| Mobile, camera, action! Revolution |
| Monday, 05 April 2004 | |
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Revolution, April 2004 - Film buffs are set to get a revolutionary two-for-one mobile offer. Niamh Byrne tells Emily Booth the future of UK cinema could be Orange. Wednesday isn’t always seen as the best day of the week (I’m thinking of people with a face ‘like a wet Wednesday’ or the old saying ‘Wednesday’s child is full of woe’) but it’s set to get a whole lot brighter with mobile giant Orange’s new interactive file tie-in. The brand is launching a cinema promo, using mobile vouchers, which will give its customers an exclusive ‘two-for-one’ ticket offer on Wednesdays nationwide.Niamh Byrne, director of public relations and sponsorship for Orange UK, is excited about this revolutionary partnership with the UK cinema industry. It’s a natural fit for Orange’s sponsorship strategy, which has long been associated with film. Indeed, it has sponsored the British Academy Film Awards since 1998 and the highest profile strand of the BFI London Film Festival for the last two years – Orange Film On The Square. “The aim is to promote loyalty,” she explains. “We wanted to give something back to our customers for being with us and staying with us. It fits in with our arts and film heritage – we have a great heritage in the film industry.” Indeed, the firm’s key content focus on its Orange World mobile portal in already film and music, followed by football and gaming. A new film channel of the portal is being launched as a precursor to the promotion. The deal, signed with the British Film Festival (which has acted as a signatory for the six other bodies in the UK film industry) will run initially for three years, focusing on using mobile to boost cinema audiences, and deliver exclusive products and services. It will look to encourage people to visit the cinema more often, which the UK cinema industry hopes to gain from. Orange has 13.8 million customers; of course, that’s a significant audience. There are two main elements to the deal: an exclusive Orange customer promotion using innovative mobile-ticketing technology, and exclusive film-based downloads for Orange customers. For Orange, this is a major project that has a core team of 20 people, including Gina Salter, sponsorship manager, and Mark Denton, programme delivery manager, working on it. First up then, the Orange customer-base promotion – Orange Wednesdays. This has been developed in conjunction with All Industry Marketing (AIM), which represents UK cinema, to offer the two-for-one ticket offer every week. Orange customers can but tickets via an innovative m-ticketing service by sending a text to the number 241 at any time, 24/7. They will be texted a reference number, redeemable at participating cinemas, for two tickets on any Wednesday during the year. “The mobile effectively becomes a season ticket for film,” says Byrne. Which is where mobile-marketing specialist Flytxt comes in, as Orange’s partner in providing virtual tickets direct to customers’ mobile handsets. Byrne points out that cinema is one of the most popular leisure activities in the UK and ties in closely with the mobile consumer marketplace. She cites the Dodona Report, which reported 48.30 million cinema-goers in 2002. Of that total, 97 per cent of all 15 to 24-year olds visited the cinema, with 50 per cent going at least once a month. Meanwhile, 92 per cent of all 25 to 34-year-olds visited, with 35 per cent going once a month or more. “These customers represent a very important part of our customer base. In fact, there were 176 million admissions in the UK during 2002 – the highest level in 30 years,” add Byrne. The two-for-one incentive is designed to increase mid-week cinema-goers (when audiences tend to slump) and offer a wide range of films. Orange customers will benefit from ongoing, secured and exclusive promotions in at least 90 percent of UK cinemas, including all the big names, from Vue to Odeon. The brief to Flytxt was to enhance Orange’s relationship with cinemas. Lars Becker, chief executive officer of Flytxt, says that although mobile ticketing has been around for while there have always been problems in making it truly effective from a redemption point of view. For example, in the past, people have had a list of codes on a sheet of paper that they had to tick off when they were redeemed. “It was clumsy. The great step that Orange has taken is to become more sophisticated,” he says. “It’s a closed-loop system. Units have been installed in the cinemas that instantly verify the codes that consumers have in their phones,” Becker explains. Consumers just turn up with their m-ticket, the cinema attendant keys the number into the machine and the machine verifies it (to check that it hasn’t been used) and authorises it. And, hey presto, the customer gets a free ticket. But this isn’t an easy thing to do. The difficult bit, points out Becker, is to have a real-time link into one customer database that