By David Wisniowski

I don’t often go to the cinema or movie theatre. It’s not that I don’t enjoy movies, it’s that I don’t really like the environment of a theatre. Last weekend however, I broke out of my bubble and went to see Captain Phillips. I enjoyed the movie and the popcorn and everything associated with going to the theatre these days, but what I didn’t think I would be enjoying so much was the clever (albeit slightly creepy) marketing that was happening all around me.

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For those of you who aren’t familiar with the ‘corpocracy’ that is the Canadian movie theatre business, most of our theatres are owned by Cineplex. Cineplex has a loyalty program running alongside Scotiabank in which each time you buy a ticket, a combo, or other movie related items you earn a predetermined value of points. As with most loyalty programs, after you earn a certain amount of points (I believe in this case it’s 1000) you earn a ‘free’ movie ticket, or popcorn, or whatever.

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The loyalty program is called ‘SCENE’ and it’s not too bad, I’ve maybe been to the movies four times this year and I already have a freebie (those $30 popcorn combos for two sure add up). But I digress, the loyalty program isn’t what got me to think about Cineplex and their marketing platforms, instead, it was what was happening as I was in the theatre. I’d like to point out here that I’m not sure whether or not its admirable or unsettling that while I was out with my friends I was subconsciously thinking about marketing campaigns and movie goer engagement. I also find it strange that I don’t pay attention to my friends for the purposes of ethnography, but hey, I guess I’m a researcher.

So, back to my story. Cineplex, as I’m sure is common with most movie theatres, also provides a monthly magazine dishing out celebrity gossip as well as upcoming movie information. I can’t remember the last time I actually picked up one of these magazines. I’m going to say it was in between the eras of Jurassic Park and Titanic. And I wondered, why do they still make these? Surely people aren’t reading them anymore. If I wanted to find out about an upcoming movie I’d go to IMDB.com. If I wanted to find out how a movie is doing, I’d check out Rotten Tomatoes. Anyway, the point is that this magazine continues to exist.

When I got to the theatre on Friday (at 6:45, I know, I’m a bit of a rebel) my friend purchased the tickets and I bought the snacks. We both had our trusty SCENE cards on hand and swiped away, eagerly awaiting our bounty of points. After the ‘pre-show’ (read Scotiabank/random car commercials) the lights went off, and the film began (although not before telling the audience to turn off their cell phones, in a voice which I felt was slightly patronizing. I.e. “I’m going to say this now because no one can trust a mob of Canadians sitting together in a room for two hours”). So yes, I did as the thunderous voice of the movie god commanded and turned off my cell phone.

In a recent interview I conducted, there was talk of how personal the mobile device is becoming nowadays, some would even call these pocket computers ‘extensions of the self’. While my phone is very near and dear to my heart, I did, as mentioned earlier, have the strength to turn it off and enjoy the film.

It’s really interesting to just sit in a theatre as the credits are rolling, and watch the room gradually light up from the LCD glow of reawakened phones. It’s kind of like a little lightning storm of separation anxiety. I too turned on my phone, and while I had no messages (which is totally normal?), I did have a little foreign icon peeking out from my dashboard. Curious.

When I opened the notification, I could determine that it was sent to me from Cineplex. No doubt, my SCENE card had triggered a series of marketing events upon its swiping and now it was time to pay the proverbial piper. The notification read ‘Be sure to pick up this month’s version of Tribute magazine on your way out.’ I found this to be very cool, but slightly Orwellian at the same time. I figured that, upon swiping my SCENE card, Cineplex knew I was in one of their theatres, and I would be there for at least a few hours. Why not some personalized marketing to my smartphone while I’m there? Cineplex knows that once the movie is over, I’m going to immediately look at my phone to psychoanalyse my popularity, so why not send a little advertisement.

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Did I end up getting the magazine? No. I mentioned earlier that I was a rebel. But, I did think about the process of that phone notification all the way home. Was it new? It was the first time that had happened to me. Do more people actually pick up the magazine as a result? Why don’t all stores have this? I guess it’s simply because at the movies, you pay before you go in, and you’re there for a while. Most other loyalty programs wait for you to pay for your purchase before earning your points. Do airlines do this? I feel like it could work for the airline industries.

So that was my Friday night at the movies! Two hours of watching Tom Hanks at sea, and I guess now four days of thinking about a little Cineplex notification for a magazine I didn’t even pick up. I think the marketing practices employed by the theatre we’re pretty innovative. It’d be interesting to see how other industries and loyalty program utilize this platform, and what it means for consumer engagement.

As a side note, I’ve tweeted this article once before, but in the spirit of marketing and Halloween I’m attaching it here. It also touches on some pretty Orwell-inspired marketing techniques and was written for the website Cracked. Enjoy.