Regal CEO hails digital cinema
Farrell in pair of roles
Nov 14, 2002
As Kurt Hall extolled the virtues of Regal's new digital cinema network to deliver alternative content and preshow advertising, he said that while airing alternative content is a compelling proposition, it remains challenging.
Speaking on Wednesday at the 14th annual EPM Entertainment Marketing Conference at the Universal Hilton, the president and CEO of Regal CineMedia Corp. educated marketers from a wide array of companies on the theater chain's mission. He addressed what is essentially a nationwide experiment on what forms of other entertainment can successfully be aired in theaters.
"In reality, this is a very challenging business," said Hall, who also is co-chairman and co-CEO of parent company Regal Entertainment Group. "Finding content that is compelling enough to attract an audience during days when theater attendance is slow and developing a marketing model that does not rely on cost-prohibitive traditional media is difficult." He said the most compelling content is already tied up in expensive rights deals with broadcasters and cable networks.
Regal CineMedia has signed a marketing deal with NBC to develop original content to be aired during the 20-minute preshow segment of any theatrical release (HR 10/22). The Denver-based subsidiary also has aired CD-release parties for artists Korn and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and presented the UCLA-Colorado State University football game in high-definition this year.
Hall said Regal CineMedia is in discussion with two or three studios on using the digital network, which will be available in the top 52 markets by the end of next year, to advertise their product in formats other than trailers.
He emphasized that the new network will feature a much more appealing presentation than the static images and rolling stock that runs before movies.
"I am hopeful that the lines between advertising and entertainment will begin to blur as 'made for cinema' campaigns will become the rule rather than the exception," Hall said. "I am also hopeful that marketers will begin to use the cinema as the launching pad for new product campaigns wherein scripts and content are developed to premiere in theaters and then move to television and other mediums. This release-window strategy has been very successful in the film industry."
At the closing session of the EPM conference following Hall's keynote, panelists agreed that new technology has changed entertainment marketing dramatically, presenting both new challenges and opportunities.
"What happened with the Internet was an incredibly shocking wake-up call," said Jordan Sollitto, Warner Bros. executive vp worldwide marketing for consumer products, who recalled that he was at both the Warner Bros. Studio Store and Warners' Entertaindom online unit when each closed down last year. "That may be a record," he said dryly.
Among the fallout Sollitto noted from the Internet boom and bust is extreme risk-aversion on the part of licensees and retailers. "Everyone in our business has become decision-paralyzed," Sollitto said, adding that he sees no major change coming in this area for the next several years. Another lasting effect is licensees asking for global or at least multiterritory rights as a way to manage risk, Sollitto said.
TiVo vp corporate marketing Susan Cashen presented the company's case for working with advertisers rather than being an enemy to them. "The take on TiVo tends to be bipolar," she said. "One school of thought is that it is truly revolutionary. ... The other is that TiVo is the devil incarnate when it comes to entertainment and advertising." Cashen showed case studies of how TiVo has worked with entertainment and retailing companies to drive business.
William Morris Consulting senior vp Paul Bricault discussed how a desire on the part of advertisers to cut through the clutter and get involved "upstream" with programming has driven them to employ talent agencies like WMA. He said that while both sides are still learning to make it work, he sees only more cooperation between entertainment companies and brand marketers in the future.
Rounding out the panel was John Zamoiski, president of U.K.-based GEM Group's GEM Entertainment marketing unit.
Speaking on Wednesday at the 14th annual EPM Entertainment Marketing Conference at the Universal Hilton, the president and CEO of Regal CineMedia Corp. educated marketers from a wide array of companies on the theater chain's mission. He addressed what is essentially a nationwide experiment on what forms of other entertainment can successfully be aired in theaters.
"In reality, this is a very challenging business," said Hall, who also is co-chairman and co-CEO of parent company Regal Entertainment Group. "Finding content that is compelling enough to attract an audience during days when theater attendance is slow and developing a marketing model that does not rely on cost-prohibitive traditional media is difficult." He said the most compelling content is already tied up in expensive rights deals with broadcasters and cable networks.
Regal CineMedia has signed a marketing deal with NBC to develop original content to be aired during the 20-minute preshow segment of any theatrical release (HR 10/22). The Denver-based subsidiary also has aired CD-release parties for artists Korn and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and presented the UCLA-Colorado State University football game in high-definition this year.
Hall said Regal CineMedia is in discussion with two or three studios on using the digital network, which will be available in the top 52 markets by the end of next year, to advertise their product in formats other than trailers.
He emphasized that the new network will feature a much more appealing presentation than the static images and rolling stock that runs before movies.
"I am hopeful that the lines between advertising and entertainment will begin to blur as 'made for cinema' campaigns will become the rule rather than the exception," Hall said. "I am also hopeful that marketers will begin to use the cinema as the launching pad for new product campaigns wherein scripts and content are developed to premiere in theaters and then move to television and other mediums. This release-window strategy has been very successful in the film industry."
At the closing session of the EPM conference following Hall's keynote, panelists agreed that new technology has changed entertainment marketing dramatically, presenting both new challenges and opportunities.
"What happened with the Internet was an incredibly shocking wake-up call," said Jordan Sollitto, Warner Bros. executive vp worldwide marketing for consumer products, who recalled that he was at both the Warner Bros. Studio Store and Warners' Entertaindom online unit when each closed down last year. "That may be a record," he said dryly.
Among the fallout Sollitto noted from the Internet boom and bust is extreme risk-aversion on the part of licensees and retailers. "Everyone in our business has become decision-paralyzed," Sollitto said, adding that he sees no major change coming in this area for the next several years. Another lasting effect is licensees asking for global or at least multiterritory rights as a way to manage risk, Sollitto said.
TiVo vp corporate marketing Susan Cashen presented the company's case for working with advertisers rather than being an enemy to them. "The take on TiVo tends to be bipolar," she said. "One school of thought is that it is truly revolutionary. ... The other is that TiVo is the devil incarnate when it comes to entertainment and advertising." Cashen showed case studies of how TiVo has worked with entertainment and retailing companies to drive business.
William Morris Consulting senior vp Paul Bricault discussed how a desire on the part of advertisers to cut through the clutter and get involved "upstream" with programming has driven them to employ talent agencies like WMA. He said that while both sides are still learning to make it work, he sees only more cooperation between entertainment companies and brand marketers in the future.
Rounding out the panel was John Zamoiski, president of U.K.-based GEM Group's GEM Entertainment marketing unit.
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