enables consumers to walk into any customer database that enables consumers to walk into any cinema and watch any film. “All the cinemas have to be connected in real-time to a central database, so once they have used the m-ticket they can’t use it again. That’s sophisticated,” he says. Flytxt has had considerable involvement in the project. First of all, it has been in charge of delivering the m-ticket. In this case, users request it via SMS, WAP or telephone. Secondly, Flytxt is responsible for redemption, so when users walk into the cinema they can do something with their m-ticket. There are about 450 cinema sites nationwide with about 2,400 machines that can verify the codes. Regarding these machines, Flytxt has helped to design their functionality, look and feel, and commissioned the building of them. The mobile-marketing company is also managing the central database and reporting the finding back to Orange, which will link them into its usage data. “Every time a m-ticket is redeemed, the attendant will link it to a specific movie. So, there is a lot of data to gather on how many m-tickets are requested and redeemed, what films the customers saw and how many,” explains Becker. “If you look at the bigger picture, mobile couponing (m-ticketing) has been talked about a lot, but it hasn’t moved from trial to real usage,” he continues. “About five billion traditional print coupons are released each year and only about 10 percent of them are redeemed. There’s a fantastic marketing opportunity there and mobile has an important role to play in terms of mobile couponing going forward. Indeed, people have talked about it for years, but only now do we have a proper nationwide programme. A lot of retailers will look very closely at this programme.” Byrne adds that, with this campaign, “it’s the scale that’s different” and making it work across all different cinema chains” makes it easy for people.” Becker says there’s also the possibility of tying m-ticketing into loyalty schemes and purchasing of items. “It’s a great way of rewarding people and driving them to purchase. Mobile has a key role to play – it is the glue between an outbound programme and driving people into stores.” Other benefits are that the traditional problem with coupon redemption – people forgetting them – is overcome because consumers will nearly always have their mobile phone with them. Another bonus is that m-ticketing can be used in conjunction with traditional direct response campaigns, such as print, TV and radio. The new scheme is being promoted through an integrated through-the-line push. There will be a print campaign on London Underground and in targeted film magazines and the national press. There will also be ongoing media partnerships online and in print. Mother has developed the above-the-activity, while Cake is responsible for entertainment sponsorship and the extensive PR activity. Traditional direct marketing will be important too, with Orange customers being sent promotional material with their phone bill. And then, of course, there’s retail – Orange has a network of 256 stores around the UK and there will be work in conjunction with channel partners such as Carphone Warehouse and Argos. Customers who have expressed a specific interest will be sent a text message about the Orange Wednesdays promotion as a reminder. Meanwhile users will be able to find out more about Orange Wednesdays and content on Orange World, which is available via orange.co.uk/film. According to Byrne, the film industry is subsidising the second seat while Orange is bearing all marketing costs. “It’s a significant investment,” she says. “As part of the deal, we get ad space in the foyer of multiplexes. There is an additional 30 seconds of advertising time pre-movie.” But, she reasons: “We don’t know what the uptake will be. There is a slow burn to the launch campaign. We’re not necessarily going to do a massive ad campaign. Our bigger focus is to make sure we get it right.” Becker is certainly excited about Orange Wednesdays: “It is one of the biggest, most exciting projects we’ve ever run. It’s not only pushing the boundaries of what has been done so far, but it’s also a great endorsement for the industry. I’d even hazard that it’s the most exciting deal for mobile this year, full stop." Now for the second part of the deal – the mobile content offering. The partnership with the UK cinema industry will give Orange exclusive content rights to more than 12 new film releases in 2004 for the first month they hit screens. Orange customers will be able to get exclusive film-based downloads through the recently launched Orange World mobile portal, including images, games, content and ringtones. There will also be a programme of regional screenings and previews in order to build a deeper appreciation of film. “With 3G, we have the capability to do a mass of things,” says Byrne. “Customers want to be able to pay for things, watch film clips and listen to music.” So, for example there will be a