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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » Theater Web Site Advertising Gone Wrong

   
Author Topic: Theater Web Site Advertising Gone Wrong
Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003


 - posted 08-28-2014 02:50 PM      Profile for Scott Jentsch   Author's Homepage   Email Scott Jentsch   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Here's an illustration of why it might be a bad idea to have advertising on your theater's web site:

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I'm sure that there are worse things to have advertised, but telling people that they can stay home and experience something extraordinary is contrary to what most theaters would want, no?

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 08-28-2014 03:06 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'd be sending Dolby a little "nasty gram" about that one. Not that they would reply.

Although to be fair, it's probably placed there by some agency that sells ad space on websites in bulk, or something like that.

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David Buckley
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 525
From: Oxford, N. Canterbury, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2004


 - posted 08-28-2014 03:49 PM      Profile for David Buckley   Author's Homepage   Email David Buckley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
One has to wonder about the wisdom of advertising other peoples stuff on a website that is intended to (frankly) sell ones own stuff. A punter might see an add that presses their buttons, and then forget they were thinking about going to the movies.

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Geoff Jones
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 579
From: Broomfield, CO, USA
Registered: Feb 2006


 - posted 08-28-2014 10:00 PM      Profile for Geoff Jones   Author's Homepage   Email Geoff Jones   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Is it really all that different from the pre-show commercials inside the theater that invite me to stay home and watch whatever TV show they happen to be plugging?

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Buck Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 894
From: St. Joseph MO, USA
Registered: Sep 2010


 - posted 08-29-2014 12:59 AM      Profile for Buck Wilson   Email Buck Wilson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I remember having to program Netflix ScreenVision ads onto features.

Always did seem a little counterproductive.....

Sometimes I wonder...

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Jarod Reddig
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 513
From: Hays, Ks
Registered: Jun 2011


 - posted 08-29-2014 12:59 AM      Profile for Jarod Reddig   Email Jarod Reddig   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Ya I gotta agree with Geoff here. Altough I totally see your point Scott. So ridiculous [Roll Eyes]

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Terry Lynn-Stevens
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1081
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2012


 - posted 08-29-2014 02:36 AM      Profile for Terry Lynn-Stevens   Email Terry Lynn-Stevens   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Here's an illustration of why it might be a bad idea to have advertising on your theater's web site:

-

I'm sure that there are worse things to have advertised, but telling people that they can stay home and experience something extraordinary is contrary to what most theaters would want, no?


Scott, have you been searching Dolby Atmos recently? This looks like a Google ad that is popping up just for you. On my screen I get Cineplex Scene points.

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Dennis Benjamin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1445
From: Denton, MD
Registered: Feb 2002


 - posted 08-29-2014 09:34 AM      Profile for Dennis Benjamin   Author's Homepage   Email Dennis Benjamin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I got an ad for a local car dealership...

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Marcel Birgelen
Film God

Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012


 - posted 08-29-2014 11:56 AM      Profile for Marcel Birgelen   Email Marcel Birgelen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It's just an advertising network looking at your personal profiles. If you've been looking at the Onkyo Atmos receiver on some webshop lately, it's likely it will pop up on other sites that are somehow affiliated with the same advertising network. If you've been looking at cars, an advertisement for a car might pop up, if you've been looking for vacations, same thing...

I agree with David, advertisements on movie theater sites are just awkward. Why do people get there? Because they want to know what's playing, maybe some information about the theater and maybe even to buy tickets. So, your web site is a marketing tool, why put the marketing of someone else on there and frustrate your potential customers?

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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003


 - posted 09-02-2014 10:36 AM      Profile for Scott Jentsch   Author's Homepage   Email Scott Jentsch   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Mike Blakesley
Although to be fair, it's probably placed there by some agency that sells ad space on websites in bulk, or something like that.
quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
Scott, have you been searching Dolby Atmos recently? This looks like a Google ad that is popping up just for you. On my screen I get Cineplex Scene points.
It's most certainly being generated from an ad network, and most likely I was shown an Onkyo ad because I had been researching Atmos in the home recently.

However, web site publishers have the ability to block certain advertisers, so ads like this can be removed (and entire advertisers/categories can be blocked) by someone that is paying attention.

Personally, I don't think that a movie theater should be advertising other products/services on their corporate web site. Some theater chains even have popups, which are so annoying that most sites that depend on advertising don't show them.

With web sites like The BigScreen Cinema Guide, we have to show advertising, because that's the (primary) way we make money, but a theater's primary way of making money is attracting customers to their business and selling them tickets, concessions, etc. Quite a few chains/theaters do it, so it's hard to pick on just one chain or theater for it, but it just seems counter-intuitive.

It would be like McDonalds or Wendy's having banner and popup ads on their sites, and seeing an ad for Whole Foods or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese or something.

Can anyone come up with an example of other business segments that do this? Nothing comes to mind for me...

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Manny Montes
Master Film Handler

Posts: 270
From: United States
Registered: Feb 2010


 - posted 09-20-2014 10:02 AM      Profile for Manny Montes   Email Manny Montes   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Unfortunately it seems that some operators consider a website seperately in their costs. I knew a couple who basically said that if their website didn't pay for itself via advertising they would take it down. Crazy considering how widespread internet use is, plus the fact that hosting is so cheap now that you could easily absorb the costs elsewhere.

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Edward Havens
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 614
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Mar 2008


 - posted 09-20-2014 10:29 AM      Profile for Edward Havens   Email Edward Havens   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
To be fair, a plurality of calls we still get at the theatre on any given day are from people who found our phone number on the internet and want to find out what we're playing. And not just from "older" people either.

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