Don’t be alarmed but while you’ve been going to the movie theater over the past several years we’ve all been conditioned to accept advertising while we sit and wait for the feature presentation to begin.  (OK the endless previews followed by the feature presentation).

An article in Wednesday’s New York Times covered Screenvision’s move into an upfront sales market.   You may find that ads in movie theaters are annoying but they are also effective.    An upfront market for movie theater advertising will work in a big way.

Think about it from an advertiser’s perspective.

#1 – Movie Theater ads cannot be DVR’d or fast-forwarded through.

#2 – The demographics and geography of movie theater audiences are well-understood

and dare I say, predictable.

#3 – Whether you want to or not you are somewhat compelled to watch what’s on the

           screen.    You can look at your phone and try to ignore them but the sound and

flashing images are hard, if not impossible to ignore.

All of this adds up to what should be an advertiser’s dream.  Ads in movie theaters can be purchased in several different ways – nationally, regionally or locally.     I’m sure you’ve noticed that the production value of many local ads leave much to be desired particularly when compared to deep pocket national advertisers.

When I first saw ads in movie theaters I was incensed that I had just paid for a ticket and how dare they show me ads!   But I’ve been conditioned to accept them (as you have) and frankly it’s not as if a blank screen was a better option.   And I’ve really had about enough of stupid movie quizzes (with 10 questions that run in a mind-numbing loop).

As the article states, I too give Jimmy Tricarico credit for moving Screenvision into upfront market sales.   Advertising clients love the idea of guarantees.   I think movie screen advertising has an even brighter future than it had yesterday.

What do you think about movie screen advertising as a channel to reach prospective customers?