Media choice/cinemas

Dan Brooke

Head of marketing

Film 4

UCI, Virgin, Odeon, the art house brigade. They’re all at it:

rebranding, refurbishing and reinvigorating the fleapit. From accurate

24-hour hotlines, online booking and cashpoint-style ticket collection

to lounge bars, comfy seats, cafe food, clean loos and customer

magazines, cinemas are being modernised. And not before time.

For the past ten years the industry has been on the up: admissions have

risen by 64%, screens by 74% and sites by 12%. These modernisations

partly reflect the increase in demand. They also recognise the needs of

the predominantly 16- to 34-year-old audience and the nature of the

cinema experience itself.

For my money, the people who have done it best are the biggest, and

oldest - the Odeon - and no better than at the flagship Leicester Square

site.

Out goes the 70s tat; the neon, the marble, the swirly carpets and

twinkly lights. In with the metal, the tiles, the glass, leopard skin

seats and futuristic blue lights. It’s modern, stylish, young and

glamorous, just like the movies. There’s even a celebrity balcony

overlooking the square where you can sip your pre-performance

Bacardi.

Going to the cinema is an event, and now it feels like it. Cinema has

moved on, and left ’Auntie Beryl’s Budgie’ far behind.

This article was first published on Marketing