CAC Close-Up: Blacker Named Exec Director, Cinema Ads Prove Effective

BlackerThe Cinema Ad Council has a new executive director: Andrew L. Blacker, senior vice president, marketing and research, Screenvision. Blacker, a seasoned media and marketing pro, has a strong focus on digital strategies. He will join Dave Kupiec, CAC's new president and chairman, who sees the industry as an advertising plus during economic woes.

The 6-year-old trade association serves cinema ad sellers and the theatrical exhibition community. It reps cinema advertising companies that account for more than 82% of U.S. cinema screens, per the National CineMedia and Screenvision.

"Cinema ads work better during recessionary times. First, the cinemas are more full, so there are more prospects and more impressions for advertisers," says Kupiec. "Traditionally, cinema is not only recession-proof, it is actually one of the only media forms that grows in a recession. Through this past weekend, cinema box office revenue is up over 18% versus the same period of 2008.

advertisement

advertisement

"Secondly, advertisers are also directly affected by the soft economy and are cutting their budgets; therefore, ad effectiveness becomes even more important with each dollar spent. It means more efficient and more effective CPMs," Kupiec adds. "Ad recall of cinema is three to six times greater than TV." CAC currently has no ad projections for 2009.

Blacker, Kupiec's new executive director, joined Screenvision earlier this month. Prior to that, he was vice president, Discovery Communications, commerce division, overseeing marketing, online/ offline promotions and new business strategy and development. He has also held executive posts at AOL Networks Marketing and Strategy Group and Ebrick.com.

A CAC study, performed by IMMI earlier this month, found that combined cinema and TV ad campaigns more than doubled the conversion rate and lift compared to a TV-only campaign.

Tracking the results of three ad campaigns for cable TV shows, IMMI found that only 10.1% of subjects exposed to a TV-only campaign watched the show's premiere, versus 22.7% for combined TV and cinema campaigns. Later, 24.7% of the former group went on to watch any episode of the show, versus 49.5% of the latter.

Next story loading loading..