• by Erik Sass , December 2, 2011

Digital out-of-home video is getting a large-scale, interactive twist courtesy of National CineMedia and the Audience Entertainment Group, which are jointly introducing a new, interactive feature called AudienceGame as part of NCM’s FirstLook pre-movie entertainment content and advertising package.

The AudienceGame system essentially turns the entire movie audience into a giant “human joystick,” which controls the on-screen action by moving their arms back and forth in unison (or something close to it), giving new meaning to social gaming.

The first big ad client, Disney Cruise Line, launched an AudienceGame campaign in NCM theaters in top markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and New York. In the Disney AudienceGame, moviegoers are able to guide Donald Duck on a 90-second adventure down an AquaDuck “water coaster” on a Disney cruise ship. The program combines live video and animated overlays.

The Disney Cruise Line AquaDuck AudienceGame is running now through the end of December, part of a new integrated cinema campaign. It includes Disney Cruise Line, Disney Parks & Resorts onscreen spots, Monster Media iPOP interactive display units, and other movie theater marketing elements, such as lobby standees.

Currently, the AudienceGame technology is available in 22 theaters across the country, and NCM hopes to bring the technology to more theaters soon, depending on advertiser interest.

NCM president for sales and marketing Cliff Marks explained that the AudienceGames are part of a broader push to increase audience engagement with brands around throughout the cinema experience. “Cinema is the ultimate in advertising engagement and captivity.  We’re looking for more touch points to allow brands to reach their customers in ways that can only happen in this environment," he noted.

Marks cited other recent NCM platform extensions, including Movie Night Out, a mobile movie app that has been downloaded over 1.3 million times, as well as lobby elements, including digital out-of-home displays, concession integration, sampling and sweepstakes.

Building on the success of Movie Night Out, last month NCM launched a mobile ad network targeting on-the-go movie patrons in partnership with Mobile Theory. “The Mobile Movies Network,” operated by NCM Media Networks, includes both mobile sites and apps aimed at key audience segments at the local city and DMA level. Additional segmentation is available based on handset and device, carrier, and daypart targeting.

The Mobile Movies Network includes a new mobile ad product called Tap2 -- a mobile banner that expands when the user taps it to reveal response mechanisms, including a video player, a map to nearby retail locations, or coupons and promotional codes.

Previously, NCM unveiled a multiplatform movie content and advertising alliance with Flixster, allowing marketers to reach movie fans in theaters, online and via mobile devices. The mobile component included Flixster and RottenTomatoes’ combined mobile properties.