Advertising: Cinema

Theater advertising can be a creative way to get your message to lots of people after business hours and on weekends.

Theater advertising can communicate simple yet powerful messages, and can be used as an invitation to your church(es).  View cinema ads.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT CINEMA ADVERTISING
Theaters draw people who generally live within a seven to 10-mile radius and up to 25 miles away for megaplexes. To launch an effective and successful advertising campaign, you need to select theaters close to your church - there are over 20,000 screens nationwide.

Theater advertising takes on many forms, but generally speaking, it is any paid advertisement that appears on the movie screen or in the theater lobby. The two major methods are theater slides (ads that appear on the screen between movies) and filmed spots that appear directly prior to the movie trailers. While only large national advertisers such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola have the budgets for filmed ads, theater slides are affordable and can be very effective in driving visitors to your church.

The consistent repetition of your message ensures that movie audiences will see your advertising many times per week. This delivers good next-day recall and top-of-mind awareness. The average moviegoer arrives 15 minutes before a feature film. A typical advertising schedule includes three slides equally spaced throughout a 13-to 15-minute looped program. Ads are displayed approximately 3-6 times before the start of every show on each screen.

Six weeks is generally needed to give you ample time to select a theater, negotiate a contract, select appropriate slides/graphics, determine customization and allow time for artwork creation and actual 35mm slide output production. Bear in mind that many theaters have extended contracts and space/time slots may not be available right away.

NOTE: Some theater chains have advertising policies that restrict a theater from approving religious artwork you want to use. These only occur on occasion and with certain theater chains and, historically, Igniting Ministry has been able to address them and obtain exceptions to these restrictions. Call us if you have any trouble.

For more theater advertising pros, cons and process steps, download this helpful PDF.

SEE ALL CINEMA ADVERTISING
You can view and download all cinema slides (and all other Open Hearts advertising) from the Media Warehouse .

GETTING STARTED

Download this helpful PDF file for more help.

The process:

• Select theater/theater chain
• Determine desired art work and customization
• Execute the space contract (might require a credit application)
• Produce any artwork resizing or customization
• Deliver finished slides to theater vendor who will post ad in five-10 business days

When placing theater advertising, your total cost will be based on three elements:

• space = time slots; contract length
• reach = number of slides and frequency
• production = the artwork and 35mm slide.

Your local theater may offer to handle all production and only comparison shopping will determine whether an all-in-one package will be a bargain for you.

Before you sign a contract with a theater company, you will usually find that theater advertising is an "all or none" proposition. Customarily, you WILL NOT be able to filter which movies your slides are aired against. (You will not be able to specifically exclude certain movies containing violence, adult language/content or questionable religious portrayals from your run schedule.)