cinemarketing,” working directly with theaters or, for a multiple-chain blitz, using a cinema-marketing company to orchestrate the effort. Marketers can buy their way into just a few theaters or hundreds at a time.

In-theater tactics vary widely. Games and contests, like the Cybergold effort, are becoming extremely popular. Nestle is about to break an on-pack Groovy Movie Giveaway at-concession game that will award 600 first-prizes of Movieline magazine subscriptions, 1,500 free pairs of tickets, and one grand-prize Volkswagen Beetle.

SeaWorld Orlando is running an in-theater effort to hype its new Kraken roller coaster, using lobby P-O-P and on-screen ads in Northeast theaters to direct consumers to a sweeps dangling trips to the park. “It was an easy jump for us,” says SeaWorld promotion manager Kelly Barnett. “We’re looking to get our message to thrill-seekers. Theaters are a great place to do that.”

Vernon Hills, IL-based Tiger Electronics, a division of Hasbro, Inc., this month rolls out a Furby for the President campaign, which leverages election-year excitement by encouraging consumers to predict who will win the upcoming presidential election. When GNT patrons buy a drink, they’ll choose either a red (Republican) or blue (Democrat) straw, depending on which candidate they believe will be heading to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. next winter. The program runs until Election Day, when the straw poll will be totaled. Instant-win gamepieces on cups support. Ryan Partnership, Wilton, CT, handles.

Tiger, which is developing another sweeps for the fourth-quarter, has made theater promos a permanent part of the marketing mix. “To not include this segment is a huge mistake,” says Tiger vp Marc Rosenberg. “These programs are easy to execute. And they work.”

Sampling is also making headway in lobbies and at box offices, with products handed to patrons as they enter or exit theaters. Last year, Johnson & Johnson distributed 15 million Pepcid AC samples and coupons in theaters. Sunscreen maker Coppertone just wrapped an effort distributing kids sunscreen with miniature sun-safety brochures at exits. Unilever’s I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter took spokes-beefcake Fabio to the movies in a campaign that chained spray bottles to concession stands. P-O-P components encouraged popcorn buyers to pass on standard movie butter (the ingredients of which have never been identified by scientists) and save a few calories by spritzing their tubs with the product.

Numerous other brands have sampled in cinemas, including AT&T, Capitol Records and yo-yo maker YoYomega. Credit card companies come out in force to hand out applications and premiums. (“We have so many credit card companies sampling that it’s often a challenge to schedule them so they’re not in the lobby at the same time,” notes one theater marketing executive.)

Meanwhile, special events are another strong draw. Pepsi-Cola Co. reels in hard-to-reach teens and young adults with its Mountain Dew Late Night Movie series. The soda giant invades theaters after 10:00 p.m. with both cult classics such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show as well as new hits. Activities have included visits from Mountain Dew-branded Humvees, coupon giveaways, and sweepstakes for trips to ESPN’s X games. The theater is turned into a “three-ring circus of activity,” says Page Thompson, senior vp-marketing with General Cinema Theaters. TLP, Inc., Dallas, handles for Pepsi.

During screenings of The X-Files movie, Pepsi jazzed up the proceedings with a panel discussion on UFOs, free admission for card-carrying FBI agents (guns not required), and trivia and look-alike contests. During a showing of Man on the Moon, patrons were given cookies and milk in a tribute to one of comedian Andy Kaufman’s famous gags. Pepsi marketers are developing a slate of similarly kooky events for 2001, confirms CJ Fraleigh, Pepsi’s vp-soda. “Doing these types of things gives us a positive association with an exciting environment,” he says.

Box Office Bonanza

Of course, not every brand comes stag to the party. Film tie-ins abound – proving that Hollywood marketing partnerships can go way beyond media buys. In fall 1998, Viacom’s Paramount Pictures teamed with Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln-Mercury arm to create events promoting Rugrats: The Movie. Incentivized theater owners hosted outdoor parades and indoor minivan demos that proved to be hits with patrons.

Viacom continues to leverage its National Amusements chain to support many of its holdings. The company’s TV Land cable channel will promote the re-release of the original Charlie’s Angels series in lobbies this fall. Likewise, Time Warner’s Cartoon Network, Atlanta, has run several programs in theaters to introduce new series such as The Powerpuff Girls.

Hershey Foods, Hershey, PA, ran a spring effort tied to DreamWorks’ The Road to Eldorado in which packaging for Milk Duds, Kit Kats, Whoppers, and Reese’s carried an on-pack game giving consumers chances to win trips around the world and digital cameras. The company ran a similar program in June linked to Paramount’s Mission Impossible 2. “We see a definite sales lift when we do these types of things,” says Craig Kierst, Hershey’s national account manager. “It works and we’ll continue to do them.”

While sweeps, sampling, and events have most of the in-theater spotlight, other promo tactics such as couponing and premium giveaways are as common as pimply teens. The Discovery Channel took to theaters this spring to drive viewership of its Walking with Dinosaurs special. Signage and activities supported, as did 500,000 trading cards given to consumers at the box office or as they walked in to see select movies “while they were in an entertainment mindset,” says Lynne Stephens, New York City-based Discovery Networks’ director of advertising and promotion. The 18-frame motion cards were packed with a coupon good for discounts at Discovery Channel retail stores.

