There once was a time when cinema faced speculation about its future. Yet 2023 saw total industry profits in the UK skyrocket. Following this resurgence, what were your standout moments for cinema in 2023 and do you see this momentum continuing?

For as long as I can remember “something” was about to cause the death of cinema. Decades ago, it was TV, then video, then DVD’s and then streaming with World Wars and epidemics thrown in for good measure. But cinema continues to bounce back! Barbieheimer was undoubtedly the highlight of 2023… while it wasn’t quite as ‘sparkly’, Oppenheimer was the real beneficiary of the relationship. With Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling on full PR duties for Barbie, Oppenheimer was able to ride on its glittery shirttails. That meant that lots of people who wouldn’t ordinarily have seen Oppenheimer went along thanks to the exposure it enjoyed.

A real highlight from an audience perspective was the reawakening of a slightly older demographic to the joys of cinema, an audience that hadn’t really returned since the COVID epidemic, largely as a result of Oppenheimer. I was a little concerned about the film slate in 2024 following the much spoken about writers and actors strikes, but the success of the first quarter suggests I needn’t have worried!

Although Wonka was released late in 2023 it continued to do great business in 2024 but the highlight of the first quarter has undoubtedly been Dune 2 which surpassed the first films total box office by the third weekend of its release and cemented the positions of Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet as “proper” film stars!

Q1 is traditionally a bit light in cinemas but titles like Wicked Little Letters, Bob Marley: One Love and Migration have all performed better than expected at the box office. The rest of the year has some really strong releases too. There are huge family-friendly titles like Kung-Fu Panda 4, Inside Out 2, Moana 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog plus the Minions are back in Despicable Me 4. Some great thrills from the likes of Ghostbusters and Godzilla x Kong, Ryan Reynold’s has a big year ahead with the release of The Fall Guy and Deadpool & Wolverine and that’s before we even mention the second Joker film, the Beetlejuice sequel, A Quiet Place prequel, Gladiator 2, Wicked, Mufasa and The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim!

Cinema industry insiders talk about 2025 as being a “big one” (Captain America, Snow White, Mission: Impossible, How to Train your Dragon and lots, lots more) and it’s going to be a really exciting time for brands to be involved with cinema.

How much can you learn about a person based on their movie choice and how do these insights impact promotions?

I think there’s a difference between what we learn on the surface and what some of the hidden inferences are… and I also think there’s a difference between someone’s favourite movie, which is generally a story they love or find interesting, and a favourite character which might reveal a lot more about how that person sees themselves (or who they would like to be).

Brands work with cinema in a number of different ways, some engaging with the “world” of cinema (without a specific title association) while others identify a movie title or character with which (or whom) they wish to be associated.

Either can make for a fantastic campaign. Associating with a specific film can do wonders for positioning and piggybacking on a movie’s intellectual property, characters and imagery makes for an exciting and engaging activation, particularly when an audience is tightly profiled.

Cinema “in general” makes for a more flexible promotional opportunity. After all, we all love the cinema, don’t we? But lots of us love different types of movies.  A more general “cinema ticket” can be attractive to brands as it gives a gateway to a different experience to each person that receives it. An “open” cinema ticket can also be used again and again and still be effective – just look at what Sky Cinema have done in their partnership with Vue for example.

How has the traditional concept of cinema evolved in recent years, and what implications does this have for promotions?

Gone are the days where a trip to the cinema was all about what was on the screen. The cinema companies compete with each other to give their guests the best experience possible. Whether that’s a trip back in time to a feeling of luxury and exclusivity provided by the likes of Everyman and Picturehouse or amazing in cinema experiences like Cineworld’s 4dx experience or Showcase’s XPLUS screenings there’s so much choice for guests to choose how to watch their movie.

With different offerings promoters can focus their campaign, as well as using “tickets” a campaign might focus on a VIP experience, exclusive screenings, annual unlimited entry, food and drink and more. That means more choice and more personalisation for promotion campaigns – great news for promoters.

Can you provide some examples of successful cross-promotional campaigns between films and brands?

Brands have always been part of the movies. Most famously names like Aston Martin and Omega have been long term partners of the James Bond franchise and their brands are synonymous with the movies in a way that adds value to both. That shared value is really important. Audiences are savvy enough to understand when a brand is being shoehorned into a movie partnership so finding common ground is vital. Brands that get the best value out of partnerships work hard to contribute to the creative experience.

It’s a few years ago admittedly but I loved the partnerships in the Wayne’s World movie where brands like Dorito’s, Pepsi and Pizza Hut winked at audiences by having characters very obviously promoting products while throwing out lines like “the things people will do for money”, the brands went on to promote the movie on-pack and the campaigns worked well for both parties… essentially those brands understood the character of the movie and went along with it.

Following the success of Barbie, it won’t surprise anyone if we start to see more movies where the brand is an essential part of the movie, or even is the theme of the movie itself. Movies based around Barney, Hot Wheels, Thomas the Tank Engine and, believe it or not Uno are already in the works.

We’re also using messaging on the big screen itself as a call to action for brands, so rather than just using cinema tickets for brands to encourage uptake of their product or service we’re actively using the cinema to motivate direct behaviour and subsequently driving consumers back into the cinema to receive further promotional messages creating a virtuous circle.

Balancing promotion with the cinema experience can be delicate. How do you ensure effective promotion without disrupting audience engagement?

Most of our activity is about utilising the power of cinema for third-party promotional campaigns. We’ve refined the process to a degree that a person entering the cinema as part of a promotion has an experience that’s indistinguishable from that of a normal paying customer but for the fact that they get their entry for free rather than having to pay for it!

Cinema’s such a powerful medium that most brand’s want to leverage the glitz and glamour of the movies for their campaign, we help them to focus their campaign in such a way that the movie messaging is complementary to the brand rather than being over-powering.

What trends do you foresee shaping the future of cinema promotions, and how is SPARK adapting to these changes?

I think the world of cinema has become as much about the experience as it is about the movie. While I think streaming has a key place in the life of a movie it’s really secondary to the experience and magic of a trip to the cinema. At SPARK we run an annual survey with cinemagoers and this year 81% of people told us that the availability of streaming had made no difference to the number of visits they make to their local cinema.

It’s essential however that cinemas add value to the experience of watching a movie and that will add even more value to brands interested in working with cinema. Promotions have greater opportunity to be themed towards a type of experience rather than a simple and universal cinema ticket (which still has its place by the way as an aspirational and universal reward).

I also think we’re going to see a real separation in the industry between mass-market, popular offerings in multiplexes and more curated experiences in unique and independent venues.

As well as the best-known multiplexes SPARK already work with a network of hundreds of independent cinemas with unique offerings for both scheduled screenings and special events which means the choice for brands in their promotional approach has never been wider and more open to brand-appropriate customisation of offering.

We work tirelessly to make sure our clients can use the power of cinema to maximise impact and we believe offering them choice and flexibility is the best way to ensure fantastic campaigns.