Life’s just one big digital journey
Simon Rees, managing director, DCM, on why the adoption of digital technology will trigger a huge period of evolution and creativity in cinema advertising…
This morning on my train into work, I read the newspaper. Like the majority of the carriage around me, this was on my iPad – flitting between this and that, while on the phone to my wife.
The guy sitting next to me was watching a movie on his. The girl opposite was eyes-shut listening to Coldplay… well I think that’s what she was humming.
Most of the carriage was, at one point or another, fiddling in silent communication with their various forms of technology – telephone, iPad or Kindle. The only print newspapers being read (by a scant few) were copies of Metro (most of which appeared to have been passed around the carriage).
As for the rest, a few extra zeds before the office.
Our media landscape is very, very mobile. Little wonder the nation’s brands are finding it even harder to decide how best to spend advertising money.
While it’s all a knotty problem for us in the advertising business, the people on the street (or my fellow morning commuters) are delighted. Never before have we been so well served by media.
Every event that we value, every experience or piece of information we seek is being extended and enhanced by digital and mobile technologies.
The challenge for media owners is to look through the eyes of our audience and understand how they view the experience – not just the bit we’ve been used to giving them. Then we have to build our platform to embrace the whole consumer experience, not just one part of it.
For instance, a visit to the cinema is, for most, an event. It’s probably encouraged or triggered by a review or comment in another media, as they become aware of a movie they want to see.
It’s developed as they book tickets, catch the trailer online and invite others to join the fun. Along the way, the whole experience will probably be shared through social media.
As we “switched on” digital cinema advertising last Friday (28 September), brands are now being given faster and more flexible access to a presence in the whole audience experience of going to the cinema – not just being offered a slot in the reel.
It’s the beginning of a bold new era in cinema advertising, with brands already taking up the opportunities of shorter lead times and greater freedom to choose, change and adapt messaging.
That’s more freedom to be smarter, faster and more surprising in the way we talk to audiences, responding to their own demand for more precisely targeted and bespoke content.
We can only expect the adoption of digital technology to trigger a huge period of evolution and creativity in cinema advertising. DCM’s new digital products will give creative advertisers unprecedented levels of speed and choice in how and when they can access and interact with the audience.
As we move deeper into the cinema advertising environment, digital empowers a two-way conversation between the brand and its audience, harnessing smartphone mobile technology to continue the cinematic advertising journey before, during and beyond the movie itself.
The challenge in the mobile age is to work with agencies and advertisers to plan across the complete media platform – as defined by our audience, not by us. It’s going to need new skills capabilities and approaches. Life’s just one big digital journey!