featured film of the month, such as The Day After Tomorrow and Troy, that will have content on the Orange World portal – “we’re talking to the distributors about getting exclusive content”, Byrne adds. She calls this sort of extended mobile content ‘spromo’ – a merging of ‘sponsorship’ and ‘promotional content’. Straightforward content includes clips, soundtracks, wallpapers and ringtones. But a ‘spromo’ could offer the chance to win a ticket to a movie premiere or special merchandise. Every film released in the UK will have its own page on Orange World, continues Byrne, and she believes the benefits will be substantial. “It’s compelling. As people get more used to instantaneous delivery, they expect to be able to access things on the move. We see ourselves as complimentary – a new media channel. With the launch of 3G, we feel that we can bring so much more to people." In the past, your phone would let you read when and where the movies were showing, but there wasn’t a page for every movie that was released. Now, you will be able to download clips and stills from the movie, Byrne points out, and this will give users a more dynamic, richer experience. Added to that, ‘spromo’ will provide a “deeper offering”. So, what will customers see when they turn up at their local cinema? Well, explains Byrne, for a six week period there will be Orange Phone Trainers in the lobbies of cinema multiplexes. They will demonstrate how people can access content via the Orange World mobile portal, tell them about the promotion, and explain how they can text the ‘two-for-one’ offer to receive their m-ticket. Foyer advertising is ongoing as part of the deal. Customers will be able to show their m-ticket number to the cinema teller, who will key in the texted unique reference number. “The coupon system means that it is collected then and there in real time,” she says. “Orange will get customer relationship management information and the cinemas will get this as well.” Further down the line, Orange will be able to offer relevant content to users who sign up for it. “We can make the mobile even more relevant to consumers.” Overall, according to Byrne: “The entire deal aims to encourage loyalty and retention. It’s also a first – your phone becomes your season ticket. Plus there’s all that new content.” Orange has also moved away form the traditional concept of ‘badging’ – simply adding its logo to the events it sponsors. “Every sponsorship has a business model. This is about driving the habitual usage of Orange World services and products over time. That’s why the phone trainers are so important,” she adds. “It’s a truly integrated marketing campaign that has been led out of sponsorship. We will use this as a template for how we approach sponsorship going forward.” Jeremy Dale, vice president of UK brand marketing at Orange agrees: “Orange has always had a heritage in film, and we aim to be the first to develop new and innovative offerings for our customers. We are not interested in sponsorships that are little more than putting our logo on an event. Instead we are focused on driving real benefits and compelling services to our customers by getting involved at the very core of an offering and delivering something of true value,” he continues. “Our customers will now be able to use their Orange mobile phone like a season ticket for the cinema.” The new deal has the backing of the UK film industry. Barry Jenkins, chairman of All Industry Marketing, comments: “ This innovative partnership represents a long-term investment by Orange in UK cinema. We are proud to be working together to promote film and cinema throughout the UK and are delighted to see Orange taking the lead at the heart of UK cinema." Meanwhile, Daniel Battsek, senior vice-president of Buena Vista International, says: “The growth of the UK cinema industry is an international success story. The next stage is a comprehensive campaign to incentivise people to go to the cinema more frequently and see a broader range of films.” Going forward, Orange’s strategy and philosophy is to put the mobile at the centre of the customer experience. Everything, Byrne explains, will relate back to Orange World. “We can provide live, up-to-date information. It adds enjoyment to the experience. Users can interact more with their phone and constantly keep in touch with information.” “We are trying to find out what is relevant and of interest to our customers. We believe cinema going is compelling for our customers,” continues Byrne. “Our customer base is 25 per cent of the UK population, and we understand that we have a broad base of people with different likes and tastes. “A lot of the time, it’s about giving stuff back to loyal customers. But going forward, we want to offer an integrated experience,” concludes Byrne. “Things have moved on a lot in the last two years.” Too true. © Copyright Flytxt Ltd 2006. Unauthorized use of any content constitutes a material breach. |
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