Cinema advertising in the U.S. grew nearly 13% in 2010, outpacing an overall ad trend that was up a healthy 6.5%.
The Cinema Advertising Council is set to release Monday its annual report on the state of its industry. It’s expected to show that advertising revenue from theaters — both on-screen and off-screen — rose to $658.3 million last year.
Driving the industry are the commercials that appear on movie screens ahead of the trailers, accounting for almost 92% of the total revenue last year.
Two weeks ago, Kantar Media said the overall advertising business in the U.S. grew to $131.1 billion. Cinema advertising, according to the CAC report due Monday, outgrew most other forms, one exception being spot TV advertising, which surged 24.2% last year, according to Kantar.
While the CAC noted that brands have the opportunity to advertise on screen in 3D, it didn’t say how much revenue was generated from the technique.
The top advertisers included entertainment and video games, along with auto, military, financial and more. Fast-growing categories included toys and games, travel and tourism and others.
The double-digit growth in cinema advertising ends a slump of sorts for the industry. In 2009, growth was at 2% and the year prior it was at 6%, while the two years preceding those saw growth of 19% and 15%, respectively.
“More and more, brands are planning cinema as an integral part of their media mix in order to reach younger demographics and light TV viewers,” said Cliff Marks, president and chairman of the CAC.
