The Arbitron study, titled "Making Brands Shine in the Dark," contains more good news for the growing cinema advertising industry. Ads in movie theaters connect with a young audience: 81% of teenagers and 67% of adults ages 18-24 say they have been to the movies in the last month.
Overall, cinema advertising is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the ad industry, along with the Internet and out-of-home generally. Cinema advertisers expect that revenues will more than double from 2004 to 2008--from about $480 million to over $1 billion.
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Who are the ads reaching? Frequent moviegoers tend to be so-called "early adopters," with 40% saying they feel "ahead of the curve" in buying new products, compared to 22% of the American population at large.
Further, pre-show movie advertising delivers ads to people who otherwise avoid them, according to Arbitron--which found that moviegoers are more likely to use ad-avoiding technologies like DVRs and pop-up blockers. In movie theaters, where the projectionist is in control, this is clearly not an option. Plus, movie advertising reaches its audience with "surround sound," so to speak: in addition to the pre-movie ads, advertisers can also deploy posters, branded food and drink containers, and lobby music and video displays.