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• DandomRude@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Well, that’s how it was for me at least. The movie theater is right in the middle of town, which is why you’re constantly passing by it anyway. I don’t actively look up the current movie lineup, but I used to always be up to date because I passed by that theater almost every day and saw the posters.

  Now I’m no longer informed about the current lineup, but instead only about the absurd prices for popcorn and stuff—I can’t say that motivates me to go to the theater’s website to see what’s playing.

  Like I said: I haven’t been to the theater since they took down the posters. That’s not because tickets and popcorn would be too expensive for me, but because I have no idea which movies are playing right now. I don’t go out of my way to find out myself, but I used to walk past the theater and think, “Oh, cool, movie xyy is playing—I should go see that with friends this weekend.” That effect is now gone so I don’t go to the movies anymore.

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  • IWW4@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    So what should be glaringly clear to you is that you are no longer the target demographic for theater attendance. That information is all relayed through the app on the phone, as are ticket sales, seating arrangements and really the purchasing of food.

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    • DandomRude@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Even young people don’t have the movie theater’s app because it’s completely useless. Only people who go to the movies regularly—and are therefore already regular customers—might use such an app. Of course, there are also promotional campaigns by the operators designed to encourage people to download their useless app—but I’m pretty sure most people only do that to get the discount and then delete the app right away.

      Young people, in particular, can of course be reached through social media ads and the like, but you don’t seem to realize how expensive that is. I can hardly imagine that a local movie theater—or even a chain with many local locations—could achieve a halfway decent ROAS through this or other online marketing channels.

      So in my opinion, it’s simply idiotic to ignore the prime advertising space this movie theater already has—after all, it costs almost nothing to hang a few extra posters on its own building. They could even do that alongside the food ads, which would make optimal use of this free advertising space. But they don’t do that; instead, they’ve removed all the movie posters for a single screen with food ads no one cares about.

      I can’t understand the reason for that. If it has to be one or the other—which isn’t necessary at all—I think movie posters are much more effective. I mean, let’s be honest: Which is more useful to potential customers? Knowing which movie is currently playing—something you notice as you walk by, regardless of your age—or an ad for a small discount on tacos or something similar, that are still very expensive even after the discount?

      Oh, and just to be clear: Of course, it doesn’t matter at all whether they’re actually posters or screens displaying the movie lineup.

      The point is the informational value, which, of course, exists in the real world as well, not just online.

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      • AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        This may also be why they overly focus on blockbusters. Without traditional means of seeing what’s playing, I’m only aware of a movie if it’s been heavily advertised. You’d think trying the cheap route would be … cheaper

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    • AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I guess I’m not the target demographic either then. I don’t think I ever was really, but as a parent of teens, if I do go in, it’s likely to be a family’s worth of tickets.

      Maybe you think the rest of us are a minority that doesn’t matter but it seems short sighted to disregard potential customers

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      • IWW4@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I have been going to the movies for about 50 years and I never found out what was in the theater by show up at the walking up to the theater. I did it with the news paper or calling…

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