Fashion house Tommy Hilfiger, New York City, recently undertook a unique initiative that tagged movie tickets with mini-coupons good for samples of a new Freedom fragrance when redeemed at nearby stores. (The sample inventory was completely liquidated.) New York City-based BMG Distribution, a unit of music Goliath BMG Entertainment, has tested kiosks and listening stations in theaters. (The company also runs quarterly contests for patrons.) “A lot of moviegoers buy music,” explains Rick Bleiweiss, BMG’s senior vp-marketing and branch operations. “We don’t want to rely on waiting for them to come into music stores.”

And … Action

Feel like you’ve already sat through a Corey Feldman/Corey Haim double-feature? This show isn’t over yet, as marketers looking to add some oomph at the actual point-of-purchase are offering movie tickets at retail as purchase drivers.

Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, teamed with Burger King last year to award tickets to diners who bought five frozen Coke slush drinks. Tropicana Products is currently running an under-the-label game proffering millions of free passes; folks who don’t win instantly can score a free ticket by mailing in five losing labels. Marketing Drive USA, Wilton, CT, handles.

Eastman Kodak Co. ran a scratch-and-win effort earlier this year for $1 off, $2 off, $5 off, or free ducats. The company later ran ticket offers inside FunSaver cameras and through an account-specific effort with retailer Wolf’s Camera. Other brands taking consumers to the movies include Citibank, Sprint, Revlon, Canada Dry, Sprite, Barq’s Root Beer, and Smirnoff.

A handful of suppliers offer similar programs, all of which let brands offer free or discounted tickets. Companies such as Incline Village, NV-based Hollywood Movie Magic and The Properties Group, New York City, sell programs that allow brands to slap a blanket offer for free tickets (or tickets with a predetermined discount) on-pack or in-pack. Consumers either find the ticket certificate inside packaging or have to mail away for the slip, which is redeemable at virtually every theater chain.

Tickets can be customized to be used for any movie or for a specific release, and expiration dates can be determined by the brand. But the most popular facet of gift-certificate programs is the redemption structure. Brands pay only for redeemed tickets, thereby allowing for a giveaway with high perceived value at a lower actual cost. “The word `free’ works as well with marketers as it does with consumers,” says John Galinos, ceo of The Properties Group.

The largest ticket promotion of the summer was Nestle’s tie-in with Disney’s Dinosaur, in which retail shoppers received a free ticket to the film by purchasing four Nestle products (from 20 participating brands). Glenview, IL-based Kraft Foods has run several ticket initiatives on cereal boxes, most recently last spring with an offer for $3.50 off a ticket to Universal’s The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas that ran on – what else? – Fruity Pebbles. “We see sales spikes when we do this,” says Dianne Graham, director of consumer promotions for Kraft’s Maxwell House and Post divisions. “A $3.50 discount is actually a higher value than the box of cereal it’s attached to.”

Kraft will repeat the flight this fall across multiple cereal brands as part of its tie-in to Paramount’s Rugrats in Paris. The program is designed in-house with creative help from East/West Creative, New York City.

Elsewhere, Santa Monica, CA-based videogame manufacturer Activision last month supported the launch of its X-Men: Mutant Academy title by packaging free tickets to Fox’s X-Men movie inside 80,000 units. The “relevant premium,” as Activision brand manager Nita Patel calls it, was tagged on packaging and good until Oct. 13.

Depending on volume, prices for on-pack movie offers can range from a nickel to 50 cents per unit. What if a promotion is so successful that redemption blows the barn doors off projections? Brands can buy low-cost over-redemption insurance to take care of that, er, problem. (New York City-based Unilever bought the insurance for a current effort pitching a $3.50 ticket discount on two million Q-Tips packages.) “This is a good medium for us,” says Karen Kozak, Kodak’s manager of corporate marketing. “It’s a low-risk option. Whenever we do something like this we know we won’t end up sitting on a pile of unused movie tickets.”

Curtain Call

From a logistics standpoint, movie promotions can be executed quickly and easily, due in no small part to the willingness of theater chains to help out. (Theaters are paid for any promotions running on-site and receive full admission price for redeemed tickets.) Theater staffs are comfortable with both in-theater marketing flights and ticket premium efforts. (Frequently added incentives for theater managers and their staffs don’t hurt, either.)

Inside theaters or down the street on store shelves, what was once a non-traditional venue is fast becoming a standard marketing channel attracting big bucks. “Movies are the No. 1 out-of-home activity, beating all sports combined,” says Ron Randolph-Wall, president of Hollywood Movie Magic, which already has more than 250 million tickets booked to be offered on-pack in 2001.

“You can follow your customer from youth to old age this way,” says Jan Durwood, vp-national accounts with National Cinema Network, a cinema marketing outfit in New York City. “Demographics may change, but consumers will be moviegoers year after year.”

After all, the show must go on.