Since the coronavirus shut down movie screens in many countries, the industry was forced to find strategies for rebooting cinemas. The global pandemic has been devastating most of the movie theater business. Fortunately, there is still room for a happy ending – private events! Movie theater owners have been discussing what’s working and what is not and below you will find some ideas to implement in your cinema business.
How to reboot your cinema during the COVID-19 crisis
Cinema private events with screening
Many movie theaters are now available for rent. They propose a fully unique experience for families, companies etc. Cinema owners offer private screenings to businesses that want to treat customers or employees to something special, or to families for special occasions. Customers can choose out of current Hollywood blockbusters, cult classic movies or favorites that fit better into customers’ plans. Modern cinemas go a step further offering fully customizable content. They try and source any movie of a customer’s choice – if it’s available, they will screen it as a special request.
Birthdays and parties
How about a party at the movie theater? Such a big-screen experience might blow your customers away! The party can include a private screening, but it doesn’t always have to – people can also celebrate certain occasions in the hall and even cut the cake… Sometimes it’s just a crazy party in a cinema hall, with a 360-degree surround sound, a customized menu of refined dishes or traditional cinema snacks that keep everyone happy. The occasion could be birthday parties, family and friends’ get-together etc. A very important thing is obeying COVID-19 regulations. Party guests should join only after thermal checks and social distancing should be kept if possible.
Hiring out screens to gamers
It might sound weird at first but… this may be a highly beneficial way to monetize your cinema during the pandemic. While there are empty 100- or 200-seat cinema auditoriums, why not let people play video games on the giant screen? With cine-mas across the country closed due to coronavirus restrictions, renting out auditoriums to groups of gamers may be the way to bring in a new revenue stream. The sound and effects are particularly amazing and vivid, after all.
Business events, conferences and meetings
From annual to weekly meetings, training and seminars, as a cinema own-er/manager you can offer your customers the right setting and the tools to get the customer’s message across. You can rent the cinema auditorium for non-movie events as all cinemas are usually equipped with microphones and connectivity for laptops to be projected on the big screen. Your customers can show their presentations or even Zoom into an event across the country on the big screen. Morning meetings, large-scale conferences – the cinema can offer both screen and sound, high capacity, high-speed Wi-Fi, luxurious seating and sometimes professional catering. Hosting a corporate event can also help with delivering team-building results.
Product launch as cinema private events
Businesses can easily bring showcasing their next new products to a totally different level… on the big screen! Sometimes a brand just needs the red-carpet treatment, and this is where cinemas can help. Building customer loyalty, marketing business, making a product famous – there are exact solutions for each. You can build bespoke packages around your client and this can include reward tickets, branded partnership, private screenings, on-screen advertising, discounted limitless passes and more. The cinema environment is perfect for giving customers a hands-on experience on some products.
Summary
As already said, the pandemic has been disastrous for both cinema and the wider film industry. There are few businesses that can survive not trading for a year now. This is why cinema owners and managers should find more and more ways and do whatever it takes to save cinemas from the 2020s coronavirus-driven slump.
To find out how exactly POSitive Cinema can help you, download the private events e-book.
