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Movie theaters continue finding inventive ways to woo patrons
posted by
Michael Zoldessy
on
February 6, 2012 at 7:40 am
With box office receipts down, many theaters are trying to separate themselves from the pack by providing added value. Some AMC theaters in Indiana have even started staging promotions.
Read more in the NW Times.
Comments (5)
Way to go AMC, to boost sagging profits while driving customers away from the theater and watching movies on demand, redboxnetflix, whatever.
Did I read there is a $12.00 fee to belong and get special deals?
@JohnMessick, it’s actually a pretty good deal if you see a lot of movies. For $12 per year you get a size upgrade on all drinks and popcorn (i.e. the large drink for the medium price, etc.), invites to free advance screenings (I screened Warrior, Real Steel, and The Grey for free), and you receive $10 coupons for every $100 you spend on tickets and concessions.
In late December, AMC had a sale & I purchased it for $6. I did’t know there are invites for free advance screenings. Perhaps those invites arrive by email? Or maybe I have to buy a certain number of tickets before those invites arrive.
I saw two invites to advanced screenings – Warrior (which wasn’t showing in my area) and The Grey (which I saw). A far better deal is MoviePass if there are some decent theaters participating in it in your area. AMC’s Stubs is obnoxious essentially because you are being charged $12 for something other chains (Clearview, Regal, Dipson, National Amusements, etc…) do for free, and with a better value. Their MovieWatcher Card (still used in AMC’s Canadian locations) was a little behind the times, but the $12 fee just looks AMC look desperate along with their $17.25 chicken finger combo! (National Amusements is taster and reasonable for movie theatre food at $13.25).
AMC by no means is innovative, I had hopes in their CEO who came from Starbucks a company with excellent of quality and customer service (of coarse at a premium price). The top five most innovative chains in North American, if I had to create a list, I think are: 1.– Alamo Drafthouse, 2.– National Amusements, 3.-Harkins Theaters, 4.-Muvico, 5.-Cineplex.
Back to AMC – they have premium prices for some items, they also give a way a lot of free popcorn (for a while there with the stubs card, I’d get two popcorn vouches for every ticket purchased), but on a service level still leaves a lot to be desired, I would not think of them as innovative, if anything the major problem I have with Regal and AMC is the arrogance at the top in these organizations, you almost want to say “morons, create an experience that brings people back – that fosters repeat business instead of pinching every penny out of someone who goes a few times a year” – – their digital pre shows (NCM First Look) are especially obnoxious – cranked so loud you can’t have a conversation with someone before the show or even drown them out with headphones if your alone. Screenvision/PreFlix are less annoying. Further proof if you need evidence of how uninventive AMC is, look no further than the neighborhoods they left with a void by closing profitable main street cinemas that didn’t fit their business model. If they innovative they’d adapt accordingly.
National Amusements in terms of service and all around quality (generally their popcorn and projection are the best around, at least in their newer venues) is a bit closer to Starbucks. I admire smaller exhibitors with a certain customer base that encourage repeat business, in Buffalo we are very fortunate to have Dipson Theaters with their discount nights (admission and half price popcorn/soda) and season pass program – along with staff and management that actually look happy to be there.
As for the others – Harkins I believe was one of the first to offer in-theatre child care, Muvico for a whole host of reasons including themed theaters, restaurants and luxury levels. Lastly, I choose Cineplex for their use of social media and diversifying themselves through partnerships beyond the cinema – they a bonus card that allows you to earn points at their partners – they also have an online streaming business. Cineplex’s in-theatre experience is pretty good too, I never really had a problem there, but I admit outside of TIFF, my experience is limited to a handful of venues between Buffalo and Toronto (my one Empire Theaters experience was good too, my AMC experience at Winston Churchill was a bit odd – a 24-plex virtually dead on a Saturday afternoon, the concession had a limited menu, they also had no digital pre show (no complaints on that!) – and I distinctively remember how little staff they had there).