NewFront News and Views: NCM Reaches Millennials at the Multiplex

Venue AMC39s Lincoln Square multiplex located on Broadway near W 67th St As plush and grand as any Manhattan movie site around the large upper level area has a long concession stand next to the main theater which easily doubled as meeting space Inside the theater attendees were treated to a DJ and trivia slides posted on the screen most of them connected to upcoming summer and fall releases Soda and popcorn were served as attendees went to their seats Grade 4 JacksPresentation Out to sell advertisers on the idea that movies consistently draw Millennials better than any other medium and are worth more advertising investment new NCM CEO Andrew England most recently at Miller Coors started off by explaining that he39s been on a trek for that audience a long time quotI spent the last seven years drinking beer and searching for the elusive Millennialquot he said quotI39ve found them They are here Movies are their social currencyquot England left it to NCM President Cliff Marks to provide details The 18to34 crowd at NCMaffiliated theaters is up a collective eight percent so far this year following a 16 percent rise for 2015 What39s more 72 percent of Millennials use DVRs to skip ads inside the TV programs they record quotThink of us as a medium for all seasonsquot Marks added accompanied by a variety of trailers and special material from upcoming films including blockbusters quotRogue Onequot quotFinding Doryquot and quotBad Momsquot To NCM39s credit the showcase found time for quotThe Edge of Seventeenquot a teen dramedy that could be one of this year39s critical favorites However the show began on a jarring note with a video that took the companyamp8217s motto quotThe Hits Keep Coming at NCMquot way too seriously with one long and in my judgment tasteless clip reel of people and animated characters mostly hitting punching and kicking each other I39m sure more than a few folks there were left with three questions 1 Who put this together 2 Did anyone review it before giving an OKamp160 3 Was this approach necessary to make the pointamp160 My answer for that question would be amp8220noamp8221amp160 Grade 3 Jacks downgraded a full Jack because of that disturbing opening videoNews As Screenvision did the previous week NCM made a deal with technology service Timeplay to launch premovie advertising and content that audiences may interact with via mobile phones More than 500 locations will implement Timeplay during the summer with the count expected to reach 1000 by late fall Timeplay used another portion of the multiplex to show off its process over lunch The television industry should pay close attention to what this company is doing When checking out this technology I checked in with Timeplay39s key executives who acknowledged they see TV as a natural next marketplace Viewers would be able to participate via remotes smartphone or tablet with what they see over smart TV sets or TVempowered devices Not present was Audience Entertainment a company bringing gesturebased interaction to those initial 500 locations this summer In other developments a new quotCinema Acceleratorquot feature will be deployed among affiliated theaters where patrons get brand messages on their phones when they enter and those messages are automatically extended to their favorite Web sites and social medial In the near future advertisers and ad agencies can set up deals with a targeting optimizer matching desired audiences to specific movie titles or categories rather than according to MPAA ratings Grade 4 JacksHosts Smooth steady debut performance by newcomer England with nice support from Marks and colleagues Grade 3 JacksCuisine Leave it to Chef Marcus Samuelsson a regular judge on quotChoppedquot to deliver one of the best meals of any UpfrontNewFront event this year His postevent lunch was a knockout from superfood salad to chicken salad avocado on cornbread and dark chocolatefilled donuts Best chowdown rigatoni mac and greens Every last plate of that dish was taken and enjoyed I still remember his cuttingedge treats for a Syfy event inside the American Museum of Natural History a few years ago Marcus don39t let that long a time go by until your next main course at a media soireeamp160 Grade 5 Jacks Note Cuisine ratings do not factor into the overall Jacks scoreOverall Grade 35 Jacksamp160 Good presentation venue and news with plenty of important information about cinema advertising consequences down the road Without that opening video this would have been a 4 Jacks eventA review of our Jacks rating system5 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Don39t go thereUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers Image at top by GraphicStock

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NewFront News and Views: NCM Reaches Millennials at the Multiplex

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NewFront News and Views: NCM Reaches Millennials at the Multiplex

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