• Ad Age , Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:32 AM

Movie ticket sales are on the rise -- up 8% year to date -- with the help of blockbusters like "Spider-Man" and "Shrek," but they aren't growing as fast as ad sales. The Cinema Ad Council reports that ad spending in theaters grew 15% last year to hit $455.6 million. Cliff Marks, the groups chairman and also president-chief managing officer of National CineMedia, says he has seen spending growth from a variety of ad categories, including telecommunications, broadcast and cable networks, video-games and consumer electronics.

"Digital technology has allowed marketers to target specific movies and markets to use this medium much more strategically than years ago when they'd put an ad up on the screen," he notes. The trend reflects a shift to single-digit growth in out-of-home marketing, as spending moves from billboards to more-accountable digital platforms. As marketers try to innovate in the $6.8 billion space, most of their money is going to things like in-store networks and unmeasured media like digital billboards.

Cinemas now run as much as 20 minutes of content and ads before shows, leaving lots of inventory and companies like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Geico are now creating custom, short-form content. Indeed, theaters are the only place to see new Geico "Caveman" ads, since the ABC sitcom is on the air.

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